Sophomore Lacey Smith hypes herself up and gets the team pumped up before a game in an unforeseen way. 

Before her basketball games, Lacey finds herself dancing and singing in the locker room with her teammates in order to get equipped for what lies ahead.

“I would describe myself as a leader on the team,” lacey said, “and I help encourage others a lot. I also make sure that no one stresses or worries too much about the game.” 

Since she was five years old, Lacey has been out on the court supporting her teammates in travel and school basketball. Inheriting her strength from her mom and dad who both played basketball in high school, they wanted Lacey to sign up for YMCA basketball. Soon enough, she got hooked and has been playing ever since. 

She really enjoys that some of the same girls are on both of her teams, but she also gets to meet a lot of newer girls from other schools on her travel team, which encourages her to become a more experienced player. The difference between Lacey’s school team and travel team is that the school team is under less pressure, but the competition isn’t as good. 

“Everyone on the travel team has a different level of skill,” Lacey said, “while the school team is more strategic because you have to figure out each player’s level of skill.” 

The environment of her team has been a positive one. It involves working together with everyone and collaborating with her coach and teammates. They are very encouraging toward each other both before and after games. They stand their ground, win or lose. They really expect the best out of Lacey.  

“The whole team is like a family,” Lacey said.  

Lacey finds most of her ability from not only her parents, but also from her coaches. Her coaches say that she is a leader on the team and that she gets the job done. Remembering this in a game, she tries to score as much as she can and works well with others, giving them an opportunity to score too.

One of her old teammates and biggest inspirations is varsity player, Maggie Snyder. Maggie inspires her most because she has been a good role model for Lacey. When they played on the same team, Lacey noticed that Maggie always held herself at a high standard and hit her goals at a rather fast pace. She always kept Lacey motivated, and they worked well together.  

“She has worked her hardest and completely deserves making varsity,” Lacey said, “and she has always been someone who I have tried to be. I look up to her.” 

Aside from her abilities and inspirations, she is also very motivated. It’s not just about winning as many games as possible; Lacey also notices the challenge that comes along with playing basketball. Working together as a team and figuring out the abilities of each teammate is sometimes hard to do, but it is one of the most important aspects of being on a team. Among the challenges comes a lot of fun spending time with her team. Lacey’s teammates have been together on the same team since seventh grade, so they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Lacey plans to play basketball for the remainder of her high school career. 

“It takes a lot of confidence in yourself and putting yourself out there in basketball,” Lacey said.