Though you might have seen ASB president Shriya Ratnani commanding the gym during sports rallies, she is also well familiar with commanding it under a different pretense: girls basketball games. As a four year member of the Wilcox girls basketball team, she is one of their most experienced players.
Shriya’s love for basketball started in a wholesome way: following in the footsteps of her older brother. Going to the park with his friends, basketball in hand every time, younger Shriya’s interest was piqued. So, on the black top courts of Laurelwood Elementary, you could always find her dribbling the ball with friends during lunch time.
Spending more time developing her budding skills, Shriya joined her first outside club in fourth grade: the Silicon Valley National Junior Basketball (NJB) league. As she continued improving, she eventually tried out for the more competitive All Stars United league and worked her way up to the AAU team.
During this time, she simultaneously began playing on Peterson Middle School’s girls basketball team. The experience was vastly different from playing at club. Shriya explains, “it set an expectation that playing at the school level wasn’t very serious…almost everybody made the team.”
However, her mindset quickly changed. In the winter of 2022, Shriya tried out for the Wilcox girls basketball team. She fondly recalls that she “was pretty scrawny” as a freshman. Though she made the team, she still had a long way to go before becoming the player we know today. “I feel like a lot of my skill has been honed at the high school level,” she remarks.
As the tallest member on the team, Coach Justin immediately put her as a post player, and more specifically in the center position. While she has worked on building more muscle to better post up against players, get them on her back, and box out opponents, Coach Justin also remarks that “she’s definitely expanded her role on the team during her time with us.…She also protects the other guys out there, whether it’s setting screens, or creating openings for them.” During games you can usually find her attacking near the rim and around the key.
Among her teammates, Shriya is also a great leader on the court. Her fellow teammate Carissa Quinstian says, “She always makes me feel heard and appreciated on and off the court and constantly communicates with teammates to keep everyone connected and confident.” Shriya appreciates the team culture that has been fostered over the years: “Something big in our team that we always say is that we play for each other…Sometimes I’m tired or missing all my shots, but I see the rest of my team working hard and encouraging me…I feel that’s a really big motivation to just keep playing and go my hardest.”
Like with any sport, there will always be challenges. With high school specifically, players must continuously adapt to new rosters every year. In the past, Shriya’s team had a few star players who were formidable, magnetic presences on the court. “[However,] this is one of those years where we all really have to come together…we can’t just rely on one person,” Shriya explains. Disagreements of how things should be run and implementation of coaching feedback have also been challenging to navigate at times. Still, Shriya speaks fondly of her and her teammates’ support of one another. “[Though] it took us a while to come around to the fact that we just have to tune it all out and work hard for each other…[we have also] become a little family…[It’s] a bond that we share, outside of basketball too.”
Whether you would like to see Shriya’s rim shots in action or feel her leadership presence on the court, come support #23 on Tuesday February 17th at 6:30pm in the main gym for Senior Night!
