{"id":50876,"date":"2021-12-10T09:07:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T14:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=50876"},"modified":"2021-12-20T11:47:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T16:47:03","slug":"home-to-me-hhs-alum-komara-serves-as-leader-for-young-royals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2021\/home-to-me-hhs-alum-komara-serves-as-leader-for-young-royals\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018HOME TO ME\u2019: HHS alum Komara serves as leader for young Royals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For some, Harrisonburg is simply the town they went to college in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Friendly City is home to James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite and Bridgewater College. It\u2019s the place to escape home, be with friends and walk the stage with a diploma in hand, ready to leave for the next chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For EMU\u2019s senior forward Constance Komara, Harrisonburg is home. It\u2019s where she grew up, played high school basketball and now leads a young EMU women\u2019s basketball team on the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHarrisonburg is home to me,\u201d Komara said. \u201cIt\u2019s where I\u2019ve grown up, lived with my family and not played basketball \u2014 that played a role in my decision to come to EMU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Komara\u2019s experience with basketball is simple \u2014 it\u2019s about family. Throughout her life, she\u2019s had her father coach her on the basics: stance, aggression and work ethic. But even with her coaches in high school, she said it felt like working with them as family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family is one reason that Komara stayed in the Friendly City for college. They could attend every game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving a dad that never gave up on me and always helped me on the side with my confidence, my mental game too [was important],\u201d Komara said. \u201cI\u2019m a family person. My family\u2019s really tight-knit and they mean the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a freshman, Komara said that she was in a shell. She didn\u2019t intermingle with her teammates often and was taking in what it was like to be a college athlete. Komara was away from the people she grew up with, even if they were still in the same town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a senior, it\u2019s the opposite. She\u2019s working with a team almost entirely affected by COVID-19, the separation it brought and the challenge of creating consistency and rhythm with a group that hasn\u2019t played with each other before. So, Komara said she\u2019s grown in her leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs I went through my sophomore and junior year, I got out of my little bubble,\u201d Komara said. \u201cI started talking to my teammates, like getting to know them on a personal level and I felt that really brought onto the court with chemistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That chemistry is what Komara said she\u2019s worked on as well. She laughed when asked how much of her life is dedicated to working on her game and improving. Komara said that the Royals are her family and that she doesn\u2019t really have \u201coutside-of-basketball\u201d friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leadership and chemistry EMU\u2019s standout has developed over the course of her career isn\u2019t going unnoticed. Royals head coach Jenny Posey said Komara is the first player she\u2019s trained with all four years and that her leadership now is better than it ever was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[Komara] has always risen to the challenge,\u201d Posey said. \u201c[Komara\u2019s] always looking to do extra, always wanting to please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Komara said a couple of things contributed to how she\u2019s grown as a leader. It\u2019s partly due to the continuous practices and time spent together but after the 2020-21 season, spending so much time with each other has contributed to the on-court chemistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Komara said that, as a captain, she knows what shot her teammates like to take and what their best positions are. With her new leadership role, she\u2019s learned how to get everyone best set up to put the players in the greatest position to produce positive results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s never a dull moment with [her teammates],\u201d Komara said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s going to be held for me for a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Komara and Posey both emphasized how this season feels like its a complete family. The senior said this season, she went onto the court having all of her teammates\u2019 backs and talking to them on the court to work things out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Posey said sometimes she doesn\u2019t even need to call a timeout in the face of adversity. Komara\u2019s got it handled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[A family atmosphere] is definitely something that\u2019s grown in [Komara\u2019s] years I think,\u201d Komara said. \u201cHer mom supplied a pregame meal for us, so it\u2019s creating that environment where the girls feel like they have a support system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What might be the most interesting part of Komara\u2019s growth as a leader are her post-EMU plans. Posey said that Komara wants to be a teacher and that seeing her work on the court now, putting in the time to help the underclassmen and make them realize that it\u2019s OK to make mistakes is an important part of her future endeavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think [leadership] will be her best skill as a teacher,\u201d Posey said. \u201cThe fact that she always has that heart where she seems to be looking out for other people. Trying to pull them along, trying to make them feel welcomed in whatever environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Komara\u2019s grown from a Blue Streak at Harrisonburg to a top scorer and leader for the Royals. For the forward, the most important lesson is family \u2014 that\u2019s what she works with her teammates on and off the court and through that is how the chemistry grows by the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have seven freshmen on our team so she\u2019s told them, \u2018This is what our culture looks like,\u2019\u201d Posey said. \u201cThis is what\u2019s expected of you and that they\u2019ve fallen in line and fallen behind her is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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