By Ethan Andrzejewski ’13, Staff Writer

It is simple mathematics: an athletic team’s size almost always correlates with its school’s size. So that’s why, for a massive, 1,300-plus student public school like Millburn, filling out a team is never a problem. But at a small, academically focused private school like Newark Academy, finding an abundance of young athletes who like and actually possess skill at playing a certain sport, is often very difficult. This year’s prime example?   Consider the N.A. girls basketball team, which currently lists only eleven players in its deflated roster.

Don’t pity them, though. The lady Minutemen have never complained about their program’s lack of depth.  Instead, they are embracing the odd situation, claiming that a smaller team size has subtle positives that far outweigh the glaring negatives.

Ahlia Bethea ’13, a starting forward, says the squad’s situation “has really allowed us to create closer relationships, meaning we’re a really united team. That trust and comfort comes out on the court, too, so I think having just eleven girls actually helps us more than anything.” Ashlyn Heller ’13, the team’s point guard, admits that injuries can pose a real problem, but “not having a ton of players allows everyone to play and build up some important confidence. I don’t think any of us would have improved this much if we would have had to compete with over twenty other girls.”

Head Coach Liz Bona also has few problems with her lack of numbers. Obviously, the unique circumstances have forced her to change her conventional methods of rotating players and altered her normal practice routines. But Coach Bona loves the fact that “every player is really a part of this program. They are all focused on in practice. They all run through the same stuff. And they are all given an opportunity to play with a high level varsity team.”

Although the team lacks a definitive star, it features a very well-balanced roster, and each player brings something different to the table. Heller runs the point position with authority, racking up assists with her precision passing and ability to push the ball in transition. Bethea, Jasmine Jett ’13, and Taylor Smith ’14 account for the team’s height and grab the most rebounds. Becca Press ’11 and Carly Gruenberg ’12 are the jump shooters on the squad, and supply a dose of upperclassman leadership. Off the bench, Kendra Damodaran ’13, Camille Kelleher ’14, Sydney Feinberg ’14, Lauren Wheelan ‘14 and Carly McMahon ’13 all provide an important spark that helps to keep the always undermanned team fresh throughout its games.

Many within the program are also making it clear that this off-kilter year is far from just a rebuilding season. The team is in no way biding its time waiting for more bodies. Rather, this a rapidly improving team, quickly making a case to be competitive in the Super Essex Conference. The moment that perfectly demonstrated this desire to ignore imperfect circumstances and simply win in the moment came in a game against Newark Technology earlier in January. The lady Minutemen were facing an opponent to whom they had lost a heartbreaker in overtime the previous year, but this season, the feeling was different.  The fired-up lady Minutemen, all eleven of them, fought and contributed to a tight victory, scoring 43 points on the backs of strong rebounding, pesky defense, and a scoring surge from Gruenberg.

They may not be practicing in a crowded gym with a full junior varsity squad, and they may not even be blessed with a full rotation, but having to deal with their circumstances has taught the girls squad countless lessons about how to win against the odds.  The team stands better for it – stronger than most twenty-five player squads could ever hope for.