Projects a ‘foundational part of Catholic education’
Story by Reagan Scott
DAVID CITY (SNR) – As winter sports get underway in Nebraska high schools, the girls basketball team at Aquinas in David City is ready to hit the ground running with a whole new team and a brand-new coach, Nathan Wall.
Already, the girls have had the opportunity to grow closer as a team, both by playing basketball together and serving others together.
Wall coached at David City High School for five seasons before accepting the position at Aquinas, taking over from Tony Smith. Smith will stay on as the team’s assistant coach this year.
Last year, Smith coached what Wall called a “once in a generation team.” Ten of the girls on varsity were seniors, which means that this year’s team has an entirely new makeup. As a way to get to know the team better and help the girls get to know each other better, Wall organized a day of basketball and service in June.
“I’d had the idea for a few years,” he said, “so when I started as the head girls coach, I wanted to use basketball as a way to bond our team and serve others.”
Early one morning, Wall and the basketball team loaded up on a charter bus and headed out. Wall’s goal had been to play basketball in every town in Butler County that had a community court, as well as conduct a service project in every parish in the county.
While time constraints did prevent them from reaching every parish, Wall and the team pulled weeds and cleaned up around St. Mary Church and School in David City, and played basketball in Bruno, Glenwood and Octavia.
The group had a family meal in Bellwood, where they also played basketball and cleaned up inside St. Joseph Church. They continued the day with basketball in Ulysses and Dwight, where they did landscaping at Assumption Parish. Their last stop was Holy Trinity Parish in Brainard, where they cleaned up the grounds between the Klein Center and rectory.
Macey Thege, a senior on the basketball team this year said, “I was a little skeptical about it at first, but it was a really nice way for us to bond, especially since we pretty much have a whole new team coming in.”
Darian Krenk, another senior on the team, had been really excited about the excursion and the potential for team bonding.
“I thought it was a great way to get to know each other and a great opportunity to play basketball and get a little bit of a head start,” she said.
Wall said that at the end of the day everyone was exhausted, but proud of the results. One of the standards of the team is to serve others, and Wall really wanted to drive that point home.
“I wanted to show our team that there’s a lot to be proud of in Butler County,” he said. “The basketball was not the most important part, but a way to bond us. The service was the most important part.”
“Jesus called us to serve one another,” said Laura Adair, enrollment and marketing coordinator for Aquinas and St. Mary schools in David City. “Service projects are a foundational part of Catholic education in David City. St. Mary’s students, starting in kindergarten, participate in ‘Virtues in Practice.’ This program focuses on teaching a virtue each month, saints who exemplified this virtue, and age-appropriate ways to practice this virtue in everyday life.”
St. Mary’s virtue of the month this November is stewardship, she explained.
“Giving back to God through our time, talent, and treasure is something we all are called to. The Aquinas girls’ basketball service tour of Butler County was a witness of stewardship.”
Now that the winter sports season has started, Wall and the team look forward to the months ahead.
“I’ve been playing with the three other seniors for seven years. Having this experience with them and a whole new group of girls will be really fun,” Thege said.
Both Thege and Krenk are determined to help make Wall’s first season at Aquinas a good one.
“I hope that our young ladies compete well and are able to have some success that they enjoy,” Aquinas Athletic Director Ron Mimick said.
Wall too is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of the season ahead.
“Aquinas Catholic has a lot of tradition and a great culture already,” he said. “Our goal is to continue that, to build on that, and to be the best we can possibly be while giving our best effort every day.”
Aquinas and St. Mary schools are supported by 13 parishes, Adair added, “and it is a challenge to let them all know how much we truly appreciate them. Parishes of the David City Deanery, thank you for your support!”
