The Start of the Girls Basketball Season

Harini Devaguptapu, Staff Writer

The winter sports season has officially begun, and the basketball season has started. The Arcadia High School (AHS) Girls Varsity Basketball team has been training hard from the beginning of the year and are finally getting their games set in motion. 

Freshman Kaeden De Leon on the Girls Freshman/Sophomore Basketball team shared how she feels really good about starting this season.

“[Her] team is very solid, [they] all have good chemistry and communicate well,” she said. 

Sophomore Jackie Aguilar, and number 15 on the Girls Freshman/Sophomore Basketball team said how her team has been preparing by “conditioning during the months before season, to make sure [they] are all in decent shape.”  

De Leon shared how they have been, “preparing for this since school started, and slightly in the summer when [they] had [their] Apache Girls Basketball Camp.” 

Their exciting season starts with the game against San Gabriel High School (SGHS) on Nov. 16. With their upcoming game approaching fast, the Girls Freshman/Sophomore Basketball team has started “Five day practices and [they] are working on their offensive and defensive work.” 

Desiree Almaraz, the Girls Basketball Coach, also added that they are “preparing hard with a focus on an aggressive defensive front that will drive [their] offense.” 

Elyze also added that they have practice Monday through Thursday to “make sure to work hard and do what [they] can to improve.”

Additionally she talked about how she had been preparing outside of school. She added how she has been, “conditioning outside of school as well, whether that is private training with another coach or just working out on [her] own.”

The team has been training since the start of October, which enabled them to spend more time with each other. As they are working hard, they have the support of their peers to guide them through the process. They are ready for the upcoming season with the help of their teammates. 

With the start of games, the excitement of starting the season, being able to go to tournaments, and traveling and bonding with the team is overwhelmingly invigorating. Aguilar is looking forward to, “working together with the team and being able to make lasting memories with them!” and also being able to go on, “rainy bus rides with the team, and being able to reflect on [themselves] as individual and team athletes.”

De Leon is looking forward to all the fun she is going to have with the team, “especially with the community and family culture [they] have created,” and improving on her skills as a team member and individually. 

Almaraz is looking forward to “building and establishing a new culture of hard work, dedication and family within the girls basketball program and for the growth and development of all three levels that we are already seeing from our fall program.“ She is also awaiting to witness the “steady growth over the course of this first season here at Arcadia.”

The start of the season marks the start of new relationships and connections between the players. Aguilar makes a remark of how she is waiting to see how, “[their] team is going to grow throughout the next few months and the bond [they] will all form with each other.” It is also a period of time for them to get the experience of competing with others, building their skills, and working hard.