Niagara Juel Prep preparing for season

Head coach Kristy-Anne Wytenburg can’t wait for games to start for the Niagara Juel Prep girls basketball squad.

“I am pumped. I am very, very excited for this team,” she said. “We have a lot of really enthusiastic girls and girls who are committed to the game and committed to the grind. I am looking forward to working with them.”

There was an excellent response to the team and almost 30 players attended the tryouts in late summer.

“There was a lot of talent and prospects in the gym and there were a lot of girls to choose from,” Wytenburg said.

She feels her squad has plenty of potential.

“I think that I have a very hard-working team and my expectations are that the girls will show up to every practice, every on-court and off-court session and every team activity and give it their best,” she said. “If they give their full effort, that will lead to our success.”

She is most excited about watching her team play again.

“It has been a long time to be on the sidelines as a coach and I’m excited to see how all the hard work the girls have been putting in during COVID and what we will be doing the next four months translates into a game setting.”

Prior to joining Juel Prep, Wytenburg coached at Saint Francis and with the Niagara Rangers under-16 and under-17 boys travel teams.

The Juel Prep season is scheduled to begin the first weekend in January, but Wytenburg is hoping for a few tournaments and exhibition games before then.

During the high school season, the team will practise once a week on the court and will also have a weekend session with a skills trainer and athletic development trainer. Once the high school season ends, practices will be ramped up to three times a week.

“The girls are very excited to play, put systems together and be able to play defence in practice,” Wytenburg said. “You can see the confidence in the girls has grown exponentially from all the work that they had put in during COVID. They can’t wait to play.”

Izzy Brenzil, a 14-year-old Welland resident, agrees with that assessment.

“I am super excited and I can’t wait for the season to start,” the Grade 10 student at E.L. Crossley said.

She trained last season with the Niagara Juel Prep squad and was an affiliate player with the team during the 2019 season.

She is a believer in the Juel Prep system.

“I like that we are going to have two or three practices a week and that we are going to push each other to do our best.”

It will be great to play again and not just practise with no games on the horizon.

“To motivate each other and have that mental mindset to get ready for games is what we really need,” Brenzil said. “We haven’t played in nearly two years and it will be good for everybody to get back into the swing of it and the competitiveness.”

Also named to the Niagara Juel Prep roster are Aleesah Adams, Charli Thornewell, Cadence Seredine, Ashlynn Caverly, Jenna Sadler, Jenna Sandel, Maya Kolbinson, Olivia Bittman, Anna Deliyannis, Maia Walker and Keira Teske.

Helping Wytenburg coach is Kiki Rutledge.