Alex Clemons

Pleasant Valley Girls Basketball team in huddle during their game against Davenport North on Feb. 5.

The Pleasant Valley Girls Basketball team attributes their development on the court to a committed hardworking team. The team has developed and gotten better throughout the past years due to their off season work, environment and leadership.

Head coach Jennifer Goetz credits much of the team’s success to off-season work. “We have had many girls out in a lot of time during the off season and it’s obvious by how much they’ve improved” Goetz said. In order to have a team that improves each year, all the girls must be honing their skills during the offseason. During the actual season, it is a time to show-off the skills that have been acquired during the offseason. 

However, Goetz has made sure to implement a hard working environment for the girls. “We have established a culture of working hard throughout all levels of our [Pleasant Valley Girls Basketball] program” Goetz stated. This mentality pushes girls to not only work hard during the season but also throughout their offseason training. 

Riley Vice, a senior and varsity leader on the team, also attributes some of their success to having an established healthy culture. “Coaching staff and players have done a great job of maintaining and building the great culture that our program pushes to have” Vice said. 

Not only has a great culture been established, but leadership has also led to the team’s success. Leadership is essential to being successful and improving over the course of many years. “I take it upon myself to lead by example and pick my teammates up when they need it” Vice stated. Vice uses her position as a team leader to help make her teammates better by setting an example for them. 

A team must have leadership and establish a healthy environment but also must have a group of girls that are eager to develop their game. “This group of young ladies wants to win…This group brings ‘it’ everyday and [to] practice and games” Goetz said. The culture and leadership the team has, has affected the girls to be competitive and they bring that competitiveness to games and practices. 

Pleasant Valley’s girls’ basketball team has improved a lot over the past few years by embodying leadership and a culture of hard work. Hopefully it will continue onto the next group of girls.