photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Stella Huebner attempts a shot on Monday, June 17, 2024 at Bishop Seabury Academy during a summer workout.

In the Bishop Seabury gymnasium on Monday, a small group of middle school and high school girls worked through dribbling, shooting and rebounding drills with Seahawks boys basketball coaches.

It has been over a year since Bishop Seabury fielded a high school girls’ basketball team. The Seahawks have had small middle school teams, but girls basketball has taken a hit with kids, resulting in smaller enrollment and other club sports taking priority.

The greatest message that boys basketball coach Trey Johnson wants to spread to those interested in joining the team is that there are no expectations. Players can join, learn the sport and enjoy themselves.

“There’s not any expectations to be really good, it’s just having fun and learning the skills of basketball,” Johnson said.

A big hurdle in bringing girls in is that some girls believe they aren’t good enough to play and are not trying. Johnson and the other people around the school trying to recruit kids assure them that elite basketball skills are not required and that the coaches can help develop those interested in improving.

Johnson, with the boys, had a similar experience in building a program back up. The Seahawks won one game the year before he joined as an assistant coach, and in his first year with the team, the boys won three games. The team improved with ten wins, then reached 21 wins, which the Seahawks had this past season.

Another obstacle has been club sports. Volleyball’s popularity brings a lot of would-be basketball athletes to compete in the club season, which takes place in the winter. Club sports take some of the top athletes working toward playing in college.

Two rising freshmen were among the girls working through drills and were the only to-be representatives of the high school team at the Monday workouts, although a third is expected to join. Both have played basketball since elementary school and have been playing with Bishop Seabury’s middle school team.

Stella Huebner started playing basketball in third grade and has played with Parks and Rec teams. Millie Newell also started with Parks and Rec before playing with Bishop Seabury’s middle school team. Huebner is used to playing on small teams, which would be what playing for the Seahawks would be like. They think they could get around seven girls to play, which isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to play with a couple of substitutions.

“We’ve been talking to some girls who’ve played basketball before who didn’t play these past few years, Huebner said. “I think we’re going to get some of them in … and anybody that thinks that they might play basketball, we really direct them toward it and say, ‘Hey, you should play it.'”

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Millie Newell, left, prepares for a shot attempt in a summer workout at Bishop Seabury Academy on Monday, June 17, 2024.

Johnson said that the school expects to field a team this year and that in the future, more eighth graders on the middle school team have expressed interest in playing in the 2025-26 season and beyond.

It’s a group effort to bring the sport back. Huebner and Newell talk to their classmates, and Johnson spends more time around school events like soccer games to invite girls to join the team. He also said he’d be an assistant coach in some capacity, which was something that two prospective girls asked for. Johnson noted parents like Huebner’s mom have also helped rally support for the cause.

While there are only a few months left before the season starts, the recruiting process began last year when the decision was made to cut the sport. The loss made an impact on the boys basketball team as well. With their roster already being short, the boys would play half of a junior varsity game before playing a varsity game, as he had some boys play in both games. This shortened the total game time at home games, and it didn’t have the same feeling as a typical game day with boys and girls JV and varsity games. Johnson hopes that bringing back the girls team will boost the attendance for a greater game experience.

For now, the team is Newell and Huebner as the two who have participated in the initial summer workout. More are expected to participate later in the summer, and if things go the way they are trending, Bishop Seabury will see girls basketball again this year and for years to come.