For players on the girls’ varsity basketball team, it is important to continue to work on their game during the offseason to stay in good form for the upcoming year. Sophomore Jalaya King frequents the thrice-weekly open gyms held after school to help hone their skills. 

“In the open gyms, we practice with all different types of people at different levels, like middle school and high school players,” King said. 

Junior Chloe Garoust also participates in the open gyms, which any student who is interested in playing can show up to. 

“We have these sessions to stay and shape and to improve our skills, and we scrimmage a lot,” Garoust said. 

Garoust also said the team focuses on conditioning during the offseason. 

”We have conditioning where we run the Melbourne Causeway as a team,” Garoust said. “I personally run on my own to stay active and in shape for next season.”

King, who also runs as a member of the track team, said there are other ways she is able to work during the offseason.

“I train is by going to the park every once in a while to practice my shooting,” King said. 

King said she thinks the work will pay off. 

“Practicing outside of the regular season allows me to improve my game, since it will help me not fall behind and really help with honing my skills while I keep improving,” she said.

Garoust also said sees the benefits in the offseason training. 

“We do drills that work on specific skills such as shooting, ball-handling, footwork and defense, which allow us to improve just from practicing and getting more repetition in,” she said. 

By Jack Grimison