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Five points. Five points were all they scored in their first game against top ranked Carbon. They lost by more than fifty points. Afterwards in the locker room, tears were shed.
“We talked as a team. It was hard,” said senior Sarah Oldroyd. “[Coach] asked us how many of us wanted to quit. More than half of the team raised their hands.”
But none of them quit.
But Oldroyd, the only remaining senior on the girls basketball team, wanted to.
This season has brought some real challenges not just for her, but for the entire young team.
“It’s definitely a tough task to ask them to do just because the teams that we play against have players that have played for four years, and we have kids that have never played varsity basketball,” said coach Taylor Christensen.
With so much inexperience, the team faces many challenges, but Oldroyd and the team look for the positive and focus on getting better.
“Having a young team you see a lot of improvement,” Oldroyd said. “If you have an older team, you have improvement, but it’s usually not as drastic as younger kids because they are developing so much and learning so much, and I think because of that it will help them in the future.”
Aside from being the only senior, Oldroyd is also the only team captain. As a result, she has taken on a role almost as a second coach. She always tries to help the girls out and make sure that they can do their best and not be afraid.
“I’m sure it is very hard for Sarah being the only captain,” said junior teammate Melissa Murillo, “but she is the leader of our team, and we all, all the young athletes and myself, look up to her a lot as a captain.”
Oldroyd loves sports with a passion. In addition to basketball, Oldroyd plays volleyball and softball. They all require lots of time and effort, but she still does what she needs to do to play her three sports.
“It’s hard, but it is better than not doing anything,” Oldroyd said. “I’d rather be doing something and have something to do with my time then do nothing at all.”
Oldroyd draws motivation from parents and family and just coaches and friends.
“It’s my whole life,” Oldroyd said. “The people around me mean everything to me. Bringing them joy makes me feel very happy.”
Oldroyd is competitive in everything that she does. From Monopoly to sports she always wants to take first.
“Monopoly. I always win,” Oldroyd said. “Sometimes I’ll let them slide with some stuff so we can keep playing but I don’t know. I just like winning.”
Because of her competitive spirit, the loss to Carbon was especially difficult for Oldroyd.
“It was hard,” she said. “I felt embarrassed and disappointed. Not just in my team, but in myself. I felt like I should’ve done more. Five points is not a lot, even just for one person.”
Although the team has yet to win a game, they are making progress and they are hopeful about what they are building. After the first shocking loss, their offense has improved drastically, scoring more than 20 points in every game and Oldroyd averaging double digits.
“We do certain drills and the first day there were only like two people that could make a layup,” said Oldroyd, “now we can go through an entire drill with only missing one or two layups.”
They all see this as a rebuilding year, and with a good group of girls who are willing to work hard and who enjoy being together, they believe success will come.
“We have improved every game. Right now we are just focusing on the little things. We improve every single day on the small, detail oriented things,” Christensen said.
