Freeburg has a new head girls basketball coach, but he's hardly a rookie.
Former assistant coach Fred Blumberg takes over for Charlie Fox, who stepped down after two years due to job commitments. Last spring, Blumberg retired after 25 years as Freeburg's head baseball coach.
"This wasn't something that was planned at all," Blumberg said. "I got a call out of the blue from Charlie last spring telling me he was going to have to step down. I debated as to whether I should take over or not, but my decision was finally based on the fact that I had coached every one of these kids at the JV level and really enjoyed it.
"I'm 60 years old and I don't think I'm going to be doing this for 20 years. I'll take it a year at a time."
Freeburg was 15-12 last season, including a 5-4 mark in the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference. The Midgets lost 29-28 to Wesclin in the semifinals of the Class 2A Breese Central Regional.
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Amanda Neff was the only graduation loss, but she earned all-state recognition while leading the team in scoring (12.6 points per game), rebounding (6.2 per game), assists (57) and steals (48).
"She was a leader for us and obviously really important, but we return lot of kids who have played varsity," Blumberg said. "I think we can go 10 deep, which is pretty important in girls basketball. Every year it seems like we've had somebody who is not quite up to par physically."
Kelsey Robertson, a 6-foot-1 senior, has the most experience in the post and averaged 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season. Lucy Balch, a 6-foot senior, returns to the team after sitting out last year to concentrate on volleyball.
"Because of our depth, we can show a lot of different looks," Blumberg said. "We can put a team out there that shoots really well and we can put a team out there that presses really well.
"Our starting lineup will not be the same every game. We'll try to match up according to who we're playing."
Junior Taylor Poindexter has played varsity since she was a freshman while seniors Megan Kramper and Danielle Wilson and 6-foot junior Kelsey Mueller also have varsity experience. Junior twins Kristen and Caitlin Busch return at guard after placing first and fourth, respectively, in the Class 1A state cross country meet.
"One of the most fun things about coaching is watching the kids grow as athletes and as people and it amazes me sometimes what difference a year makes," Blumberg said. "Sometimes you get people who are wallflowers and they're not real aggressive and don't take leadership roles real well, and they just sort of grow into that role. Team building is what is really fun to me.
"There is some merit in saying ‘you six people are going to play varsity' but we're making a commitment to play more kids. Anytime you play eight, nine or 10 people, it complicates things because the combinations are different all the time. You have to be well organized and know what you're doing as the combinations change."
Freeburg opens the season Monday in the Nashville Tournament, which continues on Nov. 26-27.
"Sometimes we get out here and we forget what it's all about, but it's part of the educational process and I want the kids to have an enjoyable time playing high school basketball," Blumberg said. "In terms of actual performance, we want to be playing our best at the end of the season. Our baseball kids were always great at that."
