The Signal » High School

Girls’ soccer big on bonding

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:44:40 +0000

With every practice that brings new and interesting things, the 2011 Girls’ Soccer team could be compared to a big family. Including pasta parties, Frostie Freeze fun-runs and many other team outings, the fun on the team truly never stops.

“I have many favorite things about playing soccer. One of the best is having a fun way to relieve stress and bond with your teammates,” Sophomore Torri Jordan said.

Many people may think that soccer is just kicking a ball around a field, but Jordan believes it to be a game of strategy, aggression and teamwork. Jordan hopes to compete at the college level. She wants to pursue the game of soccer because the challenge is much greater, and she could still have fun and kill some stress as well. Her coach taught her to be confident in her abilities, just as much as the team’s abilities. Jordan believes the ability to get back up after a fall is the best thing any coach could teach.

“Soccer, as well as my coaches, have(sic) taught me the importance of working together as a team. Sometimes it can’t be all about you. If you work together, you can get stuff done,” Freshman Madison Schroeder said.

Schroeder likes every part of playing soccer and has been playing since she was five. Soccer has always been her favorite sport. Soccer practice begins with a warm up of running and stretching and continues on with drills that focus on the things the team needs to work on, like passing, being the first to the ball and shooting. Practice ends with a scrimmage and more running.

“What I would like the team to take away from the season is a sense of team unity and pride in playing for the Blackhawks’ Girls’ Soccer team,” Coach Jeff Jensen said.

The team , in Jensen’s opinion, has been on track for where he expects them to be at this point in the season. Jensen believes soccer to be a very demanding physically and mentally challenging sport. The team i taking on new opponents this season, making it more competitive environment which Jensen believes to help them to become a better team.

So far the team has competed against Delevan, Jefferson, Baraboo, Reedsburg, Oconomowoc, Milton, Oshkosh North, and Deforest. The team has yet to play against, Monroe, Monona Grove, Janesville, Palmyra, Stoughton, Portage, Madison Edgewood, Sun Prairie, Oregon, and Whitewater.

Jensen has been coaching Girls’ Soccer for seven seasons. He has also combined 13 years of coaching experience between the JV Boys’ and Girls’ soccer programs in Fort Atkinson. Jensen’s favorite thing about coaching soccer is helping the soccer players reach their full potential and helping them in applying those skills to the soccer field and in their everyday life. He believed that regardless of the score and outcome of the game, as long as you can walk off the soccer field with your head held high and you can say that you have done your best and given it 100%, a coach could ask for nothing more out of a soccer player. Whether you are on the soccer field, in the classroom, or at your job, striving to do your best in achieving goals make you a better person.

Boy’s basketball drills in success

kohlale — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:27:17 +0000

The Boy’s Varsity basketball team had a drastic turn around compared to last season’s woes.

A major contribution to the team turnaround has been the defense. Going into the season, head coach Mike Hintz said defense would be a key component in winning more games. Drills the team has conducted this season have focused on defense so far this season. The defensive drills have paid off, as the Blackhawks only give up 54 points per game.

“We do many drills from many different standpoints. We start with 1-on-1 drills and transition to 3-on-3 work. Then we switch back to a 1-on-1 closeout drill. After that we do 2-on-2 rebounding. We then do a lot of 3-on-3 work which is followed by 4-on-4 drills. To conclude our defensive work, we do a 5-on-5 scrimmage like drill,” Head Coach Mike Hintz said.

Offense is one aspect of the game the Blackhawks have lacked compared to previous years. The team only averages 49-7 points per game. This means the team’s average margin of victory is -4.3 points per game.

Although the team would like to spend more time on defense, it is becoming more important to work on the offensive aspect of the game.

“We work on offense in a variety of ways, whether it be 5-on-5 shooting drills, or just running our offensive sets. We probably practice offense 90 percent of practice because even if we are doing emphasized defensive drills, we have players playing offense that are trying to make us better,” Sophomore Tanner Boos said.

The Blackhawks are currently 5-10 (2-4) and have eight games remaining. The team has already won five games, which outweighs their win totals from the previous two years combined. They hope to finish the season strong and make a strong playoff run.

“It all depends on if we come ready to play. I feel this team is talented enough to beat just about anyone. If we execute and hustle all game, we will be a very hard team to beat,” Junior Jim Hanson said.

Girls Volleyball sets up for playoffs

ramseystatz — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:33:47 +0000

The three month season has begun for the varsity, lady Blackhawk, volleyball team. While former senior athletes are off to new places, the team is working hard to enhance their game and competition.

Janelle Gerds, Madeline Podmolik and Alison Kozulla are the starters in the front row.

Back row starters are Shelby Graffin, Courtney Haferman, Lauren Pfeifer and libero Hayley Chisolm.

Abbigail Scoonover brings attention to the team as the only freshman to make varsity this year.

“My favorite thing about being on varsity is that I get to work with amazing athletes and improving,” Scoonover said.

Head Coach Amy Spies starts her seventh year coaching the team. Developing her team’s skill set is a priority.

“The one thing that I would say about our team is that they are a very talented bunch of girls that like to practice/compete at a very high level,“ Spies said.

The regular conference season ends on October 14; however, if they’re successful in the playoffs, they could potentially compete through the first week in November.

“I feel good about the season so far. We have had our ups and downs, but overall I have a great group of girls that like to work hard,” Spies said.

As of September 29, the girls have won nine games and lost four. They rank third out of the seven schools in their conference. The girls will be in action at Monroe on Thursday, October 7.

FAll Sports Updates

ramseystatz — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:57:59 +0000

Cross Country
 Both boys’ and girls’ cross country are off to a fast start with six meets behind them already. There have been various individual medal winners in each race, but the team has not taken home any trophies as a whole. The conference meet will be held at the Koshkonong Mounds golf course.
 
Football

 All three football teams are in full swing now as varsity caught their first win in two years against the Monroe Cheese Makers. J.V. has recently grasped their first win of the season as well. Freshman have won all of their games so far.

Girls Swimming
 Lady Blackhawks’ swim team have had eight meets so far, and with the addition of multiple new freshman on varsity as well as returning upper classmen, many have high hopes for the swim team this year.
 
Girls Volleyball

 Girls volleyball is battling through their season also.  Freshman won their home tournament on September 18 while J.V. spiked their way into second place on September 18th.  Varsity is number three in conference as of September 29.

Boys Volleyball
 Boys’ volleyball has had a total of 12 matches thus far in their season and has participated in one tournament too. They are eager for the future matches and hope to improve their record from the past year which was 5-5 in conference; this year so far they are 2-3 in conference. 

Girls Golf
 Blackhawk women’s golf has had 12 tournaments in all but only five were conference.  Out of the six conference tournaments they have placed in one but Mara Simonson and Abby Knutson will be participating in the sectional tournament after competing in the regionals tournament and placing high enough to move on to sectionals.

Girls Tennis

  The girls tennis team has had a total of fifteen matches and their conference match which was played on September 24 and 25. The single sub-sectional players include Lexie Weigand, Katie McCarthy, Courtney Jacobson and Briana Jackson. The doubles players for sub-sectionals are Ellery Barrow and Rhea Bradley, Becky McHenry and Mariah Topel and Rachel Forseth and Anne Kamstra.

Boys soccer

 The Blackhawks boys’ varsity team has had a total of 18 games so far this season. The varsity team is made up of sophomores, juniors, seniors and one freshman. The J.V. team has had a total of 16 games.Varsity has a record of 5-10-2 in conference, and J.V. has a record of 9-6 with an eight-game winning streak.

Going…going…??? Fort sluggers step to the plate in sectionals

adviser — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:32:22 +0000

The Fort Atkinson baseball team defeated Oregon 9-7 in their sectional match-up.

This win allows the Blackhawks to advance to the sectional final game at 5:00 on June 9 (today) at Riverside Park in Janesville playing either Milton or Oconomowoc!!!!!

For those who can’t make it to the game it will be on 106.5 FM.

Girls Softball plays in Sectionals today

adviser — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:27:59 +0000

The WIAA softball tournament shifts into high gear with sectional semifinals Wednesday at locations throughout the area, and the Madison.com coverage team will provide updates throughout the competition.

The games will determine the matchups for Friday’s sectional finals, the last stage before the state tournament June 17-19 at Goodman Diamond.

The Fort Atkinson Girls Softball team huddles and cheers each other on in action from earlier this season.

Division 2

Evansville sectional semifinal: Luke Briggs, in Evansville for the baseball sectional triple-header, will try to monitor the Brodhead-Fort Atkinson sectional semifinal softball game from 300 feet away. It could be a quick softball game with Brodhead ace Erika Stampfli, who had 21 strikeouts in a game this season, and Fort Atkinson’s Emilie Bakken, who has 44 career victories at Fort, going head-to-head.
Division 3

Amount of playing time questioned by athletes

martakotz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:58:10 +0000

At the beginning of every sports season, a student athlete must pay a $40 fee in order to participate in games and practices.
The only question is if every athlete gets enough playing time for hard work that they put in and the $40 participation fee they payed.
“I did pay that fee and on top of that all the other stuff; I had to pay for such as the new team shoes and knee pads. The bill really started to add up. So considering all the money we spent for the team and all the hard work I put in, it would have been nice for some more playing time. But through out the season I was really thinking about the $40 plus and the hard work that I contributed, and the playing time that went along with it,” Varsity Volleyball player Jessica McCulloch said.
It’s common to see Juniors or Seniors get upset over an underclassmen starting ahead of them, even under these equal stipulations.
When they’ve been playing the sport for longer and put in equal amount of time in, tensions can rise, or respect is showed for the underclassmen’s skill level and hard work to the sport.
“People weren’t always angry when I started over them, they sometimes got playing time at different positions. I felt I deserved every minute of my playing time because I went to every practice and put a lot of effort into each practice. I didn’t care if I would get my $40 worth of playing time, it’s not about that. I love playing football,” Varsity Football Quarterback Drew Dunkleberger said.
There have always been mixed emotions on this topic, which takes place in virtually all sports seasons.
Some athletes feel they would have handled this situation differently.
“I would have considered that each player payed their fee, in the games and every difficult practice. Also, if I was the coach I would have made every player earn their playing time like everyone else. So if a player was good, they would get more playing time than other people that are worse, goof off in practice, or even skip practice,” Freshman Football Player Adam Knox said.
While some players were discouraged about their amount of playing time; others felt it was the skills they had which determined their amount of playing time.
“I feel I got sufficient playing time for my skills. To put it nicely, I’m not the best player. I got ten to twenty minutes per game and that’s what I deserved,” JV Soccer Player Aaron Martin said.
One thing athletes seem to lose sight of, is that coaches are in games to win them, and not to put in every player on the team and make playing time equal.
That stage of competition was left by Middle School.
To earn a starting spot, or more playing time, it takes work and dedication to the sport.
Even when you’re not the best player on the team, being a part of the team can be a reward in itself.
Teamwork, dedication and various other aspects of being in a sport are all things that students will face now and through the remainder of their lives.
“Working together is important, because there is no ‘I’ in team. I like going out for a sport because it’s fun and we do lots of stuff together. And going places together, like camp, also helps,” Junior Victoria Smithyman said.

Girls’ basketball season opener

martakotz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:56:51 +0000

It is time to tip-off another season of girls’ basketball.
Fort Atkinson looks to improve upon its 4-17 record, which included just two wins in the highly-touted Badger South.
In attempt to turn around a program which has gone seven straight seasons without a winning record, Fort has brought in Scott Lastusky as the new head coach.
Lastusky replaces Jim Nyman, who coached the two previous seasons and finished with a 10-32 overall record.
“Coach Lastusky has a great passion for basketball and, more importantly, for players. I look forward to working with Coach Lastusky, along with the rest of the staff,” Assistant Coach Mike Hall said.
Lastusky has been involved since the moment he agreed to coach. Setting up pre-season open gyms, holding a mini camp and attending the girls’ summer league games are just a few examples of the dedication he brings to the program.
“He’s really giving us the opportunity to improve, and holding Saturday practices throughout the season will also help,” Senior Forward Niki Boos said.
In addition to Lastusky, Fort has brought in Mike Hall, Lance Riddell and Greg Riddell to fill the Varsity Assistant, Junior Varsity and Freshman coaching positions.
In bringing in Hall and Riddell, the program now has two of Fort’s most experienced coaches.
Hall coached the boys’ varsity team from 1997 until 2006 and is currently the defensive back coach for the football team.
He not only offers varsity coaching experience, but his post season experience, which includes a state tournament birth, will be key to the team’s playoff success.
Riddell, who also was a part of the coaching staff during the 2001-2002 season, was previously the boys junior varsity coach.
Riddell also has spent time coaching baseball and has the important role of coaching the freshman football team.
“I am looking forward to a fresh start this year and bringing in new coaches will definitely help that,” Senior Forward Niki Boos said.
Lastusky and his staff will have plenty of talent to work with, as the Varsity team returns three of the top five scorers from last season in Lexie Weigand (218 points), Marie Fitzgerald (88 points), and Boos (77 points).
In addition to this trio of players, there are hopes that Seniors: Ashley Boos, Courtney Lanza, Cassidy Lyons, Michelle White and Michelle Jacobson, are able pick up some of the scoring lost in Ralissa Nelson (245 points) and Jessie Truman (120 points).
“I think our team should do better than last year, and a goal I think we should set is to win over half our games. Finishing top in conference would be nice, but when your playing in the Badger-South, it’s always a tough game,” Boos said.
Only time will tell if this group of girls can bring Fort its first winning season since the 2002-2003 season.
“I believe the entire staff expects the girls to commit to playing with passion and to making our community proud of them on and off the court,” Hall said.
The ladies kick off their season on November 28th, when they travel to Lake Mills for a non-conference match-up. They face Jefferson County’s all-time scoring leader from last season, Denay Hering.

Behind the Scenes

martakotz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:55:07 +0000

Most people have never heard of the group that brings athletic events to local viewers, puts in hours of work, yet gets little recognition: Fort TV.
Fort TV is responsible for producing the content that is played on the public access channel, which allows people to view events they were unable to attend.
This member based group is advised by Mrs. Brokl and Mr. Hatlen, but has grown through all of the students’ hard work. Just four years ago Fort TV was made up of around ten members. Each member dedicates a certain amount of time to filming and editing.
“Our organization would be nowhere without our members,” Senior President Chris Scherer said.
Scherer is responsible for most of the technical aspects of the station.
“Chris has been in Fort TV all four years and has been very knowledgeable in the AV department since day one,” Advisor Sandy Brokl said.
Fort TV is very similar to the likes of PBS, in that they do not advertise for profit.
“The only income we receive is from donations and whatever we can get from the school district,” Scherer said.
This does not stop the School District from rewarding members with pay.
“It’s not a lot, but the experience gained by working on a television crew is priceless,” Scherer said.
Most people don’t realize all of the “behind the scenes” work that occurs in Fort TV. After the filming of the event, the members must import the video and program the final play out. The members must find time in their own schedules to get all of the work done. Scherer alone spends nearly three hours a day in the library to work strictly on Fort TV.
“The thing that people know is that there is no instruction manual or pre-designed system. It’s a system that has taken me all four years of high school to perfect,” Scherer said.
As this organization continues to grow in size, it will have to deal with a major loss as Scherer will be graduating this spring.
The organization will look to have someone step-up and to continue improving the system that Scherer created.
“Without this system and the dedicated club members we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Scherer said.

One week of two-a-days: Boys’ basketball players react to Coach Mike Hintz’s demanding coaching techniques

martakotz — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:52:59 +0000

New to the boys’ basketball program is not only the coach, but also his aggressive coaching style.
On Monday, November 16th, the boys’ basketball season began.
To start off their season, they spent the first week of it with practices in the morning before school began, from 6-7:20, and after school, for 2-3 hours.
Two-a-days is commonly associated with football. Coach Mike Hintz has taken this term to new heights in the 2009-2010 basketball season.
The weeks leading up to the season were filled with optional, yet recommended and insisted basketball open gyms, where players would partake in 2 hour, 5 days a week of conditioning and practicing.
A few of those nights were spent running the football hills in the back of the school.
“Our practices are pretty intense, we work on a lot of defense. Our coach preaches defense,” Junior T.J. Strom said.
To recover from a 1-19 season last year, boys’ basketball players seem to be accepting these new and intense workouts.
“I think it will benefit us in the long run. Were working on a lot of new stuff that we haven’t really done before. We’re getting a whole new defense and offense. Right now we have our tryout period, to show who can play what. I think it will help a lot, because it’s teaching us quite a bit, and were learning a ton of new things, so it should help us play with more intensity,” Strom said.
Last year, practices were only after school for 2-3 hours.
As the tryout week progresses, the guys will build up their strength and refresh their skills in order to be playing their full potential for game time.
“It’s hard getting up early to go to practice, and the practices can be physically demanding at times, but it’s making us better and I think it’s working for us,” Junior Zach Koch said.
Players will resume once-a-day practices after Thanksgiving vacation.