The 2007 Bakersfield College women’s basketball team will be composed of young players.
This season’s team has eight freshmen: Chrysta Pera, Kapresha Davis, Cristen Perry, Ashley Hiriate, Kristin Alvidrez, Ashley Van Zandt, Sarah Stockton and Maddi Dahl. Tiffany Jones, a sophomore, is also on the roster but wasn’t on the team last season.
Women’s basketball coach Paula Dahl said that this year’s team has several goals.
“We’re a young ball club this year. Our biggest goal right now is getting them to come together as a team, understand each other,” she said. “Every year our goal is the same, we want to be a team that’s competitive. We want to make a statement. When we go out on the floor when there’s any team playing BC, they know that they will have a battle.”
Dahl said that the hardest part about having a young team is the teaching that needs to be done. “With the incoming freshmen, what we found this year is just how much we really have to teach. Every day is a big teaching process. We, as coaches, have to be patient and realize they are not just going to pick up on it in one day. It’s a process that they will continue to develop and grow.”
Dahl mentioned that one of the strengths of her team is their eagerness. “They come together as a team, and they really enjoy each other. They really respect each other. They are being very receptive to the concepts that we are trying to teach them. They are eager to do what needs to be done to be successful.”
Dahl said that Catie Mueller, the only player returning from last year’s team, brings a lot to the team. “She [Mueller] brings a lot of great leadership and eagerness. She is working hard, putting in team time on her own so that she can be ready to play 40 minutes a game if called upon. She is a very driven person.”
Dahl said that her intensity rubs off on her players.
“One of the things I have found is that players resemble their coach. if I am really tense, then my team will end up being tense. The key for me is to make sure I am intense, but that I am not getting them into panic mode.
“I am being much more intense in practice then I have been at other times. The biggest reason is I want this team to be prepared for what’s going to be brought to them on the floor.”
Dahl added that off the court she is very laid back and likes to tease with her players, but she added that her team still has a lot of work to do.
The women’s basketball team, which finished with a record of 24-8 overall and 9-3 in the Western State Conference, lost in the first round of the playoffs last season. The team opens this season at home with a Nov. 7 game against Santa Barbara at 6 p.m.