I am an alumni of the Bryce Valley Girls Basketball Team.
We are on the verge of not having a girls basketball program here in Bryce Valley, a program that has been here for as long as I can remember. We don’t have enough girls wanting to play to have a team. This would devastate our community, our school, and our booster club. It would also hurt our bantam programs and take a long time to rebuild a new high school program. We would lose students to other local areas so they could play basketball. We need 3 more girls to sign up to play to keep the program. If you’ve played before and even if you haven’t, come give it a try!
Why did I play basketball? I love it! Basketball was the highlight of my time in high school. I learned skills I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else: team work, discipline, and hard work.
We have a new coaching staff this year. The new head coach, Kam Roundy, loves basketball, he loves Bryce Valley, and he loves the youth of our area. He also understands the game better than anyone I’ve ever met. I believe he will do great things with the program. He would be so fun. He’s been coaching bantam baseball and basketball and the kids love him already!
The picture above is a picture of the BV girls first high school basketball team! They had to start as a JV team under state probation rules before they had their first varsity team a couple years later. Some recent comments from this team include,
“This is back when the school did not support/did not have funding for a girls team and we had to fight to keep it going.”
“That was a special year for sure! I fought hard to get this going and was so happy when I got word through the principal that it was going to happen. Keep it going ladies, it’s worth it.”
Please encourage your girls to play. Encourage them to put their love of basketball before any other hobby or extracurricular. Encourage your kids to support their school and their community. High school only happens once, and it’s only as fun as you make it. It’s time for us, as those that “Bleed Green,” to come together for the good of our community and support the school we love and the kids of this area.
– by Jade Roundy, Tropic
Feature image caption: Bryce Valley’s first girls basketball team formed in 1996.
Read more about the consequences of losing a sport for a year in Don’t Skip a Season, by Kevin Griffin.