Leadership by Coach Daniels

I believe that a player can be an effective leader by leading by example. If a player is able to set a tone for practices and off-season workouts and be consistent all the way through teammates will soon follow along. Once everyone gets on the same page that is when great success will come.

Right now during the stay-at-home players can be leaders by being reliable and communicating with their teammates. Reaching out to your teammates and seeing what they did to better their game that day. I know coach Massey has sent workout challenges out to all the players, so I would make sure that at the end of each week your name shows up in the completion of the challenge. This will show your teammates that they can rely on you to continue to work. Always remember what you do when nobody is watching is what separates a champion from everyone else.

Streaks Culture

We believe these five characteristics must be the heart of our team culture. The five characteristics allow us to be stronger together as a team, and produce a family atmosphere.

#1- Humility

Humility allows us to understand we have room to grow and improve in our lives.

Humility allows us to understand we can’t do it alone, we need other people.

#2- Passion

We can impact other people not just by what we do, but how we do it. We can be an energy giver with our love, our energy, and our work ethic. Nothing great can be achieved without enthusiasm.

#3- Unity

Basketball and life are team sports, together we always achieve more. We are tougher together.

#4- Servanthood

The best teams in life, help each teammate become better versions of themselves. Servanthood is our ability and willingness to help our teammates.

#5 Thankfulness

Gratitude must be a constant drumbeat. Don’t forget to express your appreciation. And, appreciate and learn from each circumstance, both success and failure.

These five pillars of culture were taken from Dick Bennett, successful high school and college coach.

MINDSET

MINDSET is the theme of our off-season workout program. Players came up with MINDSET. Letters of MINDSET represent qualities we think will be important for our development as players, and our development as a team in the off-season.

MOTIVATION- For you to be successful in the off-season, it must start with you being high motivated. For us to be successful as a team, your motivation must be contagious. Your work and your enthusiasm must help motivate your teammates.

IMPROVEMENT- Our focus in the off-season must be on improvement. Each of us individually must get better, and that will make us better as a team.

NEVER- We can never be negative, and we can never quit.

DISCIPLINE- Discipline means we are willing to workout even when we really don’t feel like working out. Discipline means we pay attention to little details so we execute the fundamentals correctly.

SACRIFICE- We must be willing to sacrifice our time to keep improving. We need to be willing to sacrifice our personal interests for the interests of the team.

ENERGY- No one is ever successful in life with a lukewarm approach. Energy is what allows us to play harder and to work harder than our opponents.

TEAM- Ultimately our level of success is determined by our commitment to each other- to our team. We must be together to succeed.  

Lexi Daniels- What Her Teammates Say

Lexi was part of some very successful high school teams. As a junior, the Streaks went 27-8 and made it to the Sectional finals before losing a heartbreaker to the eventual State Champs. Her senior year, the Streaks were 30-4 and ranked #3 in Illinois.

Lexi never played any Freshmen or Frosh-Soph basketball, she was on the varsity all four years. She invested hours and hours in the off-season to become one of the greatest three point shooters in school history. Her abilities earned her All-State recognition her last two years.

Lexi Daniels- Back Teaching/Coaching in Galesburg

I am so excited that Lexi Daniels was hired to teach in District #205, and that we can get her involved coaching in the girls basketball program.

Lexi had a great career at GHS as a player. She continued to be a big part of our program throughout college. She has been instructor in Streaks Camps, coach/counselor at Purdue Camp, and coach of our JH and Frosh teams in Summer League. She has coached with our program actually since her sophomore year in high school.

Now that she is coming back to Galesburg, we are going to continue to have her involved coaching in our program. We are excited that we are going to have Lexi as an assistant with Coach Barshinger and myself with the varsity team.

Neil Myer- Servant

It has been quite a while since Neil Myer was broadcasting in Galesburg for the Streaks, and since he was last in Galesburg. It was time to catch up with Neil.

My first memory of Neil was when our new pastor, his father, was coming to Galesburg and my father-in-law offered to take the young son to a basketball game on Friday night. After the game, Ben Allen told about how animated Neil had been during the game. I knew he was ok at that point.

Leadership by Casey Williams

Casey Williams played four years on the varsity at GHS, and then went onto have a good four year college career at Benedictine. Casey was a tremendous defender for the Streaks. She took great pride in her defense and her ability to guard different positions.

Lily- Shows Energy

Lily has faced adversity and just kept going. As a sophomore she was in the middle of great season and she hurt her knee in a skiing accident. It resulted in her missing the rest of the season and the entire summer of basketball. This past season she had games where she played and others she only played a little. It is not easy when you have been a “regular” your entire career to not play as much.

Leadership by Rainee Meeker (Sibley)

Have you ever met someone who never seems to have a bad day? They always seem happy to see you, and always are filled with enthusiasm and energy. Rainee Meeker (Sibley) is one of those people. She has the ability to change people with her enthusiasm. Leaders have the ability to influence others, and indeed, Rainee has that ability.

Grace- Focused on Improving

Having point guard on the floor to set up the offense, handle defensive pressure, and get the team in the right defense is so important. While Riley has been getting the job done on the varsity level, Grace has done that for her teams. In JH and HS, Grace's teams have all won. As point guard on each of those teams, Grace has played a huge part in her team’s successes. Grace can handle the ball, she sees the floor and passes well, and she is athletic. She has the ability to get up and pressure the other team.

Leadership by Megan Young

Megan Young is graduated from GHS in 2011. Megan brings high energy to everything she does. She was a perfect fit for the “system”, when we pressed all over and ran up and down. No one for the Streaks has ever played any harder than Megan played. She totally “got it”, in terms of the value of team building and having a positive team culture.

Leadership by Jess Howard

Jess Howard was an example of a player who was motivated to work on her own to improve her game. Yes, she did the practices, the camps, and the leagues- but she also invested hours working on her own game. As Jess looks at leadership, she touches on how work ethic and individual workouts result in self-improvement, they help provide leadership and set a team culture.

Leadership by Andie Leibach (Allison)

Andie Leibach (Allison), has been a great leader in our program as both a player and then as a coach. As a player, her strength as a leader was through her example. Her work ethic and competitiveness were second to none. When you have a leader, who comes to work in every practice, it sets a tone for the team.

The other component of her leadership was the example of team first she set. Whether she scored a lot or a little, whether she played a lot or played not as much, her approach never changed. It was obvious to her coaches and to her teammates her focus was on the team being successful. She set an example of unselfishness. In simple terms, Andie set an example of WE being more important than ME.

Abby- Keeps Competing

 Abby is coming off a great year with the Frosh-Soph team. From her freshmen to her sophomore year, she really improved her range and became a strong three point threat. Her outside shooting often would break games wide open for the Frosh-Soph team.

While she is a good shooter, her greatest strength has been her competitiveness. She is ready to compete, whether in games or in practice. She has always played the game hard, and never backed down from competition. As a result, she always goes hard. Her competitiveness drives her to work hard in practice, and has resulted in continual improvement.

Leadership by Jenna Wesselhoeft (Bicego)

Jenna Bicego started for the Streaks in 2003 and 2004. Those two seasons, the Streaks went 61-8. As point guard, Jenna she set single season record for assists as a junior and then reset the record as a senior. These are still the top two single season assist totals for Galesburg.

While Jenna was fantastic as a point guard setting up our offense, as a leader she set the tone for team in terms of competitiveness. She shares her thoughts on being a leader….

Riley- She's Got Passion

 Today I have a conversation with Riley. Riley has started as a sophomore and as a junior on the varsity. While playing the point guard position, she has led the Streaks in scoring the past two years. As junior, she shot 50% from the field and 35% from threes.

Leadership by Jaque Gohlinghorst (Howard)

Jaque Gohlinghorst (Howard) was three year starting guard in 1998-2000. She was captain of the Streaks her junior and senior years. Presently she is 8^th grade coach in Galesburg.

How can a player be an effective leader for their team?

A player can be an effective leader on their team by being willing to do the “extras” that no one else wants to do.  For example, it could be asking the coach to come in on a Sunday to do some extra shooting or dribbling routines.   On the other hand, it could be someone who stays after away games to check the locker room to make sure no one leaves anything behind when everyone else is rushing out to get on the bus.  A leader is someone who isn’t afraid to communicate with the coach or a teammate even if it is not always a positive conversation.  A leader is someone who takes challenges head on and is willing to work through the obstacles. 

Proud of Our Seniors- 2020

We want to recognize our three members of the class of 2020- Arleta, Chelsea, and Kaylee. You have given so much to the Streaks basketball program, to your teammates, to your coaches, and to each other.

You have been fantastic leaders by example. You never took shortcuts. You were first on the floor for practice. You came into shoot extra. You practiced and played with passion- always.

When something needed to be said- you stepped up to say it. If our weight room session was not great, one of you would tell us we needed to do better next time. After practice, you would not hesitate to say if we had not practiced at a championship level. And the practice before the Swirl, one of you was willing to tell the team, “Don’t do anything stupid tonight.”

Sara Wood- Leadership

 Sara Wood was a great player and great leader at GHS. She has applied her work ethic and leadership skills in her career as a Marine. She shares her thoughts on leadership, which apply to any field we are in. What she has to say is MUST READING for anyone who is serious about basketball. The following are Sara's thoughts on leadership...

“How can a player be an effective leader on their team?”

Not everyone can be the best player of her team but everyone has the opportunity to be a leader.