Story by: Patrick Prince | Media and Communications Editor
The Upper School gym is mostly quiet this summer.
But if you happen to hear the echo of a basketball, chances are it’s Adison Hill.
For Hill, summer is about getting better, and she’s taking full advantage.
This summer, she’s been in the gym five days a week, working on shooting and ball handling. Some days, she’ll work out twice, joining her dad at the YMCA.
During a nearly three-hour workout last Wednesday in the Flint-Williams Gymnasium, she put up 410 shots, ranging from layups to 3-pointers while also working on other drills.
“I try to just work on what I need to work on to get better for the season,” she said. “I mean, you have time. This is the time to go hard and give it your all.”
This summer, her primary goals are developing her left hand and improving her free-throw percentage.
Even in the spring while she was running track, Adison was finding time to work on basketball.
“What separates Adi from others is not just talent, but it’s her commitment,” Holland Hall girls basketball coach Crystal Lawson said. “A lot of players will say they want to get better and will go to the gym and get some shots up or work with a trainer a couple of times a week, but Adison is in the gym every day.”
Adison has benefited, Lawson said, from “incredibly supportive” parents and a “great role model” in her sister Elise, a Holland Hall graduate who plays basketball at SMU.
“Not many will get in the gym when no one is watching and work as hard as she does so consistently,” Lawson said.
Here’s a look inside one of Adison’s summer workouts.
Sarah Smith
Holland Hall Chaplain Sarah Smith joined Holland Hall in 2023 after coaching at independent schools in Oklahoma City, then leading her own parish, before spending time at the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma.
She holds degrees from Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
A sixth-generation Oklahoman who graduated from an independent school, she is uniquely qualified to teach religion courses and offer pastoral care at Holland Hall.
Christy Utter
Christy serves as the Middle School Chaplain in addition to her role as head field hockey coach. A 1992 graduate of Holland Hall, Utter coached at the University of Louisville and Brown before returning to Holland Hall.
She holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and the University of Louisville.
Her mission as a chaplain is simple: Helping students to understand the consequences of their choices, helping them to develop a strong moral compass, and guiding them as they lead of life of loving others with compassion, no judgment, and understanding and appreciating the differences in others.
Kristin Lees
Kristin serves as the Primary School Chaplain and is instrumental in teaching the Second Step curriculum, which promotes social and emotional skills in children. The program fosters and builds skills related to empathy, communication, problem-solving, and emotional regulation.
