What is the most valuable thing you learned on the Sacred Heart Greenwich varsity basketball team?
“I came to Sacred Heart in ninth grade, and I joined the Sacred Heart varsity basketball team that winter. Being part of such a welcoming team helped my adjustment to a new school. This sport has taught me a lot about resilience and dedication. The basketball season is the longest sports season in the year. We start practice in early November and don’t end until late February (early March if we make it to the playoffs). When we have early morning practices amid snowfall or practices that end late while it is dark outside, the bonds we form with each other become very strong. Moreover, the most valuable thing I have taken away from my basketball career is to always give 100% in everything I do because that is the one thing I can control.”
What do you think contributed to the team’s success this season?
“Our coaching staff played a huge role in our success this year. We had three amazing coaches who were focused on not just making us better players, but making us better individuals. The team also developed a great bond during our overnight trips and through practices each day, which definitely contributed to our strong team chemistry on and off the court. Basketball can be very physically and mentally exhausting, but having coaches that cared about our physical and mental health while also having a group of amazing girls to lean on is what made our season so successful.”
What do you hope to take with you as you play collegiate basketball at Vassar College next year?
“Our head coach, Coach Ayo Hart’s, motto for this season was ‘finish.’ I will definitely take this with me as I go on to play collegiate basketball and throughout my life. Through the Sacred Heart basketball program and the education I have received here, I have learned to put my all into everything I do. I am determined to put my best foot forward and leave a mark wherever my future takes me. I am so incredibly grateful to have been a part of something so special, and I am so excited to continue my career at Vassar.”
The King Street Chronicle thanks senior Madeleine Hooper ’24 for her contributions to “Humans of Sacred Heart.”
