Olympus girls basketball team set for a good run

With only one senior lost to graduation, the Olympus Titans’ girls basketball team has the advantage of starting the season with some experience already under its belt.

“We have a good group of kids, and we are hoping to make a good run this year,” coach Kael Ashton said. “We’ll just have to see where we end up.”

Before the season even started, however, the Titans were already dealing with the bane of high school sports—injuries.

“One player is out for the year from a volleyball injury, and two others have been diagnosed with stress fractures,” Ashton said. “We’ve been bitten by the injury bug, including two of those that were starters. We’re still waiting to see what will happen there. But we have other very capable players.”

Ashton’s potential starters are seniors Janie Egan (5-4) and Jen Nichols (5-8) at guard, with a front line of seniors Kezie Droubay (5-10) and Kristin Smith (6-0), along with 5-10 sophomore Rachel VanderToolen.

Some coaches feel that the increase of injuries for high school players can be caused by over play and over use, a consequence of club and competition leagues that turn seasonal sports into year-round sports. Ashton is one of the few coaches left that believes a variety of sports participation is more beneficial for young athletes.

“I encourage my players to play other sports,” he said. “If they only play one sport all year long, they are using the same muscles, doing the same movements over and over again which can lead to injuries. It’s good for them to have a break, too. I tell them to play it all, do it all.”

The Titans will face a new schedule as well as some new competition this year, as they play teams from farther away in the new Region 7, such as Hillcrest, Hunter and Westlake. Boys and girls games will be played on the same nights, at the same times, but at different locations instead of the back-to-back format that was followed previously. The schedule could affect fan attendance at the games.

“This will be a very competitive region,” Ashton said. “We’ll have no nights off.”