Andersen Middle School Dragons burn up the basketball court

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Carissa Morgan
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam --  Andersen Middle School has recently had winning sports teams to include the cross country and girls' soccer champs. They now have yet another winning sports team, the boys' basketball team.
The basketball season lasted two months; it started in the beginning of January and continued through the beginning of March.
The boys' basketball team went through a lot of different training.
"Coach Chuck Scott started the training with conditioning," said Jennifer Roberts, one coach of the Andersen Middle School boys' basketball team coaches.
"After teaching a few basics, he passed out a booklet that had all of the plays they needed to know to play as a team."
The basketball team had to get into the groove.
"It was tough. A player couldn't just learn one position, they had to know all of the positions," said Ms. Roberts. "The coach would sub a player in at any given time and position. It taught them how to multi-task and, with a team as large as ours, that they had to really pay attention."
Not only does the basketball team have a diverse training plan, but they also train frequently.
"For the first two weeks, they practiced six days a week," said Ms. Roberts. "This allowed them to prepare for the games to follow. Once the games started ,we dropped the practices down to two days a week with two games, which allowed time for school work and family time. Sometimes they would practice for an extra day at the request of the players."
This constant improvement of skill and diverse training led to the basketball team's championship victory. There were, however, bumps in the road to the championship.
"I guess the hardest part was the organization of the team," said Ms. Roberts. "We had to deal with players' family members being deployed, which made it hard for some to make it to the practices and games."
Another key player had to go on emergency leave, and Coach Scott went on Temporary Duty for a couple of weeks toward the end of the season, said Ms. Roberts.
"Through it all and with the help and dedication of the parents and volunteers, the Dragons pulled together and finished the season with a 9-2 record, or second place," said Ms. Roberts.
In a tournament at the end of the season in March, the basketball team beat the first place undefeated team to win in the private ranks and compete against the winner of the public schools. They lost in the final championship, said Ms. Roberts.
The Andersen Middle School basketball team has spirit.
"It was awesome to watch and be a part of such a great team," said Ms. Roberts. "I'm just amazed at the talent, dedication and drive these kids have at their age and I was honored to be one of their coaches."