BY RILEY RODUNER
WSHS senior, Kirstie Munsen, has been playing basketball her entire life and has committed to play college basketball at Dakota State University in Madison.
“I have been playing basketball forever and I knew that I wanted to include it in my senior project,” said Munsen. “My dad, Paul Munsen, was a basketball coach and both of my sisters played in high school.”
Being exposed to basketball at such a young age has impacted Munsen more than she ever thought it would.
“When you watch a lot of basketball you learn a lot about basketball, I’m literally obsessed with it,” joked Munsen. “My favorite team is definitely the UConn Womens College team at University of Connecticut.”
Her love for the sport is what inspired her senior project. With the help of her project mentor, Liza Kolousek, Munsen decided that she wanted to have an impact on the future of the Lady Spartan’s Basketball team, in hopes that what she taught them carries into their future careers.
“I kind of forgot what it is like to be a junior high girl. It is really difficult to try and get them to listen to what you are saying and then actually do it, because they are very easily distracted,” laughed Munsen. “I really had to figure out the best way to get through to them and found, very quickly, that yelling does not work. You just have to continually repeat yourself, over and over again and still expect them not to remember. I really tried to put myself in their shoes and kept reminding myself that they are only in Junior High.”
While it did get frustrating at times, Munsen really enjoyed her experience.
“When you work with 13 junior high girls, there is bound to be something going on that they just have to talk about. They made me laugh every single day,” shared Munsen. “Watching these girls grow and develop their skills in such a short amount of time was really cool.”
Thinking back to what it was like at the beginning of the season, she says it is almost as if she is looking at a completely different team.
“When we first introduced drills, it took them a while to figure them out, but now, they are just muscle memory. Watching them take what they learned in practice and apply it to their games was a very rewarding feeling,” says Munsen.
Munsen says she learned a lot about herself as well as working with others.
“I learned just how much people actually improve — how much coaches actually help them and the impact they have on their players. Watching them take what they learned in practice and apply it to the games was a very rewarding feeling,” says Munsen.
The hardest part of this project was trying to balance her own basketball schedule with her coaching schedule.
“I tried my hardest to be at as many of their games and practices as I could, but sometimes, my schedule simply wouldn’t allow it,” says Munsen, mentioning that her mentor was such a big help in that sense.
“If I would have done this myself, these girls would have never been this successful. Liza was truly amazing about helping out when I was not available.”
Munsen, who has been a varsity player since 8th grade, also commented about the Lady Spartans, who are still feeling the sting of their last game after earning a trip to the SoDak 16.
“I have thought of a million things we could have done different during the game. Our second half offense worked really well, I just wish we would have thought of it in the first half. None of us had ever been in that situation before and I think maybe we were more nervous than we thought,” Munsen reflected. “Nevertheless, we had a great season and I am so grateful for everyone who supported us.”