As the 2014 Varsity girls Basketball team prepares to face the winter season ahead, Coach Jef Radtke admits his optimism and excitement to get the season underway. Although conference games don’t formally begin until early December, the team has traveled to several different venues and participated in scrimmages, tournaments, and non-conference games starting in mid-November.

Coach Radtke has worked with kids, young adults and athletes for over 25 years. When asked to describe his coaching style in as few words as possible, “intense” is what came to mind for coach Radtke without hesitation. According to most, girls’ practices involve much more than basketball related drills. Endurance Running such as a timed mile and sprints are intertwined at practices to achieve a better overall athletic balance.

While workouts and practices are intense and vigorous on a daily basis, the girls do feel they pay off. Senior Alex Weis stated, “We have good team chemistry, we are all very coachable and able to improve.”

Coach Radtke is very confident about what this season holds. He hopes that players will not only improve on their own game but also be able to grow and work off each other’s strengths and weaknesses to become a unified team. With the loss of three key members, the team needs to work to regain flow. Seniors Kia Richards, Cheyanne Pasdera, and Anne Radtke were primary members of this team. Radtke hopes that the team will develop a new dynamic aiming for a successful season. With the loss of these key players, Radtke also stated the importance of the nine seniors this year to all act as captains, by taking charge, and acting as positive leaders.

Looking into the future, he will lose nine girls at the end of this season; therefore he places heavy emphasis on improving everyone’s game and ability. The team has a great chance at succeeding and surpassing coach’s goals if they work hard, show progression, and, as Radtke stated, “Dribble the ball in the right direction.”

With many injuries already occurring early on, he holds high expectations for not only his starting players, but all 16 girls on the team.

Although Radtke runs a tight ship on the court, his sense of humor is apparent as he concludes by stating:

“We have great young ladies at NBW that are pretty darn good basketball players.”