The Friends Seminary JV Boys’ Basketball Team resumed practices in November of 2021, a long-anticipated return from their last season in 2020. 

The team, coached by Michael Schirick, Barrington Giles-Kirven, and Benji Isay ‘22, has navigated through the challenges of returning after a year away from competitive play. The team’s roughly twenty freshmen and sophomores are led by captain Jared Glatzer ‘25. The Owls are still working on chemistry and building the team, even throughout the hardships of playing during COVID-19.

The team initially worked on their chemistry and skills and without focusing as much on winning by playing everyone equally, which may explain their one win and four losses in the beginning of the season. According to Assistant Coach Benji Isay, “As it is the beginning of the season, [we were] still focusing on developing the team by playing bench players.” It appears as though the strategy might be paying off, since the Owls have won their most recent game. According to Isay, they are expected to make the playoffs, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

New restrictions have been imposed with COVID-19 concerns, but luckily, only a handful of games have been delayed. All games must be held indoors and the spread of the Omicron variant has consistently posed a major risk to the team’s season. Because basketball is such an intense and active sport, it is difficult for players to keep masks on during games and practices; however, according to Isay, “everybody tries their best to make it happen.”

Although fears over COVID-19 and social distancing have made it difficult for the players to bond, the team has invented a fun and socially distanced ritual: getting hot dogs from the cart on 14th Street. Andy Judlowe ‘24, a sophomore on the team said, “Everyone loves doggin’ so naturally it’s brought the team closer together.”