As preparation begins for the season, the girls basketball team welcomes a new head coach, Velvet Moore-Owen, who’s ready to change up the game. Moore-Owen brings an all-new perspective to the team and she hopes to lead a strong group of players, both on and off the court.
Moore-Owen carries a vast set of experiences with her, in not only basketball but in working with the State Department of Corrections as well. She plans on integrating this experience into her own coaching.
“I like to listen to my team, because I am not the only voice,” Moore-Owen said. “If I have 35 girls, I have 35 voices, and we’re going to bring those all together, just like when I was in corrections. I created a family with the people that I was entrusted to. With my team, I plan to do the same thing. I plan on trusting them because we are all experts.”
In addition to utilizing personal experience, Moore-Owen plans on leading the team with a set of core values.
“I believe in a family concept,” Moore-Owen said. “I just want them to go out, do their best, [and] have some fun. If you make a bad decision down on [one] end, let it go, just make it up down [on the other].”
As part of her family concept, Moore-Owen focuses on her relationship with the players.
“You are my other me,” Moore-Owen said. “If I do harm to you, I do harm to me.”
Moore-Owen also believes that while winning is part of the game, basketball should be taken beyond that.
“Basketball, to me, isn’t about winning and losing,” Moore-Owen said. “It’s about how much fun you have and how many connections you make, because those connections will last a lifetime.”
Being a new coach to the school, Moore-Owen expects some challenges to come along with improving the team.
“I think the main challenge is getting people to get to know me, me getting to know them, and for them to buy into what it is we all want to create,” Moore-Owen said. “I’m not one of these coaches that says, ‘Well, I want to do this and we are going to have this,’ I want the team to pick; I want the team to be able to have just as much of a voice about their team as their coach.”
During the few open gyms the team has had, Moore-Owen has noticed some differences between the Shorewood team and other teams she has coached in the past.
“I’m seeing the enthusiasm right now, and that’s got me super pumped,” Moore-Owen said. “Some of the other teams I had to kind of pull a molar out, because I think their families wanted them to play as opposed to them wanting to play. [However], it really seems like the kids are really super pumped at coming in and really wanting to play. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”
With the season drawing closer and closer, excitement is high and Moore-Owen couldn’t be more ready.
“I’m hoping that these young ladies realize that they have a gift, and I’m proud of the fact that they are willing to share their gift,” Moore-Owen said. “I’m ecstatic that they want to share this with me by allowing me to come in and coach them. I’m looking forward to having some fun.”