I have decided to continue with basketball so that I can develop on the skills I learned from last year. I really enjoyed the season in Grade 11, and this year I will have the opportunity to travel to Nepal, which will be fun! We have 5 players from the team last year, and another 5 players who are either new to OSC, new to basketball, or didn't make the team last year. So we have a big mix of abilities.
We have a coach from outside the school who has come to coach us - Mr. Tharindu Fernando. We do a lot of movement work, which I hope will teach us how to position ourselves well on court as that is something that is quite difficult to learn. I am working on improving my shooting, as this was a problem area for me last year. It is nice to be doing a sport where I have a basic skills base - it means that I feel less lost on the court! We have been training very intensively - for two hours each practice, four times a week! I hope that this is helping me keep my fitness levels up.
Because I am one of the oldest players on the team (in fact, the oldest, I think), Mr. Fernando has designated me as captain. Quite a few of the girls obviously have a greater skill level in basketball than I do, so I am making my role as a leader more concerned with how we work together as a team. This team is not as cohesive as the football one, and keeping everyone happy is presenting some challenges! However, it is doing wonders for my diplomacy skills. Ayla, the other senior on the team, and I are working together a lot to make sure everyone participates and feels like part of the team. I am learning how to keep my temper when I want to lose it, and how to negotiate and compromise in a group situation. I think these are important life skills that can be reapplied anywhere, not just in sport.
We have been learning a few new plays. In defense, we have learnt a trap defense, which type of press defense. This means that we defend the other team while they are bringing the ball down the court. It is quite difficult to remember what you are supposed to be doing, but when everyone does their job it is a very effective defense.
Green circles are DEFENSE (our team). Blue triangles are offense (the opposition.
I am mostly player 5 or player 3.
If they make a break for the middle, 1 and 2 trap (move together and block the player). This is pretty good for stopping up the centre court.
On the left side,the 2 and 3 trap,while the 1 looks for a short center court pass.The 4 guards the middle and watches the short pass. The 5 looks for any long pass,but defends the goal first.
This looks the same on the other side. Basically it means that it makes it hard for the players to dribble down the court, forcing them to pass, and then allowing for us to intercept those passes. We also learned a Press Break, or offensive set up to beat this defense, but we're not very good at it yet!!
On OFFENSE we learned three plays - one to break and 2-3 zone defense and allow a three point shot, and the other two to break a man-to-man defense and allow the post players to shoot under the basket. We are still learning our positioning in all of these plays as they are quite complex and it can get VERY confusing if you have to switch positions.
We have played a couple of practice matches against the Gateway International School and the Women's National Team of Sri Lanka. We lost all three matches by quite a lot, but I think the experience taught us a lot, including just a general feel for the game. The level at SAISA will hopefully be a little lower and we will have a good shot at the finals!!!
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