JV2 Basketball

By Leo Wan ‘24

Article from the Winter Carnival 2024 Hearth Issue

The unique culture of JV2 basketball, half stimulated by cultural diversity while nurtured by the unique personalities of people on the team—the coaches and players from every position—could be referred to as both serious and also contentful. The players are all committed to working together to help everyone on the team to play their positions most effectively, and create a strong sense of camaraderie. This sense of camaraderie is fostered through team bonding activities, shared experiences, and a mutual respect for one another's skills and contributions. The coaches play a crucial role in shaping this culture, as they not only focus on developing the players' basketball skills but also on instilling values such as teamwork, communication, and discipline. These values are not only important on the court but also in life, and the coaches make sure to emphasize their importance. As a result, the unique culture of JV2 basketball goes beyond just the sport; it becomes a way of life for the players and coaches alike.

We are a few games into the basketball season, with an ideal win-loss record of 5-0-0 (W-T-L). Many are close games, and we always dissect details in the game which could be improved during sports periods. We discover new things to study in every game, regardless of the results. For example, rebounding is the challenge we tackled in the previous training sessions.

Our members include Julian Shin ‘24, Adrian Shin ‘24, Zekai Zhang ‘24, Leo Wan ‘24, Jaiden Lapointe ‘25, Paco Martin ‘25, Billie Neary ‘26, Edward Rim ‘25, Xavier Lake ‘25, Clton Leslie ‘25, MacLean Hessler ‘25 and Caden Washburn ‘26. Many of us are close friends outside the court, and that really helps the morale of the whole team. Our roster will not be complete without our coaches. The Coaches, Mr. Rios, Mr. Wool, and Mr. Hill are all experienced coaches who lead a variety of workouts and training sessions to help ameliorate our skills, and discuss great tactics and strategies to help us win when the score is tight.

I see a bright future ahead of the team. The players are cooperative, the coaches give us just enough freedom, and representing the team, I would say that we are most looking forward to the 15 remaining games in the season. We are well prepared to maintain our win streak.