Jonah Fischer in action during basketball season. [see more of Fischer on the hardcourt]

(Monitor photo by John Arbter)

I take basketball personally.”

Jonah Fischer

Scholastic athletes in local high schools owe their success to many things. Commitment, hard work, conditioning, coaching and competition are just a few of the many factors which combine to realize success on the field of play. Regardless of the sport, these elements are shared across playing fields and courts, and regardless of school size or location. 

Wood County is blessed as the 2A and 3A schools are large enough to be competitive in all sports yet small enough for student-athletes to compete in several sports. Once the school classification reaches 4A, the increased number of competitors results in more specialization by the athletes. Older residents are lucky to yet have this connection to their small school past.  

Local athletic programs provide entertainment for all, as well as prime examples of those traits in life which long-term success require. 

The end of the school year normally is considered a long pause in the athletic schedules. That, however, is becoming less and less the case. The trend for young athletes is increased participation in off-season competition.

Select baseball, seven-on-seven football and informal basketball leagues are filling the calendar more and more. 

One of the graduating Mineola seniors, Jonah Fischer, has been a beneficiary of playing organized basketball in the off-season throughout his high school career. A four-year varsity starter with the Yellowjackets, Fischer directed the Jacket offense and was an assist and shooting specialist.

“The summer leagues and basketball camps allowed our team to practice those skills which we knew would be part of Coach (Ryan) Steadman’s program at Mineola,” stated Fischer. “Man-to-man defense and specific offensive sets and plays were a focus of our summer league play.”

The remarkable success of the Yellowjacket basketball program over the past four years highlights the value of such added playing time for much of the team. Fischer was joined each summer by a number of fellow Yellowjacket teammates.

Coach Steadman commented on the value of such programs, “These days, if an athlete is not working on his or her specific skills in the off-season, then they are falling behind their competition.” He highlighted the dramatic individual player improvement, year-to-year, as evidence of the informal competition’s value. 

“Jonah is a prime example,” he explained, “he improved markedly in every aspect of the game, from defense and rebounding to assists and scoring.” 

In addition to individual skills, building team chemistry can be just as important.

Coach Steadman described the informal summer league as offering as many as 30 games in a summer season. Additionally, basketball camps, such as those hosted by Texas A&M University, also fill the same need.

Those games have a bit of a pick-up nature. The steps seemed pretty simple: collect a team, register for some games and play. An important point, of course, is the strict observance of the UIL regulations governing coaching. The rules retain a clear distinction between such leagues and traditional UIL competition.  

Just as in any sport, playing a game and realizing benefit from a game are two separate things. For Fischer, however, they were one in the same.

“I take basketball personally,” he admitted. “There is no thrill like the thrill of playing the game.”

Fischer tried to explain his love affair with basketball. “It’s the ability to express yourself through the game – the expression of the game,” he remarked. Fischer also related how the game is played in an arena where nothing is hidden, and thousands of people see every good play and every mistake.

A middle child with four siblings, Fischer spent his youth attending his own practices and then going directly to the practices of his two older brothers.

“I love the sound of a basketball in an empty gym,” he said, “And I still go to the gym, alone, to shoot and think.”

A standard Fischer workout described some of his individual commitment. Fischer’s morning basketball work-out consisted of a self-developed ball-handling routine, followed by 400 shots – 100 from beyond the arc, 100 mid-range, 100 free throws and another 100 from the arc. “That was in the morning before school,” he acknowledged.

Throughout his stellar high school career, which featured three district championships, three regional semi-final appearances, 1,427 points and four years of team-leading assists, the young man’s drive to succeed was obvious. 

He was a perfect match for the high expectations of Yellowjacket basketball. He described Coach Steadman’s program with the words: tough, relentless and determined.    

According to Fischer, that program will continue producing great basketball teams. “With leaders like TJ Moreland and Dawson Pendergrass, and even younger players growing up in Mineola’s basketball program, the future will be fun to watch.”

Predictably, Fischer’s favorite memories of Yellowjacket basketball were the biggest games. The battles against neighboring Edgewood and the match-ups with Dallas Madison were named as his most memorable. 

On April 28, Fischer, along with his fellow seniors, opened their “letter to self” written by each in the eighth grade. One of Fischer’s goals was to make the community of Mineola, a football town, excited about boys’ basketball. 

Mission accomplished.