Neers refuse to throw in towel
BASKETBALL: Resilience is a word that keeps the Mountaineers women focused towards the back end of the QSL season.
The squad has found the going tough through the first month, dropping their seven game so far.
But they’re not giving in, and Kaila Gabriel said an eye to the future is keeping them motivated.
“I’ve had junior Mountaineers contact me on social media and say that they really appreciate our resilience,” Gabriel said.
“It’s good to see the younger generation notice that. We want to keep getting better, that’s the important thing.
“This has been a developmental season. As individual players, every single one of us improves every week. There’s been massive improvements as individuals and as a team.”
Gabriel has stepped into a new role as captain of the young roster this season, and said the response from the side has been a positive one.
“The younger girls have been very mature for their age,” she said.
“There hasn’t been any instances where I’ve had to go out of my way to put somebody on the right track.
“One of the biggest things as captain is how to maintain everyone’s positivity and keeping our heads up. It gets frustrating at times when losing.
“But we’re trying to be resilient. We’re at a time in the season where we could choose to check out, or make the conscious decision to come to training, work hard, be a good teammate and keep playing hard.”
The side face back-to-back games this weekend.
It starts tomorrow night when travelling to Southern Districts to take on the Spartans, before returning home on Sunday to face off with RedCity.
The women’s match at Clive Berghofer Arena starts at midday, with the men tipping off at 2pm.
sean.teuma@thechronicle.com.au