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.

In her high school and college career, she has been part of some very good teams. From her perspective, everything starts with strong leadership. She makes a great point- that on a team to be successful, you need everyone taking ownership of being a leader for the team.

Here are Casey’s thoughts on leadership….

Any great team starts with a great group of leaders. Teammates who are leaders show strong work ethic abilities, and great energy during practices, and in the locker room. A leader is a voice of reason. Someone who the whole team will listen to an agree with their words.

So, your first step should be to work hard, bring your best energy at all times, and from the basketball perspective leave everything on the court. You do not have to be the best player on the team to be the best leader.

I believe a good second in becoming the best leader is to know yourself and know your team. Where do you fit in on the team? Are you a starting guard averaging 15 pts a game or a strong sixth man giving a burst of energy off the bench. Whatever it may be, play your role and do it to the best of your ability every time you step on the court.

How well do you know your team? Who is your teams go to player when you need a quick bucket or a stop on the defensive end? Even if neither is you, you should be the first one to cheer them on and be there to pump them up and believe in them.

Not getting minutes in a game is hard. How do you become a leader on the bench? Get every player sitting out involved. Every player on a team has a worth to that team. If you do get minutes you come out of the game cheer with your bench no matter how tired you are. High energy from a whole team is intimidating to others.

Leave the drama away from the gym. It can be tough to get along with every single person all of the time especially when you have a big team. But, you should all be in that locker-room or on the court for one common goal and that is to be successful. Inclusion is important.

Last but not least, reach out. If you see a teammate struggling in their head about something reach out. If a player has the worst game ever, reach out. If a player has the best game of their career, reach out! It means so much to someone to know when another person has their back and a true leader will have everyone on their teams back regardless.

While everyone is at home you should again reach out, whether that be a group text or individual texts. Make sure everyone is doing ok. Make sure every knows they have each other to lean on in these not so ideal times. There are plenty of things you can still do to be getting better from home. Have everyone send videos of them getting better. Send daily inspiration. Anything you can think of to make sure everyone knows basketball will be back soon!