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The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

Developing success: How PV girls’ basketball remains competitive every year

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

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About the Contributor
Alex Clemons
Alex Clemons, Sports Editor
Alex Clemons is a senior and the Sports Editor for the Spartan Shield. Other than his duties as the Sports Editor, he loves participating in and watching Pleasant Valley’s extracurricular activities. He is a varsity baseball player and was a varsity wrestler for three years. He is a member of the National Honor Society and has also received the Mississippi Athletic Conference All-Academic team for baseball and wrestling. His hobbies include fishing, collecting baseball cards and spending time with friends and family. He currently works at Subway making fresh sandwiches for the community. He is going to college at Coe where he will be exploring the field of medicine and playing baseball. Alex is ecstatic to be a part of the Spartan Shield and planning to have a successful and exciting final semester of school.
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    Carson AlbrechtFeb 15, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    Alex I love the article your very talented. I love what Goetz had to say!

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Developing success: How PV girls’ basketball remains competitive every year