Falteisek makes a name for herself in summer leagues

It was a late start, and an even later end, but sports recently wrapped up the spring season in Wisconsin. And with summer temps and sun finally here, most student-athletes are relaxing on the beach, or in the shade.

Not so for Sydney Falteisek, an incoming sophomore at Abbotsford High, who enjoyed an excellent freshman campaign, in which she won all-conference honors in basketball and track.

But even as Sydney excelled in track and field throughout May and June, she’s been balancing that full slate with AAU basketball tournaments.

“The season has been going well and you can tell we have improved both as individuals and as a team from the start of the season,” Falteisek says.

Her passion for basketball has taken her all over the Midwest, with stops at tournaments in Bloomington, Minn., Council Bluffs, Iowa and Appleton. An even bigger tournament is coming up later in July in the city of Louisville.

“My coach told us this will be our toughest competition which makes that so much more exciting!”

It could easily be an intimidating experience, but Falteisek has carved out a name and reputation for herself. She helped her team to a third place finish at an AAU tournament in Appleton a few weeks ago, and then recently picked up all-star honors when her team won a 15U tournament over the past weekend.

“I was surprised when I saw on Twitter that I was named one of the all stars,” Falteisek said, sharing her thoughts on the honor via Facebook. “Not many players get that opportunity and recognition, so it was nice to see my hard work paying off.”

Falteisek was quick to give credit to her teammates for the win, but it was nice to get the honor and have current WNBA, and Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer, tweet out the result.

“It felt great to be a part of winning the 15U division the past weekend. You could tell we were all coming to together and playing as a team. It was also really great to see that Megan Gustafson also had congratulated us knowing we won her bracket!”

Sydney still has a ways to go she says in developing her game, with the AAU circuit pitting her against older and stronger players, but she feels that her time in volleyball, track and basketball this year has made her a better athlete.

“It’s a physical game, and communication has to be key, so those are things that I think we will need to work on to be better as a team this year.”

She’s also looking forward to taking everything she’s learned this summer and applying it towards helping Abby improve and make a run at a Marawood - North conference title.

“I’m optimistic about the upcoming season as a Falcon. I think we will have a fast team that can run the floor. That is a big thing that we do in AAU.”