Former Galesburg High School girls basketball coach Evan Massey shares his insights on the game and other topics through his Massey Basketball blog, now featured here on WGIL.
Summer sports programs have been a part of Galesburg High School dating back to the 1960’s.
With summer programs just getting ready to start, I reached out to GHS varsity head coaches to see what summer programs were available.
It is exciting to see the opportunities being provided to Galesburg student-athletes.
Boys Basketball – Taylor Thiel (Head Coach)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
The Official Streaks Boys Basketball Camp will run for 6 days in June. June 4th-5thand June 9th-12th. We will break camp up into 4 Levels with their own designated time slots. 1st-4th grade 8:30-9:45am at the Kimbrough Fieldhouse, 5th-8th grade 12:00-1:30pm at the Kimbrough Fieldhouse, Freshman 1:30-3 p.m. at Thiel Gym, Soph/Varsity 10 a.m. to noon at Thiel Gym. Camp forms are available on the District 205 website. After the initial 6 days of Streaks Camp, all of the high school players will have the same designated time slots for open gym and workouts for the remainder of June.
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
Priority #1 for our staff is to get to know the team and evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. Setting expectations, working hard, commitment, accountability and getting our players in the right mindset will be key as we progress through the Summer. There will be a mix of skill work that will both increase skills and be applicable to and transfer over to game situations and help with basketball I.Q. We will start on the defensive side of the ball where we will work on team defense concepts, rebounding, and winning the 50/50 balls to increase possessions. We want to increase the defensive pressure this season to create turnovers and lead to more fast break scoring situations. From there we will work on installing our basic offensive concepts with options that will allow us to shoot the ball with greater frequency and effectiveness. Also, we will be stressing the importance of weight training, speed, and agility exercises and will be participating in training programs to become better all around athletes . Outside of basketball, I want to have some fun this Summer with the team and plan on doing some team bonding events and things that will help us all communicate better and build team chemistry and trust.
Will your varsity athletes be doing anything competitively?
So far, the Varsity team is committed to 2 Live events in June. We will Play in the DeKalb Live event Friday, June 23rd and Saturday June 24th. We will also be playing in the Morris Shootout on June 24th and June 25th. Both of these events will allow our players to compete at a high level event and help with player exposure to the many college coaches that will be in attendance. We are potentially looking at getting into the Summer League that is held at St. Ambrose (Freshman, Sophomores, and Varsity), but are still working out details on scheduling to better accommodate travel frequency. Several athletes in the basketball program are also competing with their individual AAU and Travel Club/Sports teams.
What makes you excited about next season?
A fresh start and first year in the position and coming back to my hometown is super exciting for me personally and my family. I am excited to be leading a group that will be heavily senior led (nine seniors including my own son) with a nice mix of some younger talent that is continuing to develop daily and proving that they are willing to put the work in. I am excited to bring passion and new vision to the program. I am looking forward to creating a culture that will inspire the coaching staff, community, the current team, as well as our younger athletes throughout the district to want to be Silver Streaks for years to come.
Any advice to young athletes coming into high school?
Hard work is a choice. Discipline is a choice. Putting in more hours than everyone else is a choice. The choices you make add up. Maybe not immediately, but absolutely. There is no secret formula. Just show up focused, honest, and hungry. Learn as much as you can. If you can do that consistently, it will be hard to lose on or off the court.
At this time, who will be on your staff?
There are currently some open positions posted and some internal shifts being made, but we will be finalizing the staff over the next month and will make the announcements at the appropriate times.
Girls Basketball- Lexi Demott (Head Coach)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
We will be running camps for 2nd-6th grade, 7th-8th grade, 9-12th grade this summer. 9th-12th grade begins June 2nd and runs M-Th for the month of June. 2nd-6th grade camp begins June 9th and runs until June 12th with a time from 1:30-3:00pm. 7th-8th grade camp goes from June 9th-12th and June 16th-17th from 12:00pm-1:30pm. 7th-12th graders also get to participate in our Galesburg Summer League program that runs on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
At the Varsity level we will be implementing a new offensive sequence, but also looking to be more effective in what we already have. We will be working on becoming more disciplined in our presses, but in our man to man half court as well.
We are also implementing a captain’s book club this Summer. At the end of last season the players voted for 3 captains. These 3 captains are now reading The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. They will then meet with coaches to discuss how they would like to relay this message to the team and how it is going to help us make progress. There will be activities/discussions that they get to lead along the way. We are super excited to watch our athletes all become leaders together and the impact that they get to have on others and each other.
Will your varsity athletes be doing anything competitively?
Our Varsity program will be competing in our Summer League that runs every Tuesday and Thursday night. We have 3 weekend trips lined up for this Summer as well. The first trip will be to Ohio State University. Following that we will head to Batavia for the Windmill City Weekend Shootout. After that we will head to Purdue University for a 3 day weekend of games.
What makes you excited about next season?
As coaches we are excited to have a great group of athletes back. Our program currently has players that want to be coached, want to lead, and want to be successful. They show up for each other and work hard daily. We are excited to see the commitment they have to getting better this Summer and how it translates into the season.
Any advice to young athletes coming into high school?
Advice that I would give to young athletes coming into high school would be; be the best teammate you can, be coachable, be consistent, don’t be afraid to fail, and most importantly have fun!
At this time, who will be on your staff?
Our staff will be as follows: Freshmen- Brad Gross, Sophomore- Mark Harden Jr, Varsity- Jim Noonan, Kelsi Legge, and BJ Dieterich
Football – Shawn Hickey (Head Coach)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
Camps: Friday Night Lights Camp (form attached)
Junior High and High School Camp (on one form, attached)
Forms to Galesburg High School c/o Donna Gully
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
New concepts: the offseason has seen a vast improvement in program numbers. We have instituted this offseason an offensive VR system for players to get reps without contact, reducing the risk of injury. We plan to have helmet guardians for all players grades 7-12 to reduce head injuries. As we sit right now, we have added coaches from seven last year, to eleven currently. There is still a possibility of adding another coach. This will improve every aspect of the program.
Will your varsity athletes be doing anything competitively?
Competitively: we have a 7on7 June 26th in Rock Island
another 7on7 July 17th in Rockridge
we also have a joint practice with ROWVA, TBD
What makes you excited about next season?
I am most excited about having a full offseason with players, monitoring their development and implementing a team philosophy which holds players accountable. This will hopefully change the culture of the program and the school.
Any advice to young athletes coming into high school?
My advice to young players: Simply put, play multiple sports.
At this time, who will be on your staff?
Staff: Shawn Hickey, Tai Papalii, Jacob Carl, Carsen Johnson, Blayze Purchase Roy Gully, Rockyen Spinks, John Driffill, Cole Spinks, Kyle Kelley, and Arron Carl
Wrestling – Greg Leibach (Boys), Ryan Shipp (Girls)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
Our summer program focuses on the high school level. While we do not currently have a youth camp on the calendar, any high school-aged newcomers (incoming freshmen through seniors-to-be) are welcome to join our summer workouts. Those interested can email Coach Leibach for schedule and details – gleibach@galesburg205.org.
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
Summer is always a great opportunity to introduce our incoming freshmen to our primary drills and routines. It is also an opportunity for our upperclassmen to step into new leadership roles… Each summer, there are a handful of new drills and techniques that the coaching staff is excited to workshop with the wrestlers. Working through the hiccups of those during the summer allows them to be more efficient, polished, and confident when we revisit them during our regular season.
Will your varsity athletes be doing anything competitively?
The two competitive highlights on our summer calendar are the Lincoln Summer Duals and our ISI Camp in Bloomington. Both events offer quality competition, and together, should afford each wrestler 10-15 summer matches. Those matches give us valuable feedback to drive our summer and fall training.
What makes you excited about next season?
Next season will bring lots of excitement! Hopefully in late fall, we will be moving into our new wrestling room. I am excited to spread out and create more “wrestling per minute of practice” with our expanded space. Wrestlers have a way of making any practice space into a home, but this new one will be special.
Competitively, we will lose two state qualifiers from our lineup on the boys’ side, but will return 8 varsity starters for the 14 weight classes. We will pair that with a talented group of sophomores that have grown patiently and are ready for varsity competition. As long as our strength does not overlap at the same weights, we should have the makings of an exciting lineup.
Individually, I know what many of our wrestlers, both the boys and the girls, want to accomplish for themselves in the year ahead. I am excited to watch them invest the effort to make those goals into a reality.
Advice to young athletes coming into high school?
Anytime you “level up” in wrestling, there is an adjustment period. Expect to encounter struggles, BUT ALSO expect that you will overcome them with a little bit of time and a lot of persistence. If it weren’t for the struggle, we wouldn’t take so much pride in the growth. Maintain that growth mindset.
At this time, who will be on your staff?
Ryan Shipp (Head Girls Coach), Stephen Gust, and Kane Miller. All have great wrestling experience and will be involved in the summer program. Let’s get after it!
Tennis – Kevin Heimann (Boys), Adyson Eastburg (Girls)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
We have a tennis camp this year, July 28th – July 31st. The forms are on the social media for the high school, it is grades 6-8th and then grades 9-12th.
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
We will try to teach basic tennis skills and strategy. There will be some warming up, hand-eye coordination physical challenges, and age appropriate drills followed by fun games.
What makes you excited about next season?
I am excited for next season’s at GHS because both seasons were a blast and all the kids in the program have improved.
Advice to young athletes coming into high school?
Don’t be afraid to try something new! My advice to young athletes going into high school is to play every sport you like. I’d rather see kids compete in other sports in the off season than specialize. The value in competing with others is what drew me to sports — I can’t get enough of it.
At this time, who will be on your staff?
Our staff is Adyson Eastburg and Kevin Heimann.
Volleyball – Nicole Kisler (Head Coach)
If you are running camps, when are your camps and for what ages?
Youth Camp June 30-July 3
5th-8th grade 8-9:30am
K-4th grade 10:15-11:45
High School Camp July 21-24
Varsity Level 7:30-10am
Fresh/Soph Level 10-12:30
Will there be specific individual skills, new team concepts, or team goals you want to install with your varsity?
We will be continuing to build knowledge of the game or volleyball IQ, refining skills to reflect a more solid passing game, a quicker offense when we need it, and continue our already solid serving game.
The goal we are pursuing is team. I realize that’s plain, but it’s certainly not simple. Team is a constant work in progress. Winning relies on becoming a team first. When you are a team you care about each other, you build each other up, you sacrifice together, and you play together.
Will your varsity athletes be doing anything competitively?
We are hosting some teams from the area for scrimmages during the month of July. It will be a first, as far as I know, at GHS.
Also, last year we were able to take one team to an overnight team camp and this year we are taking 2 teams. Our players will be involved in not only training, but competition play with teams from all over the state.
We had several players who played on club teams this past offseason giving them more opportunities to play and see competition as well.
What makes you excited about next season?
I am excited about the growth in our program already, but this next season brings back some solid players for us, giving us a boost in the right direction right out the gate. The potential of these players makes me most excited about next season.
Advice to young athletes coming into high school?
You get what you give. Commit early, to your team, to the weight room, to your craft, and to making yourself better.
At this time, who will be on your staff?
We are currently on the hunt for a freshman coach.
Sophomore coach: Wendy Huft. Coach Huft is a blessing to me and the organization. I couldn’t do this without her. Volunteer Coach Shan Waid, who brings knowledge of the game through her many years coaching and refereeing volleyball
Nick Young, Athletic Director
What role do you feel the GHS summer sports programs can fulfill?
I’m happy to announce our summer camp offerings and excited about the opportunities for kids to get involved. I’d encourage all returning and incoming students to check out the various camp offerings. Summer camps provide a great opportunity for athletes to improve skills, build camaraderie, or even try something new.
Are there any special programs within the GHS Athletic Dept that you want to make parents and athletes aware of?
Additionally, something new this year will be the continuation of our Streaks Speed School that was started this year through a collaboration of GHS coaches across multiple sports. This is primarily for our high school students and is a great opportunity for our multi-sport athletes to continue to develop in the areas of speed, agility, and coordination. These sessions will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10amin F&M Bank Stadium.
What is the website where parents and athletes can get entry forms for summer programs?
Click here to visit Evan Massey’s blog Massey Basketball.
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