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Carroll College's Maddie Geritz' pregame handshakes to make a difference beyond the court

Carroll College's Maddie Geritz' pregame handshakes to make a difference beyond the court
Posted at 10:20 AM, Jan 12, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-12 12:20:03-05

HELENA — Carroll College women’s basketball’s Maddie Geritz has a very special role on her team. Geritz is the leader of the pregame handshakes, to help amp up her team.

When asked to describe Geritz' personality, senior guard Kamden Hilborn said, “She’s very hyper-active, unique, caring- she definitely cares about her teammates- energy, lots of it...and I would say a wildcard.”

Geritz says that the handshakes were something that came naturally to her, and that she’s been doing them with some of her teammates for years, and decided to keep the trend going.

“We had the same ones we had last year this year. Kamden and I have the same one, Dani (Wagner) has the same one, Sienna's (Swannack) is a block because she’s always blocking people, Dani’s is a 3-pointer, they're all unique to them,” Geritz said.

Not only are Geritz’ handshakes helpful to her teammates now, but she plans to utilize them outside of college. She is currently studying education, and admits that the viral videos of teachers that have handshakes with their students inspire her.

“I think that's a super cool way to show the kids you care about them and that you're interested in their lives, so it's definitely something I would do,” Geritz says.

You can check out Geritz’ handshakes on Thursday as they take on Providence on the road.