The Perry gym is filled with squeaking sneakers, waving arms and deafening buzzers and chanting on a Tuesday afternoon practice. The girls are constantly chanting and yelling on the court, telling each other to “keep your hands up” or “talk to each other, come on!”

The Lady Pumas are working on team unity and strong leadership this season. Coach Carl Curtis usually tells one of the leaders what activity he wants them to do and she will lead that exercise.

After losing their nine seniors from last year, and an additional three seniors this year, the number of senior leaders is not as dominant as it has been in the past. They make up for this with younger players like junior Simone Simmons, who have the drive and determination to lead the team. “Since there’s a lot of freshman, we have to be able to come together as a team, and make it more of a unity thing and a family,” she claimed.

Since the beginning of tryouts, the girls have been working hard with conditioning and technical skills. With the highest seeding and wins the Lady Pumas have ever achieved, Coach Curtis is pushing the girls to be the best players they can.

“We’ve been training really high tempo, everything is high tempo, high reps,” Curtis said, “we don’t just talk about how we need to play fast, we make sure to train our bodies.”

Taking each day to work on getting better and having a champion mindset, the girls are ready to bring it on the court this season.

Returning Senior Taylor Jobe is already doing her best to become a real team leader, her goal being the way the team plays. “Playing with the same amount of heart we did last year,” Jobe recalls, “that’s one thing we didn’t lack no matter who we were playing.” Jobe is already showing leadership skills in practice, encouraging the newer players and giving out advice.

The three returning players are making it a priority to create unity amongst the girls. The second of the two returning seniors, Megan Pratt, is making sure to keep the team’s energy up. “If we are in a drill and you are not participating in the drill at the moment or exerting all your energy then you will be cheering,” Pratt states. With the motivation and drive from the returning players, this season is sure to be full of hard work and a faster than ever pace.