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# Hedquist bringing spark to Nashua South girls basketball
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/hedquist-bringing-spark-nashua-south-girls-basketball/
- Published: 2017-01-27T16:30:52.000Z
- Updated: 2017-01-27T16:30:52.000Z
- Description: When Amber Hedquist moved to Nashua, she had a plan on how her first athletic season was going to go. After her family moved from Maryland to the Granite State the summer before she started eighth grade, Hedquist had it figured out that she was going to play soccer that fall and become a star at it.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls basketball, Nashua South, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

When Amber Hedquist moved to Nashua, she had a plan on how her first athletic season was going to go.

After her family moved from Maryland to the Granite State the summer before she started eighth grade, Hedquist had it figured out that she was going to play soccer that fall and become a star at it.

But in the months before school started, the one friend she'd made in her new home convinced Hedquist to join her at volleyball camp.

"That was my big plan, I was going to be a little soccer star," Hedquist said. "One of my friends, she was the only one I knew here, she said she was going to do a volleyball camp. She said you should come, meet people, because I didn't know anyone. I met people through volleyball, fell in love with the sport and started that instead of soccer."

Hedquist played volleyball and basketball that year and as a freshman at Nashua High School South, but during that first basketball season with the Panthers, a teammate convinced her to try something new.

"In basketball season, one of my teammates, Holly Gaudette, said I think you'd love (outdoor) track," Hedquist said. "Whatever season I'm in ... I love every season. I wish I did have an answer to that."

For South girls basketball coach Dan Wyborney, it doesn't matter which one Hedquist loves more, just so long as she continues to bring her intangibles on and off the court.

"It's one of the most important things for any kid," Wyborney said of being a multi-sport athlete. "They have to be able to adjust to a different environment and a difference circumstance and be able to apply their competitiveness into that situation. We try to encourage all our kids to do as many different activities as they can just for that reason.

"To find a kid like Amber, who can help create that and bring those younger kids along, it goes without saying. She's always willing to do whatever she can to make the program and the people around her better."

That's a big reason why she was named a captain as a junior, and why, despite sitting at 2-9 going into Friday's game with Nashua North, the Panthers have been more competitive in Division I this season.

"For the most part, we started off the season competing in everything that we're doing," Hedquist said. "We've built competitive atmosphere, regardless of the score on the scoreboard, we're attacking on the floor."

After helping the South volleyball team get back into the postseason in the fall, Hedquist was looking to carry some of those positive vibes over to the basketball court. Part of that though included taking her own game to another level.

"I'm looking to attack offensively," she said. "That's something I've kind of shied away from in the past. As a freshman, I didn't even think about shooting, I was always looking to pass.

"As a junior, I'm really trying to set an example in that sense and not be afraid to shoot. I feel like with basketball, a lot of people, they miss a shot and then they're afraid to shoot. I think that's something I can work on."

Wyborney believes that self-confidence is the only thing that can trip up his captain.

"I don't think she has a ceiling because she's so athletic and such a coachable kid," he said. "You could teach her new stuff and she picks it up and goes with it. Her biggest block is probably her self-confidence. She has to understand that she has the ability, she just has to let it go and do it. It's the same with volleyball and track. The sky is the limit for her."