The thirds boys basketball team is not going to have an undefeated season or break any records. But that’s just fine with them, and it’s not the reason they play. In fact, while they work hard, they’re more interested in the pure joy they get from playing the game.

“They’re having fun, and that’s the best thing about it,” said Eugenio Garcia, assistant coach of the 14-person strong team.

Jack Choo, a junior on the team, corroborated: “Everyone is just there to have fun. We mess around but also take it seriously in games.”

That balance is carefully cultivated by Garcia along with Head Coach Geoff Smith ’07. The pair has been working together for the past two years; Garcia, in addition, brings nearly three decades of experience and expertise, not to mention positivity, to the position.

A Spanish teacher originally from Motril, Granada, in Southern Spain, Garcia grew up playing basketball and has spent 29 of his 32 years on campus coaching an array of teams at all levels. Prior to joining with Smith, Garcia coached thirds boys with Matt Sawyer, and before that he coached thirds girls for about 14 years by himself, or “sometimes with a student assistant.”

Of the current thirds squad, made up primarily of ninth and tenth graders with a few eleventh graders, Garcia said, “It’s not that pressure you have in varsity, but at the same time they’re learning the skills. It’s more about the learning rather than winning.” Some of the roster, Garcia said, are athletes playing competitively for the first time.

He was quick to point out that the team functions as a cohesive whole, and that, along with the low-stakes atmosphere, is an asset.

“They like each other, that’s very important, that chemistry,” he said. Noting that there are no “superstars” on the team, he said instead that everyone gets along and works together “in a positive way.”

“They don’t complain, they like to play, they don’t care about winning, they’re having fun and they’re learning,” added Garcia. Unlike higher levels where some students might sit on the bench but never get playing time, he noted, “All of them play, and everybody has the opportunity to improve.”

Choo, one of only three juniors on the team, is in his second year under Smith and Garcia. Prior to last year, he said the last time he played competitive basketball was “probably fourth grade,” on a local Easthampton recreational league team.

He said Coach Garcia sets the tone for the team, and it keeps practices and games low stress environments where the players can work on skills without a ton of pressure.

“He’s super chill,” said Choo, mentioning that the past few games the team has had “trouble around the rim” scoring points, but that they’re able to poke fun at each other in a lighthearted way without being reprimanded.

“It helps us not be so worried,” Choo said. “There are lower stakes.”

Though he joined because all his friends were playing, Choo said now after two years he’s going to miss the team after the season. (Seniors aren’t allowed to join the thirds team.)

Sangwon Choi is a junior in his first year on thirds. A devoted fan of the game—he can be found shooting hoops nearly every weekend during open gym—Choi supported what his teammate said about the general tenor of the team.

“I’m not the best player on the team, but I love playing basketball,” Choi said. “All of us love playing basketball.”

That love, and the hard work that goes with it, showed during the team’s Feb. 4 three-point win over what Choi called a “extremely disciplined and very professional” Kingswood-Oxford team.

“We were able to get a win out there by trusting each other,” Choi said.

That trust, just like the joy, is not by accident; it’s cultivated by Garcia and Smith.

“Coach Garcia and Smith are pretty great,” Choi said. “They’re leading us really well … they help us lock in for practice and games and hold us accountable.”