POLAND – The feet of Dani Belanger and Paige Piper pound the floor in repetition.

Seven pairs of small feet follow at the same frantic pace. Amidst all the frenetic footwork, the smiles shine bright. For a few furious moments, the typically arduous task of “foot fires” looks like fun.

Early on a Saturday morning, the present and potential future of the Poland girls’ basketball team is gathered. A clinic for the Poland Rec program done by the high school varsity is in full swing.

At one station are the foot drills. Other Knights are teaching shooting, dribbling and passing techniques.

“By working with the young kids, they’re transposing what they’ve learned in practice to the kids,” said Maggie Thornton, the second year coach of the Knights. “The best way to learn is to teach.”

Basketball programs are often built from the bottom up, and the Poland girls are trying to fill all the pieces to the foundation.

Four wins last year marked the most successful season in the five-year history. Poland lost four seniors from last year, three of which were starters, yet good things are expected. If Poland were to surpass last year, it would demonstrate significant progress.

“That would be phenomenal,” said Thornton. “We’re really excited and optimistic. It’s going to be a hard transition, but we have six girls returning to varsity and the freshmen are pretty exciting to watch. Hopefully, this is the season that will turn us around.”

The Knights have been active in AAU and summer basketball camps. Poland’s summer program has completed three seasons and hopes to raise money for a team camp trip next summer.

“Over the years, we’ve become a lot more committed to the team, and we’ve become a lot more stable,” said senior guard Misty Grant. “We’re a lot more aggressive. So we’re more of a challenge now to play against.”

The Knights had 40 players tryout. After having six freshmen last year, there were 20 this season, stocking three high school teams. Similar numbers are expected next year.

“At the beginning, when Poland was first built, I was a freshman and it was like Poland sports teams, whatever.’ Now it seems like Wow, Poland, they’re really building something and getting a head start in trying to do something there,'” said Clark. “I think we can make a name for ourselves.”

Since going 0-18 the first season, the Knights have added a win each year. The only playoff berth came during the open tournament in 2002. Progress has been slow but steady.

“Our program is building because we’re able to work on a more fast-paced offense, and the girls are able to handle it now,” said Thornton. “Before they weren’t able to handle it. We’re also getting girls that are full-fledged dedicated to basketball. Before we had girls that play three sports and like three sports. Now we have basketball players coming up.”

The team began working with the rec program last year. Players were only required to attend two sessions, but all participated in every session.

“At the beginning, there weren’t a lot of low level programs,” said Clark. “I think we’ve built a better and stronger program for the little ones so that when they move up, they’ll be ready.”

It not only promotes the program and fuels its feeder system but incorporates the team in the community. While nearly three dozen kids participated in last Saturday’s clinic, there were over 50 parents looking on.

“We have parents here watching us help their kids,” said Clark. “I hope they recognize that we’re just trying to build a program for the kids in this town. They know we’re trying to build this, and so I think maybe they’ll support us as a team more.”

The infusion of young talent isn’t for the future though. The Knights two freshmen, Belanger and Piper, are just two key additions to a young promising lineup. Grant, Abby Perkins and Alison Tilley are the only seniors. Thornton expects to have at least one sophomore and one freshman in the starting lineup and will utilize all 10 players.

“I think we’ll actually do better,” said Grant. “We have two promising freshmen, and we have a lot of key players coming back. Our freshman that was on our team last year (Kathryn Hall) is coming back. She’s our tallest player, and our center. I think she’s going to be really promising. So I think we’ll be pretty good.”