Lucas Punkari
Although their first game of the NorWOSSA season isn’t until Tuesday, Sept. 25, when they host the Dryden Eagles, the Muskie junior and senior girls’ basketball coaches already are working hard to get their squads ready.
Senior head coach Dan Bird has been pleased with the number of players who came to try out, with 20 hopefuls showing up for the opening day of practice last Wednesday.
“I thought we would have around 15 players for the start, so it was more than I expected, for sure,” Bird said.
“There are a few players that I am glad to see come out and give it a try, and I know they have some experience so it’s good to see them give it an effort.
“I’m also happy to see some of the juniors come up from last year’s squad, as there are two players that add a lot of height and there is one coming up that has some backcourt experience, which is good to have,” he added.
After a disappointing showing last season, which saw them fall 29-13 to the Kenora Broncos in the NorWOSSA semi-final, Bird is planning to put a lot of changes into how this year’s team will play heading into their first tournament action Sept. 14-15 in Thunder Bay.
“We’re looking at being a little bit quicker on our offence, so you can expect some changes there,” he remarked.
“We really need to put in the effort on our defence, as well, as I would like our team to be as strong as they were at the start of last year.
“We had the top defence in the league early on, but we just didn’t progress as a team to where we should have been and the end of the season,” Bird admitted.
At the junior level, there’s a change with who is in charge of the team for the 2012 campaign as both Marla Knutsen and Sarah Faragher are on maternity leave.
Filling in for the pair this season will be Mike Krueger, who has coached with Bird in the senior program over the last few years, and former Muskie Alyssa Holliday, who graduated from Fort High in 2007.
“It’s my first time back since I’ve been at high school, so I’m excited to see how the girls will do and I’m looking forward to seeing the team that we have this year,” Holliday enthused.
“I’m thinking this is going to be a positive year for us here as we have a quite a few returning players and some good talent coming up from Grade 8,” Krueger noted.
A total of 27 players turned out for the opening day of tryouts last Wednesday, with both coaches hoping to cut that number down to 15 following tomorrow’s practice.
After capturing the NorWOSSA title with a convincing 28-4 thumping of Kenora last season, the Muskies are expected to be a top team once again, although how the squad’s systems will be set up is yet to be determined.
“Right now, we are going to wait for the tryouts to finish up to get a good idea of what we have,” Holliday explained.
“We have a good group of girls that worked well together on last year’s team, and we hope to have that same kind of mix with the new players this year,” said Krueger.
“Hopefully, that experience will add some depth for us,” he noted.
Like the seniors, the juniors will kick off their season Sept. 14-15 at a tournament in Thunder Bay.
