By John Raffel
Correspondent
HARRISON — A lot of high school coaches like to say winning programs are not built during the season but are determined by how much work they put into the summer months.
That includes Ryan Carlstrom, the varsity girls basketball coach at Harrison.
“June was a very busy month for us,” Carlstrom said. “We participated in the Morey Courts league on Tuesday nights, the Big North challenge, and the Northwoods University team camp. We had weight lifting Monday-Thursday starting at 6:30 a.m. and we would have practice two times a week. We would finish it off with one open gym a week and if any of the girls wanted extra time in the gym I would make it happen.
“Now that June is over and volleyball has taken over for July, I work around the volleyball schedule to do training sessions with the players.”
Carlstrom admitted this summer has been difference compared to the last two summers.
“This summer was very different compared to the last two summers we had when I had taken the job,” he said. “This is the busiest we have been and the most competitive as well. One of the biggest differences I saw was the commitment level from the girls. Being able to get the girls in the weight room and in the gym is something I have struggled with in the past years. However, now that the girls are starting to buy in, I think this upcoming season has the chance to be special.
{We have been getting the best numbers this summer than we have since I have taken over and maybe even a while before that too. We were rocking with 11 girls for the varsity all summer, even the couple that were hurt still showed up so they didn’t miss anything. That just shows the commitment level with this group of girls I think. Doing whatever it takes to get better.”
Carlstrom added:
“These numbers are higher and they kept getting higher every week. More girls are getting excited for basketball season in Harrison and it is definitely a reassuring feeling.”
Carlstrom was able to get his girls easily motivated to put in the summer work.
“”There are a couple of ways that worked for me,” he said. “One of the ways that worked well for me was including a bunch of team bonding over the course of June. Everything we did or went to this summer, we made sure to carve out some time for some bonding. The second way to encourage was pretty easy too honestly. I made sure to tell them that this will go a long way for us come basketball and will have a big impact on the games we win and how we start out the season. The girls want to win badly this season, they know it isn’t going to be easy and are just willing to put in extra work.
“We have a few girls doing extra stuff on their own. 1 of the girls is playing AAU basketball for REAL, she also has been getting in the gym for training. There have been a couple of other girls that are getting extra time in the gym for training as well.{“
Carlstrom strongly believes having an active summer is very beneficial for his program.
“One reason is that it gives the team a jump start on the actual season.” he said. “Another huge impact it has is it gives younger girls in the program something to look forward to. Whether it is our JV players, middle school, or girls in the youth program.
“We try to stay active on social media so that everyone can see what we are up to. The community really enjoys staying updated on the program and it is a cool feeling to show off achievements that the girls have been rewarded.”
