Keeping Busy- Sarah Main

Participation in extracurricular activities has changed during the time I have been in coaching.  It is hard to get kids to remain involved in school activities and athletics if they are not going to be the “star”. Obviously in sports it can be very discouraging to work hard and not get a chance to play. It seems like at many high schools, you see fewer and fewer kids involved in sports and activities.

Sarah Main is definitely a student who has chosen to be involved at GHS. You name it, she is involved in it. While Sarah is involved in many things, she seldom will get any publicity. She is learning a valuable life skill—Sarah has learned to serve other people. I am confident no matter what she chooses as a career or where she chooses to live, she will make her community a better place. Sarah will be the person who is willing to volunteer to do all the little and all the big things that will make life better for other people. I hope she comes back to Galesburg!

Along with Lauren Riggs, Sarah has given countless hours to help the players and coaches on the basketball team.

How did you get set up to be basketball manager? Do you remember?

I got set up to be manager my freshman year. I remember Lauren and I had talked about being managers together so one day after school I walked in Coach Massey’s classroom and told him we were interested. I remember I was really scared to walk in there and ask him but I did and we’ve been filling water bottles up since.

Why did you want to be a manager?

 I wanted to be manager because growing up I always looked up to the girls basketball teams. I can still remember how much I enjoyed going to girls basketball camps and watching the girls play at state. I realized then that Basketball was something I definitely wanted to be involved in when I got older.  After playing in junior high and realizing my utter lack of coordination,  I decided that I would probably aid the team more as a manger in high school.

What all are you involved in at GHS? Do you ever think that you'd like to drop out of half the stuff and have more time to just lounge around and watch TV? Do all these activities affect your grades?

I’m involved in Student Council, National Honor Society, CARE, G-Club, Spanish Club, FCA, Student Spirit Association, Cross Country, Girls Basketball, and Girls Soccer. Sometimes things do get chaotic and I defiantly wouldn’t mind dropping half the stuff to lounge around catch up on my TV shows, but I really enjoy what I do and even though things can get stressful I could never give them up. For the most part, they don’t affect my grades but they defiantly do make it harder to keep up with homework and studying.

You attended Costa for JH, correct? In terms of size it was a big jump going to GHS, was it kind of scary coming to GHS?

Yes, I remember being scared to death with the idea of coming to GHS. I had heard about the fights and the size really intimidated me. Although looking back now, I think it’s funny how scared I was. My transition to GHS wasn’t bad at all and once I got here I realized how small the high school could be.

I know your father went to ROWVA. Have you ever thought that you wished you went to a smaller school?

I definitely pleaded with my parents to let me go to ROWVA the summer before my freshman year. They still give me crap about it but I was really afraid of going from Costa to GHS and for some reason I thought ROWVA was a better fit for me.

What is the best part about being a manager? worst part?

Some of the best parts about being manager are hanging out with the team, spending time Lauren, and giving Coach Massey a hard time. The worst parts are sanitizing the water bottles and filming. I am probably the worst film recorder ever! 

What was your favorite game? What was your saddest game?

One of my favorite games was the Bloomington game last season when we tied the Illinois state record for threes made in a game.  One of the saddest games was my freshman year when we lost the regional championship to Alleman. Knowing that was the last game we’d be working with Prov was a sad reality, Lauren and I both really looked up to her.

You and Lauren are trying to figure out if it is good or bad to be roommates at Illinois. And you know I won't be there to help settle disagreements. So what is the plan for figuring out if it is a good idea.

Well we’ve decided to have a roommate simulation. The plan is for Lauren to move into my room for a week and for us to live together like college roommates to see if it’d work. We’re still working out the details but we’ll see what happens.

I am very aware that you are a huge Illini fan. But if they not only eliminated Chief Illiniwek but eliminated the whole school, what would be your second favorite Big Ten school?

I would have to say Northwestern. I went and visited it this fall and I loved the campus as well as the school’s academic reputation.  If I had to pick a school based off athletics, I’d go to Michigan State.

I have never been so disappointed in an answer. How far do I have to go down before you mention Wisconsin?
I might put Minnesota behind Wisconsin.
That hurts.

The Chief, should they have gotten rid of him or not?

They should not have gotten rid of Chief. Chief was a symbol of respect and strength. Chief was not a mascot like Bucky Badger who runs around an arena, hangs out with the cheerleaders, and or fools around with another team’s mascot, he preformed and then was not seen again until his next dance. Chief represented Illinois heritage and should still be allowed to dance.

I think you won the award for being the best recruiter for cross country. This is your chance, why should a kid go out for cross country?

Going out for cross-country was one of the best decisions I’ve made since coming to high school. We have a blast and our teams like one big family. Our coaches genuinely care about us, our training, and are always supportive. It doesn’t matter how far you can run or how good of a runner you are, if you’re willing to work, they’ll get you where you want to go. You should go out for cross-country because it’s an amazing experience with a great group of people.

I would sure echo her comments about GHS cross country. It is a great program!

                             

At Meet the Streaks, you coached the faculty team to a tie with the Streaks. Which way do you see it?  A- The other team had more talent but you outcoached Massey.  B- If the faculty team didn't have so many attitudes and had listened to you more they could have won by 20.

I’d defiantly have to say it was a combination of the two. Going into the game Coach Riggs and I thought it’d be a quick and easy win but the guys weren’t into it. The other team had a lot of talent, which was something we had to consider but we were confidant the combination of our coaching abilities and our team’s talent would get us through. Unfortunately, the guy’s were somewhere else and the game didn’t go our way.  

Maybe later I can ask Lauren and Sarah to tell how the roommate experiment works out.