Sophomore psychology major Angela Andrews is a center for Blackburn College’s women’s basketball team; however, this is not her first experience playing college basketball. In fall 2015, she transferred from Scottsdale Community College in Arizona where she also played center. “I was only able to play the preseason since I had problems with my health, but I still traveled with the team and went to all of their games,” she said. Andrews added that there were several notable differences between her experience as a player at Scottsdale than at Blackburn.
According to Andrews, the challenge rating of teams was higher when she played for Scottsdale since they have a Division II athletics program. However, she thought it was better that the teams she has played against with Blackburn have been less difficult. She said, “It made it easier on me to face off against Blackburn’s rivals, which helped me feel like winning was within reach.” Andrews noted that both Blackburn and Scottsdale have a reputation of not winning as many games as other teams within their divisions, but she did not think that was a negative. “It increases the eagerness to win,” she said.
Even though Andrews felt like both teams share in the drive to succeed and have a strong dynamic, she said that they go about team bonding differently. When she played for Scottsdale, every weekend the players would go hiking in the mountains together. “There could be more team bonding activities here,” she added. “But you have to travel far to get to somewhere of interest here. There were more options in Arizona.”
Andrews also mentioned that there was a shift between coaches and how they ran practices. She had a male coach at Scottsdale, whom she described as more lenient. He also had experienced assistant coaches, which took pressure off of him. Similar to Scottsdale, Blackburn’s head women’s basketball coach Katie Fonseca has student assistants to guide the team. Andrews noted that while Blackburn focuses on team-involved practices, Scottsdale had more specialized practices that would focus on certain groups of players. Andrews said, “I believe those practice sessions could go hand-in-hand. It’s a team sport, but individuals need assistance too.”
Overall, Andrews prefers her athletic experience at Blackburn and credits that to Fonseca. “She doesn’t give up on her players, which makes playing on the team 10 times better,” she said. Her advice to other transfer students – particularly athletes – is to remember that change is a good thing. Andrews stated, “Whether it’s good or bad, you learn something from it.”