When most students are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season, winter athletes are preparing for a grueling 4-month season. WTHS Girl’s Basketball has been getting ready for the upcoming season since mid-September with morning conditioning sessions and open gyms. This year, the program has several new coaches, including a new Varsity head coach, Jen Swanson. After 2 years of assistant coaching the Varsity team, Swanson is now taking over the role of head coach. The Varsity team got a taste of what Coach Swanson has to offer over the summer during the summer league season where the team played against various Lake County teams, both in and out of conference.

All levels of the program have new coaches this year. Starting at the top, Coach Swanson wants to bring some new opportunities to the basketball program. When asked about her coaching strategy this year, she said, “My strategy for my first year is to work as hard as I can to be the most prepared for the season and throughout the season. Also, preparing the team and the program to be the hardest working players in the state.” There’s no question that this year’s Varsity team will be working hard in practice and in games. The first 2 weeks of the season have already brought intense practices and a staff scrimmage. Swanson also said, “I think if players and coaches come in daily willing to work hard and give everything they have, it will make us pretty hard to beat as a program.”

This season will feature 33 games with 11 of them being home games. All levels will face some tough competition, but with competitiveness, grit, and respect, the team could have a great season ahead of them. They started off with a scrimmage against the staff members. Unfortunately, they lost by one point, scored in the last minute of the game through free throws, but the team fought hard the entire game. The Varsity and JV team will participate in a week-long tournament and a Thanksgiving tournament in November before heading into conference games.