By Yejune Park

Filling in the spaces of the coaches who left the previous year, Morgan Miller, history teacher, joined the girls varsity volleyball team as its new coach. Tyler Miller and Jennifer Miller, both science teachers, were welcomed to the varsity and junior varsity cross-country teams. In addition, Jonathan Ames, history teacher, took the position of the girls varsity tennis team’s new coach.

The new coaches have brought new rules to each of the sports. According to Joe Kim (10), varsity boys cross country member, Coaches Jennifer and Tyler Miller brought a new sense of fairness to the member selection process, an improvement that was unexpected before the new coaches had taken leadership.

“In contrast to last year, our coaches have decided to take our time records from our first friendly meet to choose the varsity members,” Joe said. “In practices, the new coaches push for more team unity and safety. For example, [during practice], instead of going ahead individually, all members crossed the road together as a team, and would also wait for the last member to catch up to the group during runs outside of the school campus.”

Similarly, the girls varsity tennis team has taken a different approach to training during practices. According to Jocelyn Lee (10), varsity girls tennis player, Coach Ames runs the practices in a way that is most comfortable and suitable for the female athletes in terms of respecting and following most of the team member’s suggestions. Compared to last year in which the athletes were restricted in terms of sharing their thoughts, they now have no boundaries. Thorough reflections on past games and player feedback on team plays are common in teams with a strong track record.

“Our coach had previous experience coaching for volleyball in other schools,” said Ashley Sohn (12), varsity girls volleyball captain. “This makes it beneficial for us because it means that we get to try out a new rotation system that we haven’t already tried already so far. He also makes sure that there’s more communication among the players as he highly emphasizes name calling to reduce risks of missing the ball during a game.”

Along with having three senior captains, the volleyball team this year is also taking a more positive yet competitive approach to this season. Since the captains have experienced four years of volleyball at SIS, they have a significant role in making sure the team members fit the new practices, are boosted with team spirit, and that they put a lot of effort into their play.

“Throughout the games and the whole season, I am looking forward to attitudes of persistence, enthusiasm, and commitment from my team,” Coach Morgan Miller said. “I can already imagine this season to be full of improvements, chemistry, and fun.”