SUPERIOR – With the fall sports season now finished, the Superior Bobcats basketball team has begun training for the winter season.

According to Head Coach Chris Toivonen, a number of the boys played for the Bobcat’s football team in the fall. He said this was good because those players would already have a good team dynamic and be in shape for sports. It would also give the team a good competitive edge as the kids are already primed for competition.

“It’s a bonus for us when they come from football,” said Toivonen.

However, there might be some initial complications with so many football players. Because basketball is such a different sport from football, the players would need to change tactics and the mindset of the game’s goal.

“In football you hit people as hard as you can, in basketball that’s a foul,” Toivonen said.

However, Toivonen also saw some advantages to the makeup of the team. The biggest advantage he saw from the football players was how the boys were already in the mindset to work toward a victorious season. He described competition as a skill and said it transferred over to all sports. Because of this, he felt it was good for players to be involved in as many sports as possible.

“If you talk to any coach, they’ll feel the same way,” he said.

Toivonen felt the Bobcats had begun to show improvement after the first week of practices. The goal should always be to improve the game and how everyone works as a team. This improvement would help the team later on.

There are two different seasons to keep track of, the regular season of games and the tournaments. Toivonen said the team needed to improve from the start of the regular season to be ready for the tournaments in the post-season. The team should benefit from the presence of several good players.

Despite the loss of three players at the end of the 2012-13 school year, Toivonen said the team looks very strong this season. Jarrod Tippens and Clint Voll have played in all-state games and were described as outstanding. He also praised Tucker Smith, Tanner Smith, and Wyatt Zylawy as strong players. However, the team might initially be hindered by injuries.

Unfortunately, Josh Benda and Vicente Guerrero have been unable to practice due to injuries. Benda has been in recovery from a football injury and Guerrero cut himself while hunting. He said these injuries have complicated things as one player has been unable to practice at all while the other has only been able to practice occasionally. However, Toivonen is confident the team will be ready and everyone will be in good shape for the first games.

The team will play a scrimmage game next weekend. Scrimmages are small, informal games where the team plays against itself. The game will be on Saturday, December 7 at Superior High School. At the time of the interview, Toivonen was uncertain of the time, but said it would likely start at 5:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.