In the small city of Salida, the girls’ basketball team at Salida High School prepares for what many hope will be an accomplished 2025 season. The Spartans will push to improve from last season after returning from a long wait and want to finish in an even better spot by the end of the season.
“I think we’re going to be competing for a state championship,” the team’s coach, Chris Bainbridge, stated at the team’s first official practice. “After we lost in the first round last year, this team stepped up and put in a lot of work this summer and came to open gyms. I’ve been very impressed with the turnout and the work they’ve put in.”
That work has been no small task, and requires a lot of commitment. Hours of conditioning, shooting drills, and intense playing have become the rhythm of the Spartans’ offseason. Coach Bainbridge believes the physical and mental component of practice is just what will prepare the team to rise above their toughest challenges.
“With our practice plans—the way we practice—we bring a whole different intensity,” he explained. “Our practices are sometimes harder than our games, so we mentally prepare [players] that way by pushing their limits.”
The players themselves work to grow that mindset which will have them ready for whatever is thrown at them. The strong core of senior leadership and the culture of the team is just as strong as their skills on the court. Through three seasons of both victories and heartbreak, the team has bonded in a way that has become an important part of the program. As freshmen and younger athletes are introduced into the program, the team builds a base that mixes both experience and rising skills.
“We have a great set of seniors in here,” Coach Bainbridge said. “They’ve put in a lot of work the last three years and to see them all together—they mentor the younger players, they lead by example. We have a strong leadership group and any one of these girls would step up and help anybody at any level of play.”
As the schedule for the 2025-26 season begins, the Spartans are working on one key improvement: to play their best every single opportunity they get, regardless of the opponent. Still, in the seasons that have passed, the team sometimes slipped into close games against schools they usually dominated. This year, Coach Bainbridge shoots to break that pattern.
“Not playing to our competition—then we should be able to take care of business,” he said. “If it’s [Colorado Springs Christian School] or a school that we’ve dominated in the past, it seems like the last couple years we’ve kinda played down to our competition, and we can’t do that this year.”
With commitment, leadership and a roster Coach Bainbridge believes is among the strongest in Colorado’s 3A division, the Spartans expect to do the best they can this season. “I believe we have the best team in 3A and we have some of the best players in 3A,” he emphasized.
As winter itself and the great sports it offers approach, Salida has every reason to believe this season could be special. And for the hardworking girls on the court that have grown together, they have a clear goal: play harder, play smarter, and chase that state championship.
