Crawfordsville’s Olivia and Madi Hedrick are getting the chance to live out a childhood dream. The two sisters are getting to share the court this season for the Athenians and are having a blast while doing it... well most of the time that is. Madi is the midst of her senior season for Crawfordsville while Olivia is just a sophomore. The two-year gap between the sisters hasn’t allowed them to play together until now. While Madi was a member of the varsity team a year ago, Olivia made a name for herself on the JV team.
First-year CHS coach Joe Ferguson has seen both the good and yes the some bad of having two sisters not only play but getting to start for his team.
“I really love it for them because growing up I always wished that I could play with my siblings, but getting the chance to see them both out there is really fun. In practice sometimes they’ll match up against each other and you get to see that sibling rivalry and that’s been really neat to see. Sometimes there is that bent up anger that comes with having a sibling. At the end of the day though they love each other and love being out on that floor with one another and I know they’ll always be there for each other on and off the court This is something they can look back on 40 years from now and realize they got to play with one another.”
With Madi being the older sister and it also being her senior season. She’s taking the time and opportunity to cherish every moment that she gets to play with Olivia because she knows this season will be the only chance the two get to play together. “It’s definitely something that I feel blessed to be able to do,” Madi said. “Not a whole lot of people get to play get this opportunity to play with their younger sister. It’s really been nice to see how far she (Olivia) has come with basketball. She’s worked for her spot this year and we obviously have a special connection on the court. I often look for her and I know she looks for me too.”
Olivia echoes her older sisters comments and knows that this season will be one that they both remember.
“It is sad knowing that she does graduate but I love spending every moment I can with her on the court,” she said. “Basketball is the only sport that we play together and it’s something that we’ve both done since we both started in fifth grade. We do bark at each other sometimes like all sisters do but I like to think we’re the pass and shoot duo out there and it’s really nice getting to bond with her even more through a sport we both love.”
Having two sisters on the court at the same time has helped build the chemistry with this Athenian girls team. Ferguson has seen the sister duo communicate almost without communicating at times. He also speaks on how they’ve impacted the team as a whole on the defensive side of the ball.
“One of the best things about both of them is they’re defensive menaces on that side of the ball,” Ferguson said of both sisters. “I don’t have to ask them to go out there and work or play hard. That’s where both of them really shine the most and it’s what I love the most about them.”
As Olivia noted earlier, both of them started playing in elementary school at the fifth grade level. From then on the sisters would always find a court to go and play on. With playing the role of the younger sister, Olivia also gives her older sister a lot of credit for helping her become the player she is today.
“She’s a big reason why I am where I am today,” Olivia said. “She’s helped me grow so much because she knows what she’s doing. We lived close by a park growing up and so we’d go and always shoot around and gets shots up. There’s been times where I’ve been there to give her advice too when she needs it because we’re always there for each other.”
As Madi is in her final season with Crawfordsville, she gets the chance to not only enjoy her final season with her teammates and coaches, but also with her sister. The duo has not only built a special bond but they have a great sense of being able to communicate with each other without really even saying a word.
“It is nice because we both know each other strengths and know what we both like to do,” Madi said. “I’m really trying to take advantage of every game of my senior season not only because it’s my senior year but because I’m getting to play with my sister.”
A bond that simply can’t be broken with the Hedrick sisters. This is a season that they’ll both remember for quite sometime.
