The following article is sponsored on behalf of the Upper Merion girls’ basketball team by Xtreme Hoops, which provides basketball training for the next level. To read more about Xtreme Hoops, please visit their web site by clicking on the following link: http://www.xtreme-hoops.com/
By Mary Jane Souder
Regie Robinson – the undisputed leader of Upper Merion’s squad - entered her final high school season with high expectations. For herself and for her team.
Teammate and good friend Eryn Brady couldn’t help but be concerned that those expectations could take away the joy of Robinson’s final high school season.
“I could see at practice how stressed she was,” Brady said. “I had already gone through it with volleyball, and after the season ended, I was kind of sad that we hadn’t made it further in the state tournament.
“Regie wanted to make this her best season and she had high expectations, and I know from volleyball that when you do that sometimes you’re let down. I didn’t want her to do that. I didn’t want her season to end up being – we have to do this, we have to play like this, things have to turn out like this because then she might forget to have fun.”
Brady broached the subject with coach Tom Schurtz.
“She said, ‘Coach, do you mind if I talk to Regie to make sure she enjoys the ride? We won a district title (in volleyball), and I had a pretty successful season, but I remember being anxious and not enjoying it as much as I wish I would have now that it’s over,’” the Vikings’ coach recalled. “Very early in the season they had a conversation about what it means to be a senior on a team and lead it.”
Brady’s message to Robinson in that conversation was simple.
“I said to her, ‘You need to remember to have fun because without that then why are we here, why are we doing this,’” Brady said. “I told her, ‘If you need somebody to talk to, I’m here.’”
That conversation might well have changed the course of the season for Robinson and the Vikings.
“It was really important to have that conversation,” Robinson said. “I was really glad she pulled me aside.
“Coach Schurtz talked to me about senior leadership and how it’s important to carry the team and be that good leader who trusts her teammates. I kind of got caught up in being a leader and lost the fun of the game.
“Eryn reminded me that this is it. This is the last go round. If you have fun, everything else will come. I focused more on having fun with the team – still being fierce about the game but just trying to enjoy it more, and everything else fell into place. It’s a much better way to end my high school career, enjoying it instead of stressing over the little things.”
That’s not to say everything always went Robinson’s way or that everything always came up roses for the Vikings, but Brady’s advice did change the way the senior captain and – subsequently – the rest of the players approached the season.
“It took Regie a while to come around to that, but in the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen her really embrace that,” Schurtz said. “She’s not worried about next year. She’s not worried about the playoffs, she’s not worried about the points or anything else.
“She’s just sort of enjoying her time with her team now, and I think that was in large part to the conversation she had with Eryn.”
Robinson, who surpassed the 1,000-point milestone this year, is the second leading scorer in school history.
“You can’t ignore her accomplishments on the court,” Schurtz said. “She fills up a stat page. She’s the leader in almost every major statistical category for the third season in a row.
“I think what’s interesting is that she’s able to do it every single game, and every single game plan says you can’t let Robinson get going. Every single scouting report since her sophomore year has said the exactly same thing. Certainly teams have bottled her up, but she still finds a way to lead us to big wins, and she does it with a smile on her face.
“Sometimes you see a player score a lot, and they’re perceived as selfish. I think that’s one thing I love about this group of seniors. They’re so humble and unassuming. There isn’t that conflict with anyone else on the team about the shots Regie takes or the publicity she gets. Sometimes you can have a superstar be abrasive, and she’s a far cry from that.”
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This year’s seniors, according to Schurtz, have been a special group. Robinson, Brady, Nekola Hill and Linda Sobeck have been together a long time. In the four years they have been part of the program, the Vikings have been 54-35 with winning records all four years. The team has advanced to districts in each of those four years, the last three years advancing at the Class AAAA level.
“They’re a soft-spoken bunch,” Schurtz said. “They don’t talk much, but they show up every day to work.
“We’ve had a winning record the last six years, and I think that’s due in large part to classes like this one who understand that being part of the Lady Viking family is more than just getting playing time. It’s committing to the work. Basketball is a long, brutal season that cuts through winter, and you have to sacrifice a lot to be part of this team.
“When you look at three of the four seniors, they sort of have thankless roles. Eryn Brady, our center, just every 
day has to go out there and take on the other team’s biggest player and battle underneath the boards constantly. They’ve all taken on that humble persona, and I think that’s helped us stay grounded.”
While Robinson and Brady have been fixtures in the starting lineup, Hill and Sobeck have contributed as reserves.
“You always worry when you keep seniors that you know may or may not get a lot of playing time,” Schurtz said. “I think the greatest thing about ‘Kola and Linda this year has been their dedication to the team. Never once has that waivered.
“They’re an invaluable asset at practice, and while they’re not very vocal in the locker room, I think their get-down-to-business mentality has helped the younger players see that there’s a certain level of work that’s required to consistently win.”
Both Robinson and Brady acknowledged the contributions of Hill and Sobeck.
“Linda and ‘Kola have done a great job of being supportive of the team,” Brady said. “I think that’s really great, and I think it’s an important role they have.
“I know Linda does such a great job – especially if we’re goofing off at practice, she’ll make sure we get stuff done so Schurtz doesn’t yell at us. If we come out of the game, she makes sure the person that comes out has their water. They’re both so great at keeping it competitive too. Even though they don’t play, they still have a big part on the team.”
“Linda and ‘Nola mean a lot to this team,” Robinson added. “They’re practice players, but they bring so much more to the team – just their attitude.
“It’s really a close-knit team. We’re really about family. We bring each other together. Nakola and Linda really help to do that – bring everybody together. Everybody has their role, and it seems their role is just to bring unity to the team.”
The 29th-seeded Vikings will be decided underdogs when they travel to Garnet Valley to face the fourth-seeded Jaguars on Friday night, but win or lose, the seniors will walk away from basketball with plenty of good memories.
“It’s humbling to be lucky enough to have played with the players who have brought us to where we are,” Robinson said. “It’s not something that’s individual.
“It’s something the whole team does. We’ve had players come through the program that I’ve been lucky enough to play with that we’ve been able to do this. I just hope it continues.”
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