As the book closed on another successful season for Butte College’s Women’s basketball team, I spoke to Coach Phillip Thomas about how he found his first season in charge, some of the key moments that drove the team to the second round of the playoffs and the future of the program ahead of Coach Thomas’ second season at the helm.
Coach Thomas inherited his squad at an immediate disadvantage, as the team met for the first time as late as September 2024, losing out on two months of valuable practice, conditioning and team bonding their competition was privy to. Heads never dropped however and Coach Thomas credited the “resilience” of his team in knuckling down and putting in the hard miles to prepare for the long and grueling season ahead.
When asked what some of the key factors in the team’s success were, Coach Thomas gave an answer no player really wants to hear – “It’s all about conditioning. The girls ran long and hard throughout pre-season which really gave us that extra edge in clutch moments.”
He also credited the great work done in team bonding, developing connection and chemistry between the group in the short window available. Thomas and his coaching team got creative with bonding exercises, designing a game where players were divided into teams and given two minutes to learn as much as possible about a partner from the opposite team, with the losing side burdened with extra runs at the end of practice.
Coach Thomas highlighted lifting the Golden Valley Conference title as the “proudest” moment of the season, again lauding his team’s grit in outlasting opponents and dealing with adversity, facing teams with rosters 12-14 strong with just 5-7 players available, including an injury to a key defender.
Thomas was hugely optimistic about the future as he turns his attention towards recruitment for the 25-26 season, with a number of exciting moves in the works. “The potential in this group is massive and with a full summer of preparation the sky is the limit.”
The future is bright for one of Butte College’s most successful sports programs, and under the guidance of Coach Thomas, an elusive State Championship title may lie on the not so distant horizon.
