A pass from the point guard sets up the game-winning three.
A block from the offensive lineman protects the quarterback for his final pass.
A volleyball player sets for her teammate to spike and bring the game to a close.
The game comes to a close, ideally with the outcome in favor of the Wildcats. No matter the score or outcome, the team comes together and takes in the result of their work. It’s been said over and over again that there’s no ‘I’ in team, but it’s the moments outside of games and match-ups that really hammer this point home.
“I think we try to represent ourselves in public,” junior Liam Hanson, a guard for the varsity basketball team, said, “because we try to go out and give back. And then also just hanging out with the guys, pasta parties with the team, stuff like that. So it’s more like a family.”
Hanson, who has been playing basketball for 13 years, is in his first active season on the varsity basketball program following a knee surgery during his sophomore year.
As a member of a team made up of many senior leaders, Hanson said that “they’re good at setting things up outside of basketball. [Things] like going to watch other games that other teams in our conference play, going to get food after a practice or on a weekend, just getting us together and doing things that don’t even involve basketball.”
At a school like Libertyville, one might argue that an emphasis on team-building and growth fosters atmospheres like that of the basketball team to flourish.
Senior Jake Gimbert, a varsity lacrosse player, said that Mr. John Woods, the school athletic director, is “always trying to get people to go places, [be] excited to play sports and making sure that people know they have an opportunity to play here at Libertyville.”
LHS is not the only school with strong programs like lacrosse and basketball, but there’s undoubtedly something that makes it unique.
“I would say the community at Libertyville is different from a lot of other schools,” Gimbert said. “All the students know what’s going on and they all try their hardest to come support [each other].”

Sports at Libertyville are made up of many different people, from athletes to coaches, who all have important roles. But, Mr. John Woods, who is in his sixth year as the school’s athletic director, has an especially significant impact on the substance of the culture surrounding sports at LHS.
“When you think about results or the outcome of any sport, any contest,” Mr. Woods said, “the results are driven by the behaviors. So thinking about how we behave, what are our above the line and below the line behaviors? You’ve got your mission, your vision, your core principles, now what are the behaviors that need to align with what we say we want to achieve?” Community and substance to team culture can exist across all different programs. Lacrosse and basketball are just some examples of areas where these ideas have taken hold. The varsity girls gymnastics team is another.
“I love how the coaches and this high school in general make everyone feel included,” junior Maya Duffy, who has been doing gymnastics for eight years, said. “Even if it’s your first time doing a sport, even if you’re a freshman, you don’t have to feel nervous because people are including you.”
Duffy has been on the gymnastics team for each of her three years at LHS and is in her second year on varsity. Duffy said that she and her teammates “do pasta parties at people’s houses every week before competitions. So people get to know each other and talk. And then also at practice, at the beginning, we all stretch in a circle so it’s easy to talk to people.”
Mr. Woods, who also leads the weekly Wildcats Will sessions, said that “culture is not a team meal. Culture is not playing laser tag. Those are activities that can help bring us closer together. Culture is about the behaviors of the people, period.”
The idea of culture being more behaviors and principles and less activities has allowed many teams to come together stronger than ever. Whether it’s at a practice, game, meet or team-building event, individual members of teams have the chance to build skills relating to personality and community, not just their sport.
Senior Lily Botten, a cross-country and track runner, said that her team is set up so that “the way we have practices sets it up really well. You’re constantly with other age groups and different girls, meeting new people. Also, the bus rides to meets, you’re constantly mixed up and you’re not just sitting around the people that you know all the time.”
Botten, who has been running since her sophomore year and is in her first year on varsity, said that she really likes “the coaches and how they encourage all-around mental wellness, physical wellness and emotional [wellness]. Not just being the highest-performing team in the state or anything like that. And I like the girls. Everybody’s really supportive of each other when we run.”
Winter sports are well underway and many are moving into post-season events, such as conference tournaments and playoffs. In other words, many spring sports, such as boys and girls lacrosse and girls soccer, will soon be underway.
“I think that we’ve just created a great community as a school and everyone that goes to this school is just very personable,” Gimbert, a spring sport athlete, said. “I feel like everyone is happy to be here.”
Hanson, a starter in many of the varsity basketball team’s games, emphasized the importance of feeder programs that lead many youths into high school sports, such as JCATS, the community’s feeder basketball program.
“Go to their games so they can see that you’re there,” Hanson said. “I think that would also motivate the kids to work hard, because at the end of the day, some of these kids want to be where you’re at.”
The sentiments expressed by athletes, coaches and many others involved reinforce an idea that is gaining ground at LHS: there really is no ‘I’ in team.
“People talk about culture, culture, culture,” Mr. Woods said, “but what is it? Simply the behaviors of the people with any team or organization.”