Here at Rock Island High School, the Girls Basketball Team doesn’t limit the word family to the blood relations they are born with. It’s the teammates and coaches that push them to be their best. However, Jordyn Randle, a freshman, gets the best of both worlds.
Michael Randle, Jordyn’s father, has been the Freshman Girls Head Coach for five years now. For 15 years before his time at Rocky, he coached various age groups, both boys and girls. With the years of experience and varieties of groups, he said, “Getting the opportunity to coach at the higher level, I believe I get an opportunity to impact kids’ lives at a difficult point when they are starting to really develop, grow and get an understanding of the world. But, coaching the young kids was always exciting because they found the littlest things that’d give them inspiration and enjoyment. Sometimes, just seeing the look on their face when they do something correctly, or win a game that they thought they were gonna lose, felt very rewarding for me.” Due to his many years of coaching, Jordyn has been around basketball her whole life.
Being surrounded by basketball her whole life has helped her to gain experience, Jordyn said, “I’ve been playing since I was 5. I have always been surrounded by basketball. My brothers and cousins all played basketball, and they were all smart basketball players. As soon as I was strong enough to get the ball through the hoop, my journey with basketball began.” Jordyn’s work ethic has led her to be a starter on Varsity as a freshman.
This accomplishment has made Coach Dad proud. Mike said, “It’s a proud dad moment, you know, you get to see your kid be successful and still want to do more. But, you also have to keep them engaged and understand that everything is earned and not given. To make sure they don’t take this opportunity for granted. I always try to remind her to stay focused, appreciative and humbled for the opportunity she’s been rewarded, because not every freshman gets this opportunity. I’m just happy the coaches trust and believe in her.” Despite the change in pace, along with new plays and different coaches, Jordyn quickly acclimated to the Varsity level.
Part of the adjusting process, Jordyn stated, was “At first I was kind of nervous, but when I realized that it’s still basketball and I started to believe I was capable of playing at this higher level, it got much easier.” Along with the team and level change, she also said, “I like the challenge of playing above my grade level. It’s more exciting to be playing against older players.” Jordyn is open to accepting change and challenging herself.
Even though Mike is no longer in charge of coaching Jordyn on the court, for her entire life up until halfway through the ‘23-’24 season, he was. He said, “I’m always nervous when it comes to my daughter because I don’t want to be too tough on her, but not tough enough. I want to treat her like other players, but at the end of the day, it’s always in the back of my mind, ‘that’s my little one’ so I always try to step a little bit with caution. I kinda enjoy watching other people coaching her more because it gives me more of an opportunity to sit back and parent her. It’s nerve racking.” The years of his work with her paid off.
Jordyn admires her father and what he’s done for her. She said, “Having my dad as my coach has really helped me in my basketball career. My dad always pushes me to be the best I can be on and off the court. His support as a coach is what keeps my love for the game of basketball alive.” Blood related or not, having good coaches helps players strive to be their best.
Each and every level of The Girls Basketball program creates strong bonds. From a coach’s perspective, Mike said, “I definitely think that’s a benefit of basketball, you create bonds and build relationships. It lets you know that if you have something going on in life, you have people to reach out to and talk to and get some kind of understanding. I definitely love the family aspect, especially here at Rocky. Our players create strong bonds with us and each other.”
Every coach and athlete has a different story, but they all share the same passion and love for basketball. From a player’s perspective, Jordyn said, “Teammates do feel like family. You spend so much time with them that they become your second family. Sometimes, my friendships with teammates turn into more than just basketball, and I begin hanging out with them off the court.”
The Rock Island High Schools Girls Basketball program works to provide a safe space for the girls to work alongside each other, growing and improving at the sport they love. Between the siblings on the teams, parents on the bench coaching, or even girls who just met, they all create bonds and support each other through thick and thin.
