On every team there is one girl who is very passionate about playing and being a part of her team. Madi Pixler is a senior at Arvada West High School this year. Pixler has been playing basketball for 13 years, and this will be her fourth year playing for the Wildcats.

She loves basketball because “it’s a fast-paced game that requires you to make decisions in the moment.”

Pixler states, “Basketball is very much a mental game. It challenges me both mentally and physically.”

She wants this season to be the best season out of all four of her previous seasons. Pixler wants to exceed this year and be the reason for a winning season. Her average score per game is around 10 points. Pixler’s stats for the 2017-2018 season were  in the top 10 in the division 5A girls basketball league.

She states that, “As a combo guard I am comfortable playing both shooting guard and point guard.”

She has also started in the past two seasons at A-West. 

Pixler said she is “Looking forward to my senior season, especially being able to show how I have improved since freshman year. I am also looking forward to being a leader for the underclassmen.”

She feels a little sad that she is a senior, and it is the end of high school basketball. 

Pixler’s goals for her last season are to increase her points per games and increase Arvada West’s league wins. As A-West basketball has some new coaches, Pixler really would like to get into the second round of playoffs and possibly further.

Every athlete has to overcome some challenges in their career. Pixler has overcome the challenges of having three different coaches in the past four years of her career at A-West.

“It’s hard to adjust to different coaches year after year and there is very little stability,” said Pixler. 

“As an athlete it’s very hard to balance school other responsibilities and basketball and that [is] hard when injuries are sustained during the season.”