This year, Wooster's girls basketball team has gone through many changes; most noticeably, a coaching switch, and losing two prominent senior players from the team. Since my freshman year, we have had three different coaches, Coach McNutt, Coach Sullivan, and now Coach Jackson. Coming into this year I was a little bit nervous about what it would be like, especially after Frances Ryan and Khamya Christodonte graduated last year, and having a new coach. Frances and Khamya were a big part of our team, scoring many of our points and being leaders for the younger players. Coach Sullivan was our coach for two years, and the team had gotten used to his coaching style and had settled into a rhythm. So, coming into this year I think there was definitely some nervousness about what it would look like.
Overall, I think it has gone pretty well, but the team is still adjusting to the practices and game settings. I think that going from barely practicing and having only 3 games last year to having a full season and practice everyday was a big change, but we have been adapting well. We have had three games so far, and the first two had wildly different outcomes. Our first game was against Hopkins school, which is out of our league. We unfortunately lost 48-17. However, we had a chance to redeem ourselves the next day at our game against Westover School. There were some nerves going into this game just based on the outcome of the previous game, but we pulled through and won 46-14.
Our most recent game was on Monday against the Frederick Gunn school, and after a hard fought game we ended up losing. We played hard and did not make it easy for the other team, and we are even more determined for the next time we play them right after break. Our new coach has been working hard on plays and in practice to make sure that we are improving everyday and working towards the end goal of the HVAL tournament.
Sara Rieger asked Coach Jackson more about his background and about the upcoming season.
- the above was written by Evie, and the next part by Sara
Coach Vince Jackson has been recently introduced as the new coach for girls basketball, and so far, he has had a substantial impact on the team, pushing the players to grow and develop so that their 2021 winter season will be ahead of the game. Coach Jackson is very experienced in the sport and has been kind enough to share some of his past coaching jobs and insights on his previous playing career.
As for playing, he started off his career at Bishop Ford High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he then went on to play at the American International College located in Massachusetts. Deriving from his love of basketball, he then went on to coach overseas in Germany for 2 ½ years for a women's semi professional team. In addition, he worked for Adidas as the global public relations manager for Adidas' basketball. As for that job, he was also the global public relations manager for the American professional basketball team, the New York Knickerbockers, or more commonly known as the New York Knicks. He worked there for 6 years, and it was his favorite job, as he is an enormous Knicks fan. He also worked at the Hewitt School for girls in New York City for a year and after that, he coached at Democracy Prep Charter High School in Harlem for a year.
Currently, he is the executive director for the Danbury PAL where he raises funds for non-profit organizations such as the Danbury PAL for all sports, viewing himself as a sort of athletic director. Coach Jackson is very excited for the upcoming season and explained, "Play hard and we'll see what happens, I think if you play hard and put in the effort, good things will happen. And, that's the way I think coaches should coach and players should play. If you work hard, good things will happen, and you just have to let the chips fall where they may."
Wooster Girls Basketball is very fortunate to have him as a coach, and hopefully the season will go their way, but whether win or lose, the players are guaranteed to improve both physically and mentally supporting the growth mindset that Wooster represents.