The USC girls basketball team will be playing for a new coach, Paul Meyer, this year. Members of the squad are shown above, front row, left to right: Hannah Meyer, Skylar Niebuhr, Lexi Johnson, Maya Zebro, Macy Zebro, Leah Winch, Elizabeth Meyer. Back row, left to right: Kelsie Chapman, Jade Beckmann, Maddie Dallman, Elizabeth Romano, Hannah Morales, Ally Stenzel, Madison Klingbeil, Taylor Schroeder.

The United South Central girls basketball team is looking forward to a full, normal basketball season this year.

So is their new coach, Paul Meyer. Meyer is a new staff member at USC, and is the credit recovery specialist for the district. Meyer has taught in schools around the state including Luverne, New Ulm and Sauk Rapids. His coaching career includes a stint as head volleyball coach at Waldorf College.

Meyer’s assistant coach is also new to the team and the school. Ryan McCue is the new fifth grade math and science teacher in the elementary school.

Meyer says they have 24 girls from grades 9-12 out for the team, and seven of those are seniors.

“I am very impressed with their work ethics and their attitudes,” Meyer says. “They allow us to push them to get better at the sport.”

He says when a new coach comes into a system, there is always a lot of learning.

“I’m a fundamental kind of coach in whatever sport I have coached,” Meyer explains. “I like to build the basic foundations of how to play, and how to get from point A to point B. Then we can expand on everything else from there.”

Meyer says that with 24 girls out, they will have a varsity, junior varsity and C-squad teams, with a goal of having all players getting many minutes of playing time.

The seven seniors on the varsity squad are Lexi Johnson, Madison Klingbeil, Hannah Meyer, Skylar Niebuhr, Elizabeth Romano, Leah Winch, Macy Zebro and Maya Zebro.

Johnson, Winch and both Macy and Maya Zebro, along with junior Kelsie Chapman, are the returning letterwinners from last season.

The other juniors on the varsity team are Hannah Morales, Ally Stenzel and Jade Beckmann. Sophomores are Maddie Dallman and Elizabeth Meyer. Ninth grader Taylor Schroeder is also on the varsity team.

The team opened the season on Friday, Dec. 3, with a home game against New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.

“They (NRHEG) will be good,” coach Meyer says. “With the first game of the season, you never know what is going to happen, even if one team is thought to be a better team. But whatever happens, we can evaluate and move on from there.”

This week the Rebel girls will play at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Tuesday, Dec. 7, and at Randolph on Friday, Dec. 10.