Seniors have an inherent responsibility to be leaders of their teams. After all, those players have been around the program for four years and know the ins and outs of competing at the varsity level.

But what about when there’s a new head coach? That’s the case with ADM girls basketball and first-year coach Corey Schneider. He’s working hard to connect with his new players and to teach them a new offensive system. At the same time, there’s only so much he can do in that department.

That’s where the Tigers seniors come in. Seniors such as guard Emily Hoffman understand that they have even more responsibility to lead under these circumstances. She knows the other players better than Schneider would at this point, and may have to step in and act as a “player-coach” of sorts to help younger players.

“I feel like my responsibility is if I understand something and they’re just not getting it, as a senior I need to take that and help them with it,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been here — not that long with him — but I’ve been here for four years now, and they are just coming up. Especially those freshmen that will play varsity or those sophomores, they won’t know the feeling or the excitement you get. I feel like I just need to help them in any way possible.”

Hoffman and the Tigers open the regular season this Monday night at home against Norwalk. Tip is at 7:30 p.m., when we’ll have the call on K107 and raccoonvalleyradio.com.