Since the moment she picked up a basketball at the age of two, Beth Holt ’11 has made the sport a central part of her life. Now, Holt plays guard for the women’s basketball team here at F&M.
After Holt’s dad bought her a Little Tykes hoop, she started her basketball journey and continued to play throughout middle and high school. However, Holt initially decided not to play in college but ended up missing the sport too much.
“I chose F&M as a transfer student,” she said. “Both my parents were alumni, and I’ve lived in Lancaster for most of my life, so I wanted to get away when I went to college. Since I decided not to play originally, I ended up missing basketball, and F&M was the best opportunity to continue a good education and play for a coach I really liked.”
Unfortunately, with the loss of the top three scorers from last year and some mental lapses during the games, the season has not been as successful for the Dips.
“We are an extremely talented group, but we underestimate how good the other teams in our conference are and how hard you have to work day in and day out to compete,” Holt said.
Luckily for the Diplomats, the team will not lose a single player off the roster next year, unlike many of the other teams in the conference.
Holt plays a major role on the team as she is among the team leaders in field goals made, three-pointers made, assists, and steals, just to name a few. She has played in all of the games this season and averages 12.6 points a game for a total of 252 points.
There are no seniors on the team this year, which means the junior class had to step up in the leadership role. It is an overwhelming feeling to Holt and the other juniors, as they have so many things to say and teach to such a young team with little experience together.
“We’re learning to be leaders as much as the freshmen and sophomores are learning to play at this level,” Holt said. “We’re all growing.”
With a few games left in the season, the team hopes to get better with each game played. The team looks forward to building for next year in these last few games; experience is something they hope to gain.
Holt added: “We are just trying to focus on getting better every single game. It sounds mundane, but for a team with no seniors, it means something.”
“Off the court, I don’t think we’ve ever been closer as friends,” Holt said in regard to team chemistry. “Eventually, when the experience kicks in on the court, the off-court chemistry is going to translate in a big way, mostly because we really care about each other and don’t want to let each other down.”
One of Holt’s favorite memories came in the last two or three weeks of her first year here. The Diplomats surprised many people with the teams they managed to beat, and they ended up in first place hosting the conference tournament. For Holt, rising to the occasion and proving their worth was a great feeling that she still remembers today.
Holt’s love for basketball is evident.
“I’ve been playing basketball for so long and have been around the game for even more years than that so I feel like it’d be more appropriate to ask me what I don’t love about it, and the answer would be nothing,” she said. The people, the exercise, the Xs and Os, the games, the competition, I enjoy anything and everything. I wouldn’t change basketball even if I could.”
