Basketball is a new program offered to students this year at Snyder. A lot of students joined the team as coaches took on the challenge to teach many students who had never played basketball before. The team’s strength is certainly the amount of players while something to work on is those players increasing their skills as they are new to the game. 

“The amount of people on her team are too many to count,” said fifth-grader Azaryah McClenny. 

Fifth grade teacher, Miss Higley started coaching the team this year as a past athlete herself. Miss Higley was an athlete growing up starting basketball in 3rd grade and playing all the way through college. She also played other sports such as soccer, softball, and volleyball growing up. As a Sayre graduate, Miss Higley broke a record as a 1000 point scorer in high school basketball. 

“I love coaching basketball. Every coach I had, impacted me in one way or another and I looked up to my coaches. I always wanted to continue to be involved in sports and inspire others like my coaches did for me,” said Miss Higley.

A major part of playing basketball is working together as a team. Miss Higley and the other coaches work hard to create a team that supports and encourages one another. It is important during practices that the players learn the skills, but also learn to rely on each other. Miss Higley commented the season wouldn't be possible without her team of coaching staff; Mrs. Podolinski, Tara Young, and Andy Podolinski. 

“Being a part of a team is important because it teaches respect for one another, builds trust, and forces you to work together towards a common goal,” said Miss Higley.

“Basketball takes a lot of patience, practice, and hard work,” states Caleb Conden from 6th grade.

Like many sports, if you want to play basketball well, you have to put a lot of your time and effort into it. For many of the 5th and 6th graders, playing basketball is usually the highlight of their week. The sport can teach kids many different skills including teamwork and building relationships.

“I like playing basketball because I am able to be with my friends,” says Cameron Shaw.

If you have ever been to watch sports, you see fans and people cheering and supporting a team. Many of our Sayre athletes commented that having people there rooting for them and their team gives them confidence in the game to do well. This year the boys had the opportunity to play at the High School JV and Varsity games during half-times. This really gave Snyder players a big crowd to cheer them on as they played.

“My teammates have become close friends. Being friends is important as we play because you know they have your back on and off the court,” said sixth-grader Emmett Sibley. 

 Wrestling is both a team and an individual sport. Sayre has both a boys' and a girls' team. Girls' wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the country. Sayre has competed in tournaments against many different schools in the area. Coach Bryan Roof described wrestling to be a very tough sport that takes a lot of physical strength, flexibility, and toughness.

"I love the sport of wrestling. I had some amazing coaches who greatly impacted my life. Guiding and helping youths in sports has been something I found to be very fun and enjoyable," said Coach Roof. 

Coach Roof works on team bonding with the wrestlers by being supportive and encouraging and showing the other players what that looks like after both a win and loss. He uses the older wrestlers as examples and has them as line leaders to model different moves and agility. This creates a supportive team environment where wrestlers are able to also learn from each other. 

"Wrestling is a physical activity and it prepares your body to be ready for life. I look up to my coach because helped me go to States twice just like he did," said fourth-grader Connor Kmetz.