By Zainab Khan and Rachel Nguyen, Staff Writers
As the upcoming winter season approaches for the boys Basketball Team, varsity coach Steven Schultz welcomed the 2014-2015 basketball players last Saturday to showcase and celebrate the players through the annual Tip-Off Day held at FVHS’s gym.
Held on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m., the boys basketball team introduced the season’s roster of the entire basketball program in order to share the initiation of the season’s official kick-off and the story of the new game mindset under the foundation of Coach Schultz.
The gym was packed with supporting family members and friends surrounding the players, who were seated with their teammates. The Tip-Off Day underlined the core message of the basketball program through speeches from each basketball coach, a socializing lunch event, an inspirational guest speaker, Ed Arnold, the reveal of the new Varsity uniforms donated by the Team Grandma, Dixie Arnold, a surprise rap performance from a Varsity player,Chris Meyer, and the closing scrimmage event that previewed the intensity of this year’s season.
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase our skills and show the community who we really are. We’ve been working hard in practice, going two hours almost everyday along with an hour in weight-room to add on to that. We’re just working hard and keeping the intensity up,” Adam Trounce (‘17) said.
Showing his intent for the Tip-Off celebration, Coach Schultz opened the event with his own personal speech to the audience concerning his own basketball inspiration that stemmed from his older brother.
“Everything we do, we want it to be first-class. We want to celebrate the players for all of their accomplishments, to set the stage for what we hope to do this year, but bringing a family-formal atmosphere for people to come together and mingle to set the tone for what we plan to do for that season,” Coach Schultz said.
The rigorous and consistent practice along with the team bonding events have demonstrated a surprising turn-out result as Fountain Valley begins to gear up for competition against top-tier teams.
“It’s a complete culture change…back with the other coaches, we felt like they didn’t care much about the lower programs. Here with Schultz, it’s more like a family situation,” Austin Matar (‘16) said about the impact that Coach Schultz made on the JV team.
The boys are looking forward to their next game on November 24th during Thanksgiving Break.
“It’s not just about winning games. It’s about how you lead yourself and others to a better life,” Coach Schultz said.
