While it’s true that the West Springfield Golf team doesn’t have some of the major senior players from last year, don’t count them out just yet.
Coach Tyler Bantle is very excited for this young team, depite the fact that the team doesn’t have a lot of expierence.
“They make up for [that] with their drive to get better, their positive outlook, and with how much they have fun playing and practicing with one another,” said Coach Bantle.
Every player has been improving, and working hard to do so, but they still manage to have fun in the process.
“It’s just a really fun team, our coach is really fun,” said junior Sean O’Connor.
It’s pretty clear why Bantle refers to this as his “goon squad”. Even though they may not be the very best team out there right now, they enjoy themselves.
“They always seem to be having more fun than the other teams”, said Bantle.“They are always having fun, joking with each other, and cheering one another on to get better.”
He believes that while some may just view it as messing around, he sees players that are mproving with a smile on their face. That only makes them enjoy coming back and continuing to better themselves. He sees the kinds of growing bonds and friendships between the players are key for a team’s long-term success.
However, success doesn’t come from just fun and games.
“The players are willing to practice and train outside of scheduled practice time,” said Bantle.
Bantle thinks that is one of the greatest strengths of this team.
Although this is a rebuilding year for them, Bantle sees a lot of talent among even the newest players, and has high hopes for their success in the future. Even though players Sean O’Connor, Michael Ostrowski, Kiran Zaidi, Nichole Skrutsky, Riley Pendry, and Brendan Blackwell just started playing in the past year, or less than four months ago for some, Bantle has been pleasantly surprised by their fast improvement.
As for the goals for the season overall, the coach has a goal for each and every one of [his] players to improve anywhere from 5-10 strokes.
“I would like to see myself and all of our top five people shoot under 45” by the end of the season.
Bantle believes his young team has a lot of potential and talent, and expects to see great things in their future.