Girl’s Basketball AOW
By: Jonathan Jeun, Henry Liu
Girls Varsity Basketball co-captains and seniors Erin McCann and Molly Pate overcame a season made unconventional by COVID-19 restrictions, continuing to motivate the team and improve in preparation for their remaining games. Not only have McCann and Pate been phenomenal players, but they have also been supportive teammates on and off the field.
Both captains found their passion for the sport at an early age. “I started playing basketball in first grade with my friends on the rec team in my town,” Pate stated. “I have played on travel teams, AAU, my middle school team, and now here at Exeter.”
Meanwhile, McCann was introduced to the sport in the sixth grade. “I didn’t really play any other sports because I wasn’t very athletic,” she said.
The two captains credit the team’s close relationship for their smooth transitions into Exeter. “I was the only prep on the team, so I had plenty of upperclassmen mentors to look up too,” McCann recalled. Sharing a similar sentiment, Pate stated, “playing sports here at Exeter has been a great way to help me transition.”
In addition to the team, Pate and McCann give their thanks to the coaches. “I have trained under several different coaches during my time at Exeter,” Pate said. “Having the opportunity to train with a variety of different coaches has been a great way to view the game from so many different angles, and I feel like I have learned so much about basketball as a result.”
As the two co-captains reflected on their past four years on the team, they shared favorite moments with the sport. Pate says that the highlight of her lower year was the match against Andover’s basketball team. “We implemented a full court trap that Andover just had no idea how to handle,” Pate said. “This full court trap gave our team numerous opportunities for steals and fast breaks, and we ended up winning.”
On the other hand, McCann will miss the bus rides with her teammates during away games. “I remember last year on the bus ride back from Choate, we took a wrong turn and ended driving through an abandoned construction site while blasting music and singing,” McCann said. “The sense of community you build as a team overtime that lets you laugh off mistakes or in this case, a wrong turn in the bus ride, is something I will always remember.”
Despite being virtual for the first half of the year, McCann and Pate have managed to keep the team well-connected. “Molly and Erin did a great job with planning activities and games for the team to play over zoom when we were all remote so we could still bond together as a team,” said lower Nur Almajali.
“Erin and Molly are often left with the task of leading the beginning of our Zoom meetings, and they come up with creative, fun, and elaborate ice breaker questions and activities for the team. One time, they took pictures of a card game they had at their house and we played it virtually over Zoom through breakout rooms,” upper Katie Sauer said.
The captains continue their support even off the court. Lower Delaney Miller emphasized their enthusiasm, mentioning, “The whole team has a group chat together, and Molly and Erin check up with us on it every once in a while.”
Sauer added, “They've also been executing their roles as basketball captains amazingly, as they reached out to everyone and created a team group chat, and contacted people for team uniforms. communication. Although I forgot to text Molly about my team uniform size, she reached out to me in person at practice, and I thought that it was extremely helpful.”
Even on the court, Miller explains how “they really care about the team and our dynamic. When practicing, they're pushing us to go beyond what we think we can do. They're always cheering for us and hyping up the team for whatever we do. They're super helpful and show strong leadership.”
“Both Molly and Erin lead by example. They are always working their hardest and trying to improve. To keep motivation up over break, they encouraged the team to send pictures or videos or our workouts to our group chat,” upper Ana Casey added.
Both captains are regular members at nonmandatory basketball practices, exhibiting a commitment to improving. “I almost always see them at the optional basketball shoot-around, and they text the basketball group-chat if anyone would like to join them for a run to get in shape for basketball,” Sauer said.
“They are fun to be around but take their position as captain seriously. When they show up to practice they are ready to give their all which sets a great example for the rest of the team,” upper Cecilia Treadwell said.
“It's an honor to work with them, Erin being on varsity for a while, and having known how good Molly was last year when we were on JV together. I always thought they were great players and having them lead us and by our side makes it all worth the while,” Miller said. Having people like them makes me want to come to practice and keep doing basketball.”
