Sydney Jones is a freshman on the girls varsity basketball team. Jones comes from a basketball family. Her father is the men’s basketball coach at Boston University. She has played basketball her whole life, and just last year went with her team to Junior Nationals. Sydney is a point guard.

What is it like have a college basketball coach as a dad? What pressures come with that?

My dad was at Columbia University, and that’s where I first started to love it. I watched all of his games. I get really nervous at all of his games, so that’s just one of the cons of it. But I love it so much! It’s so fun. He has such a cool job that not a lot of people get to experience and I’m extremely fortunate.

Do you have any extra opportunities because of your dad?

Yeah, sometimes I get to scrimmage with the Boston University women’s team, which is really fun. I really just get to watch a lot of basketball. I have someone I can always talk to about the sport. When coaches say don’t listen to what your parents say about the game they always say, “Oh but Sydney you can listen to your dad.”

What is it like being a freshman on the varsity team?

At first, I was really nervous because I’ve been with other girls since 4th grade, so I was nervous to not be with them. But Serena Smith did it last year, Maya Page did it the ;year before and Liz Dumas did it; they all know the experience, so they’ve treated me as one of their own and kind of taken me under their wing. It’s great.

How do you fit into the team dynamic as a freshman?

I’m loud. I talk a lot. You can ask anyone-my mom and dad say I’m always screaming. I stand up a lot. Our captains are great. They’re such strong leaders. So, it’s really been nice taking one of those background positions, where you don’t have to have everyone hyped up, then again you can think about how to keep yourself positive.

How do you balance a varsity commitment and school?

We have practice six times a week. All the girls are really good with getting their work done, so if we have time before practice we are always in coach Wheeler’s room doing our homework and he helps us. Or we are in Alex’s office to do homework. Since we usually take the earlier slot for practice, I usually have time after. But now with games starting, and specifically away games, I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll see how that works.

Do you have any tips for people who want to take a sport to the next level like you did?

Just working hard. It’s a big commitment. You really have to love doing it. If you love it, then you should really do it. Sometimes, I don’t feel like going outside in my backyard to practice, but you have to know all of your hard work will work out.