Despite losing season, players come together Teena Yates talks to the Advocate
Teena Yates, a freshman who bounces between schoolwork, softball and basketball practice, has a relaxed demeanor. She is 5’ 3” and the team’s leading scorer. Despite the team’s final record of 1-13, “I don’t get discouraged,” she said. “I play basketball for love of the game.” Yates grew up in the area and has lived in Oregon her whole life. “I went to Barlow High School. I was actually planning to go to Arizona to play softball after I finished, but I knew Mt. Hood also had a good softball team. “Over the summer break I began thinking more about playing basketball. I started looking at Mt. Hood, which was much closer to me than the University of Arizona, heard they had a new coach, and eventually decided I’d come here. I wanted to see how college worked before I went to a university.” Yates pushed harder with basketball than softball. “It’s so fun. You can’t get that adrenaline rush anywhere else.” Yates has played basketball for seven years. “I started playing basketball with the YMCA in the sixth grade. From then on, I always played basketball at recess with the boys, trying to pick up their moves. It grew on me.” She says there was motivation at home to pursue sports. “My grandparents and my uncle helped me practice pretty much every day with basketball and softball. If I didn’t have practice with the school sports, I was practicing at home.” As far as school goes, Yates hasn’t set her mind on one path. “I don’t know what I want,” she said. The guard has been taking general studies since fall. In high school, Yates thought about being a physical therapist for athletes, but doesn’t see it as a goal for the moment. “I might do that later in life,” she said. “But right now, I’m just having fun.” Yates likes the team here. “We have good chemistry,” she said. “It’s hard to tell because we haven’t really won much, but looking past the wins and losses we’re actually pretty good. We’re just young.” She said the women’s basketball team got off to a rough start this year. “This year’s team was all walk-ons, which means we came to the school and said, ‘Hey, can we play?’ Our coach Larry Davis didn’t get any recruits and the sophomores we had quit. They had conflicts with the coach.” Yates remains optimistic, however. “Things were put together a bit last minute this year, but our coach is good. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s worked with pretty much every level of play, from professionals to little kids. We have a lot of time to prepare, and recruits have been looking at our team.” While she enjoys MHCC, her eyes remain set on a university. “After MHCC, it depends whether I want to play basketball or softball.” Her heart has been set on University of Arizona for a long time. “I’ve always dreamed of playing on the University of Arizona softball team,” she said. “They are the best. I have family in Arizona, and friends who want to move there. It seems like the direction I’m heading.” Yates doesn’t mention dreams of professional sports, and instead sticks to what’s in front of her. “We built up this year, and can’t help but be stronger next year.” Despite the season’s rough ending, she thinks highly of the time she’s invested this season, and also of Davis. “I have faith in the coach. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it from us.”
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