The women’s basketball team’s “big-little” mentorship system has become a backbone for the program for the past three years. Pairing upperclassmen with lowerclassmen in order to build confidence, connection, and support on and off the court.
Senior leadership on the team goes beyond practice and gamedays. For many players, the big-little system creates a built-in-support network that stretches across grade levels. Senior point guard Tierra Green said the tradition has helped her form real relationships with her younger teammates.
“My littles and I give each other gifts every other game day, just to show each other how much we love each other with words of affirmation for our games,” Green said. “It’s given me a closer bond with all the freshmen, even the ones who aren’t my littles, I’m able to talk to them and get closer to them.”
Green explained that the tradition is less about the gifts, and more about the encouragement behind them. While growing closer with her littles, Green said their positivity has given her motivation as well.
“I think through giving each other these words of affirmation it gives them something to look forward to,” Green said. “Everytime I get a note from them it’s always so positive, and it keeps me in great spirits before our game.”
One of Green’s littles’, Freshman point guard Gwen Cronin said she feels that same impact, describing how her “family” helped her stay grounded both on and off the court.
“We bond a lot and just get to connect and get to know each other a lot better,” Cronin said. “Tierra helps me in and outside of basketball too, helping me keep my head up, never think about the past play, and just be in the moment.”
Freshman Lily Shaw agrees, and says the encouragement before games and having an older mentor like Green has helped her learn a lot about basketball, and has helped her a lot transitioning from middle school to high school.
“I really look up to [Green],” Shaw said. “The other day before the game she said ‘we got this’, and even if shots aren’t going in to move on and keep going; those words of encouragement have helped me so much this season.”
