This week’s Athletic Spotlight is on senior Caroline Gremaud, 18, who plays on the Perryville High School girls basketball team.
Playing guard on the team, she was recognized by her coach, Jason Dreyer, who praised the effort Gremaud has shown on the court this season.
The daughter of Neil and Mary Gremaud, she said she became interested in sports when she was younger through the encouragement of her older siblings, who played sports
“Usually, when you have older siblings, and they do something, you kind of look up to them and want to do what they do,” she said. “So, that’s what got me into it and why I wanted to start doing sports. My sisters played soccer, basketball and softball. My older brother played football, basketball and baseball.”
Asked what sport she started out playing, Gremaud said, “I started playing soccer first when I was four, and then later on — like in third grade — I started playing basketball because, where I live, that’s the age when you could start, at least me anyway.”
Mentioning that coach Dreyer is excited about the team’s improvements on the court, Gremaud agreed that she and her fellow players are working harder as the season progresses.
“Obviously, the first couple of games didn’t go the way we wanted them to,” she said. “The beginning of the season, of course, we’re not going to be the best right off the bat, you know? I think we’re starting to get the hang of it and are able to work with each other better as the season goes on.”
Gremaud credited the team’s improvement to playing and practicing together.
“It’s like being split up with each other and then just getting to work with each other while we practice, while going over plays and stuff helps us play better for games and whatnot.”
Asked how her coach has helped the team improve, Gremaud said, “He tells us a lot to just always give our best effort — always try and always try and work hard. We work hard in practice so that it will show in a game because when you work hard in practice, you work hard in the game.”
And what does Gremaud do to improve her performance on the court?
“I try to work hard every day, practice, and give my best effort,” she said. “I do the best I can and make sure I stay focused. I want to make sure I’m treating practice like how I would play in a game.”
Gremaud believes the game where she felt she was in the flow was the one played against Scott County.
“I feel like that was probably one of my better games,” she said. “There was also the one against Grandview that we played recently,” she said. “I feel like that was probably one of my best defensive games so far.”
As a senior, Gremaud is already preparing for college but isn’t exactly sure where she’s going to attend. She does, however, know what sport she intends to play.
“I’m actually going to go to college for soccer,” she said.
That brought up the question of how many sports Gramaud plays at Perryville High School.
“I play three,” she said. “I play basketball, soccer and softball, and I feel most comfortable playing soccer. I just feel like that’s probably the sport that I’m best at, so I feel more comfortable playing it.”
Asked what advice she’d give a beginning student at Perryville High School who expressed an interest in playing sports, Gremaud said, “I would just say to try it. Even if you’re not good at it, do it. There’s no rule that says, ‘Oh, you’re not good at something, so you can’t do it.’ That’s not true because that’s what practice is for — to get better at whatever you’re wanting to do. So, then you can get better at that sport.”
