Shooting Their Way to The Top

Girls’ basketball this year will be an exciting season with the amount of young players on the team this year.  Two of the oldest players on the team are seniors, Journie Hayden and Navejot Gill.  Hayden has been playing on varsity all four years of high school and is excited to be playing her last year of basketball with the team they have this year.

 Although this year’s team is young they have much to prove on the court. “ Were definitely young this year, and we’re definitely competitive”. States Hayden.  Hayden has been playing for varsity all four years, but has been playing basketball since she was in the first grade. Hayden first joined the sport because of her mom, to keep her busy and active which then resulted in finding her passion for the sport. Not only was it her passion for the sport that she discovered but what it is that a team needs to be successful. “ They need to be together for sure and I would say good attitudes and a lot of support,” says Hayden. Although there is one more thing, other senior varsity player Navejot Gill believes a team needs to be successful. 

  Gill believes communication is key for a team to be successful. Not only is this her idea for a team in general but for her team as well. “ We have potential, it’s like a really good team, I think we are a solid team actually,” Gill states.  Gill has been playing for varsity for three  years and was motivated to first join the sport for the confidence she feels when playing, as well as the team and aggressiveness of the sport. Not only has Gill been playing for Ridgeview, but has also been competing in the sport since she was a kid in the fourth grade. Both players, Hayden and Gill’s biggest hopes this season is to leave their last year with a ring and an All Valley Championship. To reach this championship though, they will need to compete against many other tough teams like Bakersfield Christian High school who won the league last year.

Girls’ basketball coach, Eric Singleton although  has a bit of different hopes for his team this year. His goal for the team is, “ To be competitive, to be resilient and to stay together, to have a common goal and stick with it no matter where it takes us.” Very similar to what Coach Singleton hopes for his team this year  he also looks for in players to bring onto his team. The qualities of hard work, resilience and mindset to be able to grow to become better are what Coach Singleton looks for in those wanting to join his team. Coach Singleton learned these qualities from his early years of basketball and is wanting to continue instructing these morals for younger players to come. Coach Singleton was also a basketball player for Ridgeview and went on to continue playing in college for two years in North Hollywood, it then led him to move onto coaching back at Ridgeview. 

Playing the sport for so long you will encounter some mental blocks which both players and coach can agree to although there are things these athletes can do to be able to deal with these matters. Coach Singleton says, “ I think the biggest part is the mental aspect of the game and being able to roll with the punches and stay calm and focus on what the task at hand rather than all the noise around you.”