Basketball is coming right around the corner.

The Lakeland High School Girl’s basketball program is ecstatic about the upcoming season. 

Lakeland’s girl’s basketball program has not had a new varsity head coach in 28 years. Steve Seymour resigned at the end of last season, and the hunt for a new head coach began. 

This year brings excitement because of the new head coach of the girl’s basketball team, Tyrel Derrick. 

Coach Derrick is almost as excited about coaching the girl’s basketball team as the girls, who are ecstatic to get back on the court. 

Derrick has never coached a girls’ team before, nor did he ever think he would apply for the coaching position. He has been coaching boys’ basketball teams for a while but has never thought about coaching girls. Derrick said that he enjoys coaching girls’ basketball. 

Many anticipate that the program will be vastly different and are excited to see what the upcoming season brings. 

Junior Lila Kiefer stated, “I am super excited to have Derrick as head coach of the basketball team. It is going to be a great year, and there are going to be a lot of great changes.”

Derrick stepping up as head coach is the next big thing for the Lakeland girl’s basketball team. Lila Kiefer states, “He has a lot of basketball knowledge and is very passionate about the game.”  

“What is your goal for this basketball season?” All coaches would answer that they want to make it to state and win. 

While those goals are engraved into Coach Derrick’s head, he has a few more significant goals he is shooting for this season. 

Derrick described three tenants that the team lives by; Effort and an indication of the revelation of your character, curiosity for basketball, and treating teammates as people first and teammates second. 

Those who have played for former head coach Steve Seymour will miss him dearly, but players are also incredibly excited to see how the 2022-2023 basketball season unfolds.