Van Buren girls basketball head coach Tyler Sapp has a goal he marks down every season.
Sapp and the Eaglettes hosted a substate game last season, a game which they came out victorious. Sapp said he looks to host a substate game every season. Sapp said he sets that goal regardless of how his team did the year prior.
“Everybody’s next step is win the Gold Ball,” Sapp said. “That can’t be your mentality or you’re not gonna do it. So it’s gotta be one game at a time the whole year, and this is something that the girls have got to understand too, is that everybody, you’re going to get everybody’s best game because they want to beat us.”
Van Buren went to the state championship for the first time last season. The championship appearance marked the first across all sports for the Eaglettes. Sapp said he looks for the summer to produce some change.
“You hope they remember the things we didn’t do well and we need to work on during that kind of game,” Sapp said. “To be able to play and see what it takes to be at that level is huge for us and especially for the ones that are younger and are getting those limited minutes, going out there and battling.”
Sapp said it has been a crazy last couple of months.
“You go from playing in the state championship game to getting back into practice and coming to camp, it’s just good to be around the kids and see them,” Sapp said.
Sapp said he took a little break from basketball to coach the flag football team. Sapp is one of the two coaches on the football team. Van Buren finished 6-5 in their first ever flag football season.
“They’re a great group of kids and I love being around them and I love coaching them,” Sapp said.
