21 July 2012

Chadwick gearing up for second season

Tiger girls basketball coach Sondra Chadwick draws up a play
Sondra Chadwick accepted the position of FHS varsity girls basketball coach last year too late to work with her players during the off-season.

This summer the former Wheaton High School and University of Minnesota-Morris player has provided Tiger hopefuls a variety of summer playing opportunities.

Chadwick has a team of roughly 15 athletes competing in a Monday night league at Lakeville North and has separate teams entered in scheduled tournaments in Lakeville and St. Cloud later this month.

In addition, all players in grades seven through 12 have had the option of joining the Breakfast Club which has been meeting from 6:30-8:00 a.m. for early workouts followed by weight training sessions at the high school.

""We have about 30 players and they've been working very hard," Chadwick said. "They have shown great attitudes--even at that hour.

"This has given me an opportunity to to get some work in with the kids that I wasn't able to do last season and also to see see the talent in the younger grades...We've got a solid base of talent. How well they do will depend on the time they put in improving their individual skills."

Sophia Chadwick (photo by Jim Lindquist)
The second-year Tiger coach also has a number of players on area AAU teams that have been traveling to highly competitive tournaments throughout the Upper Midwest.

Sophomore-to-be Sophia Chadwick, the coach's daughter, is a member of the Minnesota Metro Stars team that finished runner-up in the 14U national championship game played earlier this month in Orlando, Florida.

The off-season work by her players has left coach Chadwick feeling positive about her second year on the Tiger bench.

"I am impressed with the number of girls who have showed an interest in working hard over the summer," she said. "I've challenged each of them to come back next winter as a better individual player to make us a better team.

"It is important that players understand there is always someone out there who is going to try to work harder than they are...The level of commitment our girls have shown this summer certainly improves our chances of starting the season strong. That is very encouraging."