With the basketball season coming up, the girls’ team is excited to see what’s going to happen. Maya Ward, who is a senior this year, and one of the team’s returning players and might be going into a leadership role this year as their team captain.
As her last year here at Hillcrest, we talked about how she got into basketball, her goals for the season, and what keeps the team together on and off the court.
When I asked Ward how long she’s been playing, she said, “Roughly since first or second grade.” Since she’s been playing for a while now, she’s not just learned how to play, but also how to support her teammates. “It’s really stress management,” she said. “During the season, it gets stressful, and it’s just being able to keep everybody sticking together and not getting mad at each other.”
Ward said that keeping the energy positive, even when things get rough, is really important. “If it’s super intense all the time, it just gets draining really quick. So being able to crack jokes can always brighten the day.”
When I asked her why she would want to have a leadership role, she said that she’s always enjoyed helping other people stay organized and focused. “I think I’m pretty good at managing people..when I graduate I might go into business, so I think a leadership position is just something I have always been pretty okay at.”
With a positive mindset, it helps her throughout the season. “I kind of just clean my mind,” she said. “I’ll watch film from some other teams, and then I’ll watch our games from last year to see what we struggled with. Our coaches also help us plan, like if we’re playing a team with a really tall player, we strategize around that.”
To keep her teammates motivated, Maya keeps things positive and loud. “Cheering, low key,” she said while laughing. “It’s always about being loud on the bench, even when someone messes up. And if you mess up, you just shake it off. We make jokes about it all the time and it keeps things from getting too heavy.”
I asked her what advice she’d give for younger players who desire to playing basketball in the future and she said “Just show up,” “Show up to gyms, practices, tryouts, just show that you’re putting in effort. And stay on top of your grades. Don’t let your grades drop for basketball. I’ve done that, and it just sucks. If you stay on top of yourself, you’ll be fine.”
For the upcoming season, Ward hopes for a strong and memorable season. “I just want to have a good senior year,” she said. “I don’t really know if I want to play in college yet, but I want us to make region and just have a good year overall.
As for dealing with stress, Ward says balance is everything. “When we’re not playing games, I focus on school and basketball, then when I have free time, I just chill and rest. You can’t overwork yourself during the season. And during games, when I get stressed, I just remind myself that it’s really only an hour. You just have to keep your head in the game for that one hour.”
Overall, Maya has a bright mindset and is hoping for a good season this year