Gloucester High School held a JV and Varsity girls basketball try-outs on November 11 and 12. Try-outs for GHS were held to a high standard this year. Coach Deyoung, who is the head coach for the varsity team, Coach Horrell, who is the assistant coach for the Varsity team, and Coach Toalson, who is the head coach for the JV team worked really hard to create a program this year and not just 2 teams. These coaches are very appreciated and well respected.
Interviewing Coach Deyoung was such an amazing experience, the interview was done over text, however the conversation was still great. The turn out for tryouts this year was way more than expected; there were 39 girls who tried out. When asked what she was expecting coming into try-outs Coach Deyoung stated, “ I honestly had no idea what to expect walking into try-outs the first day.” She also shared “Last season we barely had enough players for a JV and Varsity team.” This year was such a great turn out. Along with that, she was also asked if she was happy with try-outs this year. Coach Deyoung had a lot to say with this question, but one thing she said stood out the most, “ I was happy with the girls who have never played before for having the courage to try something new.” This shows how considerate and caring she is. From our interview, I can tell she loves basketball and her players as well.
Avery West, a ninth grader at GHS, also has a lot to say about how she as a player felt about how try-outs were done. She had some opinions about the try-outs and did make the JV team. Avery was asked how she thought try-outs were, she explained, “ honestly they were boring.” This is an interesting comment considering that I got other answers from other players. She also continued committing on that topic saying, “ I feel like they based a lot of their decisions on the first day and not across both. I definitely feel that I did better the second day and I feel like they didn’t consider that day for anyone.” Avery also said that she felt “I didn’t do as well as I could have; I haven’t touched a basketball in almost a year.” Avery West has great determination and great love for sports, so her saying that was definitely a surprise. Avery also said that she felt that there was the same level of skill from middle school to high school, but the environment was different.
GHS girls try-outs were a success. They ran great, and the turn out made the coaches happy. Even though we saw two different points of view, the interviews still went great. If you are thinking about joining the GHS girls basketball team, come watch the games and try-out next year!
