Preparation and hard work are two things that you hear over
and over again in the sports arena and you hear it because it’s true. You can’t
be successful without preparation and you can’t become prepared without hard
work. It’s really a very simple equation
and I think that the women’s basketball team has embraced this motto.
The grind that is college basketball at the Division I level
at an Ivy League institution nonetheless, is based on these two principles and
this summer I’ve seen a tremendous amount of preparation and hard work from the
players and coaches this summer.
As most of you know, my office is in the main corridor of
Alumni Gym and most times, I get to see the players both coming and going from
practice or workouts. This summer I’m seeing them A LOT (Granted, I wasn’t here
last summer, so I’m really not sure if it’s a lot or not but we’ll give them
the benefit of the doubt:)
I’ve seen Eve Zelinger and Nicola Zimmer, sweating it out on
multiple occasions and from what they tell me the newcomers and other players
are going just as hard on their own.
That is both preparation and hard work at its finest.
The coaches are working equally as hard just in a different
way. July is recruiting month for collegiate basketball coaches. They pack up
and live out of a suitcase or suitcases as they crisscross the country looking
for the next member of the Dartmouth women’s basketball team.
If you think about it, that’s a lot of hard work too! There
are TONS and I mean TONS of youth women’s basketball players out on the summer
circuit (Thank you Title IX, for making this possible) so it takes a lot of
prep work to see who will fit in with our system, culture, etc. Again, preparation and hard work at the
highest level.
The hard work and preparation that I have seen from the
players and staff this summer can only mean good things are to come in the fall
and winter. I smell Ivy League title No. 18 in the very near future.
Jess Poole
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