December 8, 2021
Winter is the season of girls basketball at Central High. Full of talent, the team and the rest of the school are excited to watch the girls play.
Starting the Season
Michael Kroupa is head coach of the girls varsity basketball team at Central High. “I always look forward to basketball season.” He describes it as his reason for his choice of career. “It’s why I got into teaching.”
Finishing in the #4 spot, Kroupa is still hopeful for improvement. Specifically, he always looks forward to seeing “the growth of the girls.” He says the attitude of the team has already improved but still hopes it will continue to improve as the season goes on. He also says the comfort level of the players and coaches has already improved. “I always try to stress to them it’s not the opponent we’re playing but ourselves.”
Future Goals
When talking about the difference between this year and last year he knows “every time is a little different.” He does, however, say a lot of the players from last year have returned. Two plays have left due to graduation that Kroupa says played “valuable minutes,” for the team. With seven seniors and three juniors the team is trying to make this a worthwhile season.
Strong players have arrived for this season. Kroupa wants his team to be as aggressive as they were last year. With lots of goals for the future Kroupa has no problem looking to the future and focusing on his team.
Kroupa describes himself as “optimistic” for the future. He wants to “get better at what we do.” His goal is to compete against themselves every day. “If we can do that, I’ll be more than happy.”
Influences of the Past
Covid influenced the last season. The girls were not allowed to have a preseason, fortunately, the girls were allowed to have one this year. Last year people were also not allowed to show up and support their team. Kroupa and the rest of the team missed the crowd and is excited to have them back; “Central’s got the best basketball crowd in the state.” Kroupa is hoping to “sell out.”
Because of covid the teams last year were separated at different facilities. One of Kroupa’s goals this year is to “blend this year’s talent more than we have in the past.” Though some of the younger generations may have been affected by the virus Kroupa says they still have a “positive future” with the freshman and sophomores. While Kroupa says there is still a “fear of illness,” he still hopes for an “uninterrupted season.”
This Season
This year he is working on figuring out what works and what does not. Along with trying new defense techniques. He calls this season’s adventure figuring out “what gets the girls a little extra motivated and a little more focused.” Kroupa is also working on getting a “solid rotation” for the team. Kroupa and the girls are working hard to make this season valuable for the school.
Kroupa loves seeing the girls form a team around each other and grow together. Basketball season holds many opportunities for the Central team including fun, focus, work and fulfillment. They are going to try their best to make this one to remember.
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