Pg 32-The Rise to the Top
This group of writers have worked incredibly hard for this magazine. Each one of these writers have been brought together by their love and passion for sports. Even though each of these writers chose the magazine for a different purpose, they each came together to write this great magazine. We appreciate you for reading and thank you!
Jacob Cruz
Jacob is a Freshman at LASA highschool. He plays soccer for the organization Lone Star, and is a holding midfielder/ defender. He has a dog and an older sister. He hopes Argentina wins the world cup, said on the day of the Quarterfinals.
Bouna is a Freshie at LASA highschool. He likes to play soccer, and also plays for Lonestar. He hopes that France wins the world cup, said on the day of the quarterfinals, 2022. He has a little brother that he likes to make tik toks with. He sometimes dresses goofy, but it matches his personality. He preferes red and blue gatorade even though its disgusting. He wears dirty white crocs to school on a weekley basis and he enjoys being in this class.
Christopher is a Freshman at LASA highschool who loves to get involved. He loves to watch football, he doesn’t have a specific team. His favorite color is green. He likes to sleep, and he loves pizza.
Odgen is a Freshman at LASA highschool who loves to play soccer. He has been playing for 6 years, and has also been homeschooled for 6 years! This is his first year in actual school. He says he’s quite good at skiing, and enjoys it. Odgen is taking Japanese as his language course right now and really liking it. He is in band and plays the xylophone. His favorite color is greenish blue or gray.
Elaine is a Freshman at LASA highschool. She loves to play volleyball, and she plays for the club AJV. She likes dad jokes, and makes them herself. She likes hanging out with friends.
Shes bad at biology, but loves trying to learn. She loves listening to music, even if she’s supposed to be concentrating on something else. She moved from DC in the summer of 6th grade, and is still learning to grow to Austin. But she’s glad she has her friends to help her.
Basketball is not just a sport, it’s an art. Many people love the sport and go to the extreme to get good at it. You must go through the good and bad times to get to where you desire to be. But the bad thing is that racism comes between basketball and playing it. In this article, you will see the struggles of people of color playing basketball, and what they did to overcome them. you will see the struggles of being a basketball player of color and what they did to get to the top.
There are many people wanting to be at the top and that takes lots of work you need to keep pushing if you want to be good. It’s not easy; basketball is a very strong sport in Texas. Competitiveness is a huge factor as…Since you are facing so many great athletes. many times people struggle with racism the first person that discussed the topic was Dejuan Vasquez he was a UT longhorn basketball player in the 90s. He had some very inspirational sayings about how he faced it and yes he
This is a picture that shows diffrent colors united.
Dejuan Vasquez says it’s about working hard and being dedicated to doing it. on what it took him to make it to the top college level and how he had to grind to make it to that level, a quote that spoke out was “fight that balance on who you are and what you’re striving to become and it’s gonna bring a lot more”
That you should balance yourself in order to be a good basketball player and you have to remember who you are and who you want to be that’s the mentality you need to be a good basketball and what Dejuan Vasquez did in order to become the top college basketball player.
Raj Ramachandran, who used
to go to LASA High School, also played basketball. He had also experienced racism throughout his 4 high school years playing basketball he goes through.
Raj Ramachandran, who used to go to LASA High School, also played basketball. He had also experienced racism throughout his 4 high school years playing basketball he goes through.
What he says he did to ignore racism was, “I took one strategy which is to work so hard that no one can deny if you feel like you can overcome the burdens, work hard and do what you must and if you have the courage.. Dont be afraid to speak ’’.Raj Ramachandran, who used to go to LASA High School, also played basketball.
He had also experienced racism throughout his 4 high school years playing basketball he goes through. I really like this quote because it shows that racism and stereotypes are constant struggles for many athletes and that many players are stereo-
typed because they should be doing something else other than playing basketball. This takes letting your game do the talking to a whole new level.
But many different races enjoy the sport, Raj shows us that anyone can play the sport it doesn’t have to be that one single race it can be anyone because people are free to play any sport he also talks about he had to work even harder than people because of his race “I believe I had to work harder than my peers to win the sport and playing time that I did, but in the end, it made me more resilient”
Being another race can be hard sometimes but that shouldn’t stop you from being the best you have to strive to
be the best. Another quote from Raj Ramachandran that stood out was “The other thing is just don’t neglect your body. And basketball is hard on your body. I mean, not like football, but it’s pretty tough on your body at a high level. And so we’re just starting out. You might not have all the aches and pains. But definitely, when you’re starting out you want to have a good career.”
This stood out because Raj when through lots of injured playing basketball and that is a big part of basketball that can slow you down, but helps us understand that you shouldn’t force your body to do anything.If your body responds that means it reads if it doesn’t that means it is not ready and he sort of went the hard way and forced himself he saw that it didn’t work and that his body needs some rest.
This is the lasa raptor logo for ther basketball team
Another person that went through this was Kenechi Ezekoye he didn’t go through much racism but he did talk about what it takes to be a great basketball. He is a very determined guy he started playing freshman year and loved the sport after that he proved that he was the most athletic and the most determind a quote that really stood out was
“Dont work only at practice work more than just practice because if you dont you will be behind every other great athlete so you gotta show you are the hardest worker and that’s how you become great” That was very inspirational.Becasue even through he wasnt the best at handling or shooting he still showed that he can be the best to.
10 diffrent shades of color while raising there hand
These three quotes help us because in order to be a good basketball player you have to work hard, but with that, you should not force your body to do anything it can’t do. These people we talked to have gone through a lot, but they kept on working to be the best. These three showed that you can do anything if you just your
Stuck at home because of quarentine from a worldwide pandemic you get a text from your best friend; he says want to come over to our rec center and play some volleyball? Because you have a rec center pass you can go play any sport there for free, so you decide to accept. As you continue to play volleyball you feel your mental health get better and slowly you rise out of your slump.
Volleyball was originally developed for wealthy businessmen who did not want to play the much “rougher” sport of volleyball. However, soon after its development, it grew into a sport that is largely dominated by women at both the high school and college levels.
Recently however men’s volleyball has experienced an uptick, especially at the college level because of COVID-19; “I started playing because it was during COVID. And I was spending a lot of time inside, like, with good reason, you know? Yeah. But it was. It
was pretty draining on, like my mental health and stuff. And so I had a friend convince me, he was like, Yo, I went over onto campus, and they have this sand volleyball court, and a ton of people will go play there”. A popular anime called Haikyuu which was made in 2015 but continued until 2020 also contributed to the rising popularity of volleyball. Haikyuu is a different perspective than volleyball in the US because it is the story of Highschool volleyball, which in the US is very uncommon (only 25 states have any sort of high school volleyball). Volleyball has a large college student base because it offers a competitive athletic sport that does not require injuries. Some of the best places for volleyball are Dallas, because of an abundance of “open gyms”, and for more competitive volleyball A&M. Despite the rising popularity of volleyball in Texas, states with beaches have a much greater player base such as Hawaii and California (the origin state of volleyball).
And even past that many people that want to play at the highest le//vel will go to other countries, such as Brazil or Japan.
It’s not just men’s volleyball that has experienced a rise in popularity in the US, but even women’s volleyball has been getting more competitive, with the Olympic team winning gold in the Olympics: “the US now has probably the best setter in the entire world. They have very good blockers, and a couple of really, really good outsides too, who are just a lot of fun to watch”.
Different kinds of people can enjoy the different positions in volleyball, because they are so different, but also because without any player the team as a whole cannot function which drives skill but also team building. Despite the different positions all of the different countries emphasize different positions such as Brazil having tall and talented middle blockers, while countries like Japan
the US now has probably the best setter in the entire world. They have very good blockers, and a couple of really, really good outsides too, who are just a lot of fun to watch
sport, they will then invite multiple friends to come and play with them, and then if those friends like the sport as much as the first person we will soon have hundreds of people coming just by word of mouth.
factors about men’s volleyball, it is still a very underdeveloped area in youth sports with only 25 states having any high school volleyball, and California
with a lower average height will have much more talented liberos and setters. This is the most important thing for any person that is planning on joining any sport but especially for volleyball; you will have to put in as much effort as you want to get enjoyment out, but even if you don’t you will have a net of friends that will have shared experiences with you and will want to help you.
One thing that explains the steadily rising popularity of volleyball is the infatuation of everyone that plays volleyball with most people developing a longterm relationship with the sport and their teammates, even planning to come back to their school to play in alumni leagues, as well as continuing contact with the friends they met in the sport. This allows volleyball to exponentially grow because if one person comes in and realy enjoys the
contributing one-third of people playing volleyball. This is different from women’s volleyball in that Texas is the number one sport for women’s volleyball with over 23% contributed. This is sad to see because it means that texas could be an incredible state for volleyball in general, but our lack of youth programs lead to fewer people in the sport, which as soon as people get to colleges with rec centers which offer volleyball is changed, but by then it is too late. Because even if you become one of the best players for your rec team, the best you can hope for is to be a coach for a womens team. If in the US we had a competitive team, we would have much more interest in volleyball, leading to an even better team, wich leads to more interest which makes a loop that can only benifit everyone.
Swimming was invented in 2500 and ever since then humans have been trying to get better. For this many different types of strokes have been invented, with different effeciencys over different distances. Many famous people have been interestive in swimming, such as benjamin franklin, who invented feet padles, as well as being an early proponent of backstroke. These are the different strokes of swimming and what makes them unique.
By: Christopher Liu
You have finally finished high school, applied to college, and right now you are nervous about getting accepted. To make matters worse, you’ve happened to learn the fact that out of all the football players that have applied for a good college, only about 1% of them will actually get accepted. Then, the time flies by like the wind and the dreaded day has finally come. Your parents then receive the dreaded mail and open it, they read the information in the envelope and it turns out to be the fact that you have actually got accepted to your dream college. After you realize this, all the dread that you have felt finally goes away like a whoosh of wind and then you can feel a surge of happiness filling up your heart.
American football is one of the most popular sports in America. It is not to be confused with soccer because in other countries, soccer is known as football. Another thing that is very interesting about American football is that even though it’s a really popular sport, it’s also a difficult sport to become successful at because whenever players are getting ready to apply for a college or NFL team, only the best players, which is usually about only 1% of the play-
ers that apply, actually get accepted. One more reason why football is a hard sport to make a living is because even though being a football player is really fun, it can also be very stressful because if you don’t win any games for your team, then you will receive less money and to make matters worse, your football career might end as well.
Derrick Lewis is currently the
head football coach for the LASA Raptors football team. He began his high school coaching career in 2011. Lewis says that one of the main characteristics high school football players need is having good grades in high school. He also says that in order for these players to actually make it into the college team, they need to be strong, fast, and especially have high skill in catching, throwing, foot
work, etc. “First grades, good grades. Athletes with bad grades don’t go to college. First and foremost. They must have the grades, they must have the GPA, the SAT score. After that, then it’s, does he have the talent? So grades are first and foremost,” says Coach Lewis while he talks about one of the requirements of becoming a college football player. Lewis thinks that the most important characteristic for a good college football player are grades because in order for college players to do well, they also need to be smart.
Despite the fact that Coach Lewis has played for the NFL for about 7 years, the Raptors football team has still struggled, finishing the 2022 high school football season with a 2-8 record. This was slightly worse than their performance in last season, in which they had finished with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses.
Coach Johnny McPherson has been a coach for many years. He has coached many sports such as football, basketball, baseball, track and field, and even golf. Before that, McPherson had been a semi professional football player but while he was in college, he was more of a baseball player.
While Coach McPherson talks about his career as a semi-professional football player in Austin, he also talks about some interesting observations. For example, he says that once in Austin, there used to be an
all-women football league two years ago. When I also asked him about the drafting process for these kinds of leagues,
he says that these kinds of leagues apparently don’t have that kind of process whenever they admit new players
The iconic NFL shield lies in a circle. The circle’s overall center area has a majority of white color, which is also where the NFL shield lies. The rim of the circle also has two lines of navy and red. Courtesy of mohamed_hassan / 5917. Title of Image: Nfl National Football. Date when uploaded: Sept. 1, 2018
into their teams. Instead, lets say whenever a UT player doesn’t get accepted to the NFL during the NFL Draft or if he did play but got cut from a team roster, he can still make contact with any of these kinds of leagues and then they can schedule tryouts that are most of the time about a month before the season actually starts. After the tryouts, the player is then determined whether or not he can actually make it
into the league depending on his performance during the tryouts.
The next NFL Draft will take place in late April 2023 and this year’s Super Bowl will take place on February 12, 2023, in State Farm Stadium located in Glendale, Arizona. For football players, it requires a lot of work ethic and skill in order to be highly successful and go into college and eventually, into the
NFL.
“Only 1% of high school players play college and from college even one, one or 2% of those play in the pros. So the chances of the pro athletes are bigger, faster, stronger than anyone else on the planet and to be at that level, you have to be unbelievably successful. Big, strong, fast, smart.”
High school players can either get accepted into a college or they can get rejected. There will be some things that will happen to a college football player during their career like transfers, which are the process in which players switch teams. These usually tend to happen if players receive any sort of scholarship from another school. and if players tend to do really well, they will happen to receive a award based on their performance
This is a timeline that describes how high school players work on their way into becoming professionals.
After college players have applied for the NFL Draft, they can either get accepted or rejected. The players who have gotten rejected can get a regular job, such as a computer programmer, an engineer, and even an HEB worker
High School players who have almost finished their high school career eventually begin to apply for college. In order to get into a good college, high school football players need good grades as well as the characteristics for a good football player, such as strength and speed
When college players have played for about 3 years and using up their college eligibility by the next college football season, they can finally apply for the NFL Draft. In order to apply for the Draft, players need to be highly successful in their careers. What they also need is that they also need to be strong, fast, and skillful. In order for college to start drafting players into their football team, they need to make a list of players that are eligible enough for their team so they can starting drafting
During their NFL career, players will happen to experience a lot of events. For example, there will be many trades and cuts that will have to be made because of reasons like bad performance and a salary cap. Also, players can receive awards based on their performance during their careers such as MVP and if they win a championship game (Super Bowl), they will receive a special Super Bowl ring.
After an NFL player retires, he can receive awards based on how well he has played over his football career. These awards can be based on his overall performance such as Most Valuable Player at the Super Bowl. If counting for an overall season, then he’ll be nominated with Offensive Player of the Year or Defensive player of the Year depending on the position he has played during his career. But for some NFL players, they might receive no award and get cut from a team, so instead they might live a normal life by just getting a regular and stable job.
What happens to the players that got accepted by the NFL Draft? Well, they can get selected by any team from the NFL, depending on how they performed during their college career. Players who played really well are always being selected by a team that struggled last season, while players who struggled during their college career usually get selected by teams who did really well during the last NFL season
When players have decided that they already have enough football in their lifetime, they can finally decide to retire. A player’s retirement time usually depends on the position they play. For example, running backs tend to have a shorter career. This is probably because running backs need to be short and fast. Quarterback careers are much longer, which is probably because they tend to use their head most of the time as they play a football game.
Your breath is heavy, power being drained from you with every step. The game is tight, with no room for mistakes. Last 2 minutes of the world cup final, you’ve given the game all of your heart and soul. You get absolutely trucked by the other team’s defender, and your team gets the penalty! You know what you must do. Like a standoff, it’s just you and the keeper, the trophy could be yours. It’s dead silent… You start jogging up and… you hear the beautiful swish of the ball hitting the back of the net. Your country goes wild, screaming, your team starts hugging you, this is the greatest moment of your life. Soccer isn’t always portrayed like this though, sadly most Americans find it boring as “you only score a few times”, but the beau-
ty of the game that we truly love comes with possession, teamwork, and a plethora of flashy goals.
For years homosapiens have
been playing this beloved game where people now say you just “kick the ball,” and as the world cup is taking place as we speak, what makes these players so outstanding? If you’ve tried to replicate the skill even an average soccer player displays, you’d know how much talent these world-class players
Pre world cup Russia 2018. Source:Unsplashed have to make the ball seem so easy to control. Especially during the world cup, but in general, the sport is extremely popular. The sport is so popular that the Germans and the British played together during a Christmas truce in WW1. This sport has been a staple of human enjoyment for centuries. And through all of these years of soccer, the people that have defended the sport are European, and most Europeans that play the sport are simply better. Why? I’ve played soccer for over 8 years now, and I love the game, it’s the simplicity of a purely technical non-physically dependent game. The greatest players are the ones who the ball seemingly “listens” to, which makes the game so lovable when watching your favorite players do flashy juggles and skills that seem impossible even with perfect touch and
“It’s such a constant daily .grind that people .aren’t ready, or .willing, or wanting .to do.”
countless hours of practice. So what does it take?
Sonny Guaderrama, a retired MLS and soccer academy owner, had this to say: “There’s no such thing as working too hard but people don’t even know how hard they have to work, It’s such a constant daily grind that people aren’t ready, or willing, or wanting to do. They like the idea of playing professional soccer but they don’t like the journey that it takes to actually get there.”
I totally agree with what Sonny says here that people have no clue how much they have to work and that the more they are just “content” with where they are at, the more they get left behind. The amount of discipline for
this to happen is the most difficult obstacle in this journey and if you don’t have the desire to work, then your also not going to make it very far.
Sonny further supports and elaborates, “So I would say that that part is probably the most difficult part for people to understand. That goes for discipline and how much I am disciplined. I discipline
myself when training, in what I eat when I go to the gym, how I stretch after, and how I sleep. And everything you do must be almost perfect for you to make it because there are so many kids in the world that are fighting for the same dream.” This is one of the big factors in the skill gap between Europe and the US because while in the US being a pro soccer player is a possible dream, many others usually just wanna play basketball and football. In Europe, on the other hand, nearly every other child’s dream is to represent their country in the World Cup and to be a professional football player. This can’t possibly be the only factor though because this factor would only
“I think they just .have coaches that .have a lot more .experience even at .the youngest ages” .-Guaderama
reduce the number of prospects in the US, not necessarily the quality of them.
Coaching would be the next biggest factor Guaderama says, “I think they just have coaches that have a lot more experience even at the youngest ages, so here in the US at the youngest ages you don’t have like great coaches you usually have like parent volunteer coaches who don’t have a lot of experience in soccer and I think Europe just because of the culture and soccer is like the only sport, everybody knows a lot more about the game. This way even when you’re start-
ing out you’re getting great coaching and then it just carries on into their careers. So I think that we gotta get better at the very youngest ages here in America to be able to compete.” So Sonny believes that the very youngest players and talents have to be noticed and nurtured into their own careers, which is a great point, but what makes coaching in Europe special?
Jacob Mudry, who is a young aspiring player in Germany, had a interesting experience with Soccer in Europe, “It’s just the mindset, the coaches play with the mind a little bit more here.
“They really care .about soccer. And .if you go to a .professional .soccer game, the .atmosphere is just .amazing. There .are a ton more .people who are .more invested in .soccer in Europe .than in the US.” .-Mudry
They try and bring you down mentally, trying to make you mentally and physically stronger. And you practice twice, twice a day here for six days a week. And it’s just very intense. They really care about soccer. And if you go to a professional soccer game, the atmosphere is just amazing. There are a ton more people who are more invested in soccer in Europe than in the US.” Mudry has established the connection between the investment in soccer in Europe and the skill gap it causes because their coaching is very passion filled. This all causes Europe to be on a different magnitude of skill and causes the atmosphere to be so much more competitive. Mudry has this to say about the atmosphere playing in
Europe, “It’s definitely a really competitive atmosphere. A lot of kids here are very talented. And the coaches make us better by pushing us out of our comfort zone and trying to make us a better team.” Europe is definitely not laid back when it comes to playing, if they catch you not being competitive, not giving it your all, you’re definitely gonna get kicked from the team. All in all, Europe has a greater population of potential footballers who all are fighting and working extremely hard for the possible chance to play at the highest level, which causes a very
very competitive atmosphere that they have to play in, and they have the correct coaching to reach these heights.
In the end of the day, the game is amazing and a beautiful sport, which is what brings a lot of us together, our love for the game. Juan Martin a Argentinain living in Spain during the world cup points the defining reason for why it such a beloved sport: “I’m from Argenina so we breath football, since birth we have a football in our hands, and we have the best player in the world right, Lionel Messi.”. Love for the game and for your country is one thing that we all have alike that brings us together and makes as competitive and as passionate at the game as we are. Sadly the US doesn’t quite have the same love for the game as countries like Spain, Agentina, Brazil, England, and France. We must spread the love for the game in our country in order to see more results on an international level. You, reading this story, probably have a love for football. Keep putting in the extra hours and stay disciplined, because who knows, you might be the next face of football that will bring America home that world cup trophy...
.“I’m from .Argenina so we .breath football”
.-Juan MartinRebecca Quinn is being grabbed by Ellie. Source:Unsplashed
My opinion on the most skillful and yet flashy goals of all time.
“Messi Messi Messi Messi Messi Emens
Messi Ankara Messi Ankara Messi Ankara
Messi Ankara Messi Ankara Messi Gol GOl Gol GOl Gol Gol GOL GOL GOL!!!”
This goal was just absurd. It seemed like something out of a video game. Zlatans reaction to Ronaldo’s bicycle kick says it all, “It was a nice goal, but he should try it from 40 meters,”. This not only solidifies Zlatan as one of the most badass players of all time, but one of the most disrespectful quotes in football history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM_5tJncHww
On the fateful day of April 18 2007 Lionel Messi would make a entire club of proffesional football players look like your average sunday league team while simultaniosly scoring one of the greatest goals of all time. The fact this goal is so well known and praised even 15 years after is a testament to how truely amazing it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kne4nXTBzWs
Perfect place, perfect time, and perfect bicycle kick. You can ask for no more from a goal. The entire opossing team questioned their life choices after seeing this shot. Just... SUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIII!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxQOOMX4NQM
A perfect combo of skill and accuracy. Might not be the most flashy, but arguably the least luck based. Perfect awarness and technical skill. Even the goalie was to shocked for words, and if I were him, I would be too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iBMW1wThlU
Volleyball players around the world put unmeasurable efforts to be the best of the best in their sport.
They have the push that makes them want to keep going, the desire to keep winning.
What do they do to have that push, what do they do to motivate themselves to do the extra work outside of volleyball?
Benishe Roberts, also known as former player from Long Beach State volleyball player called Benishe Dillards, played with the one and only Misty May, who has won countless olympic medals.
Benishe was a middle at long beach, and was in Long Beach State Universitys Hall of Fame for volleyball. Dillard-Roberts and her NCAA championship team from 1998 was also inducted at a Nov. 8 ceremony in Long Beach.
The ’98 49ers at Long Beach Volleyball were the first to finish a Division I women’s volleyball season unbeaten, going 36-0 on the way to the national championship.
Benishe Roberts led the team with 405 kills in the season of 1998. For this time of volleyball, this was incredible, and very impressive.
Roberts had played for at least 10 years plus from her highschool to pro season.
Coach Roberts in the year 2000, did not make the olympic team, and was chosen as an “alternate” or “red-shirt” for that season. “I remember, the 2000 olympic team, and I was selected as an alternate. So I was pretty much was just sitting with the team. But when you think about it, you’re like “wow, youre an alternate, thats amazing!” But for me I was in it. I had been with all those girls, for the past 4 years and I was training, competing in and out, everyday. Training 2 times a day, 3-4 days a week, going hard at it, so that was
just really crushing for me. But it’s still a super dupper huge accomplishment you know, looking back at it”.
Roberts may have been benched, but it didn’t change her love for the sport. She continued to play and is still coaching today for Austin Performance Volleyball.
Benishe Roberts talked about her upbringing in her sport volleyball. She talked about her main 3 passions to keep playing volleyball; Traveling, being with her team, and the fitness component.
Volleyball players don’t only play for the enjoyment of the sport, but many also play to be physically fit and to be athletic.
, Benishe said that she enjoyed working so hard because it made her feel good about herself.
“There was adventures, I loved adventures. For me, no one in my family had played pro ball or college volleyball
so always doing something different was a big deal to me. And then the drive versus sports, coaches would be like “Oh you can’t do this” “Oh you’re not gonna make it” and that really pushed me just to keep going. And I also just absolutely loved volleyball, I loved the team, I loved the sport. So yeah those are some of the reasons why I kept playing”.
Traveling was one of her biggest favors in volleyball, and she would go on and on about how she loved doing it with her team too.
Miss Roberts said she also enjoyed the feeling of being with her teammates.
Misty Mae was on her college team, and she talked about how as a freshman, she was ecstatic to have her on the team.
“It was so mesmerizing having Misty Mae on my team....I would come to practice and everytime be so excited that she was there, MY teammate. As a freshman too…it was just really cool to see her with us”.
Benishe Roberts and Misty are still close friends today, and Benishe Roberts said she was glad volleyball got her to have these bonds with people who she would have never met otherwise.
She liked experiencing the different cultures and having the thrill of leaving home and
living in a different atmosphere.
Volleyball was a sport where you had to just keep pushing and pushing to get to the top.
A different exercise for each component. Sprints, plyometrics, vertical workouts, weight lifting, all to get to be the best of the best.
These are all different types of workouts, that will improve her work on the court.
But Benishe Roberts obviously had other obstacles in her uprising, she played basketball in highschool, and was fairly competitive about it.
She had multiple major or D1 colleges looking to recruit her for each sport. Unfortunately, when it came down to what she had to choose, she felt very stressed, but her passion was so strong, so she chose volleyball, and went to Long Beach State.
Besides the difficulty of choosing between two sports she deeply loved, she also had a significant grade factor come into it.
Benishe talked about how sports affected her grades to the extreme.
“I really only kept my grades up to keep playing volleyball, so if I was passing, then that was good enough for me”.
huge factor when it comes to playing. Having a good or bad Coach can simply have a play lose or gain love for a sport.
Roberts stated “It’s important to have coaches that love.. Coaching. That love inspiring and encouraging coaching young athletes. Like me- not everybody has
She talked about her best and worst moments/experiences.
She Said “My best was winning an NCAA champ and being inducted to the Long Beach State volleyball hall of fame.”
This was in the year 1998. Benishe was one of the greatest hitters of her time and was well-known by many in the volleyball community.
She would say that before sports came into view for her future, she never really was a good student, and never even bothered to do much of the work herself.
She said that she was grateful for how far sports had pushed her, and that she was contemptuous with where she is now, and she wouldn’t have been there without volleyball.
Last but not least Roberts also said that Coaches are a
to play forever like I did, but there are so many things that you can get out of. And on the flip side I just had amazing coaches, not neces-
sarily volleyball coaches, but other sports coaches, and they’d be like “Hey, I’m gonna push you and it’s not gonna be easy but it’s gonna be fine, and you’re gonna persevere and that kind of stuff. I’ve had a lot of terrible coaches…and I’ve learned from them, but I’ve had a lot of great coaches that have just inspired me. To want more from the sport.”
Her coaches pushed her and pushed her to get to the top. Not everything must be done by yourself for you individually to be successful or great.
Many people would say that someone with that amount of passion, that amount of determination, is truly worthy of their spot, whether it’s on or off the court. Former player and now coach Roberts Benishe pushed and pushed to get to play at the national level, she went past the obstacle course of life and got to where she desired to be, which is quite mesmerising about a person.
Girls throughout Austin, Texas play the sport volleyball. Whether they play for Austin Perfomance, Austin Skyline, or Austin Juniors, there is still a high competitiveness rate for each and every spot on a team. Each girl is fighting for their spot on the court, as natural as that is.
The club Austin Juniors holds a total of 35 teams for young girls, and an average of 4 teams per age group. Many girls that are playing club for their sport are playing for a competitive spot, and want to go to college to play volleyball in the future.
Austin Juniors hold tryouts every summer, for almost 500 girls to come out, and only some to make a team. As the age groups for the teams get older, the amount of girls that are eligible to play because they decrease the amount of girls.
From the age groups 14s to 18s in club (8th grade to Seniors in Highschool) the amount of girls that are playing for the club decreased by over 70 percent. Clubs tend to thin out the amount of girls that can play because they are trying to prepare them for college.
Down Below are Pie charts of each position for the age group described, and so you can see the decrease of girls playing per age grou
Very wide range of girls, 7 teams for this age group.
Adidas- 11 Girls Molten- 12 Girls Helix- 12 Girls Cedar Park- 11 Girls Navy- 11 Girls Toro- 12 Girls Red- 11 Girls
Adidas- 13 Girls
Molten- 10 girls Helix- 10 Girls Cedar Park- 12 Girls Navy- 12 Girls Toro- 12 Girls
14s- 8th grader, they are turning 14 15s- Freshman, they are turning 15 16s- Sophmore, they are turning 16 17s- Junior, they are turning 17 18s- Senior, they are turning 18
(The “age group” youre in is how old you’re turning that year.
Adidas- Top Team for their age group Travel Team
Molten- Second Team Travel Team
Helix- Third Travel team
Cedar Park Navy Toro Local Local Local Red: Local
4 teams for this age group
Adidas- 12 Molten- 11 Helix- 11 Navy-11
3 teams for this age group
Adidas- 13 Girls Molten- 12 Girls Helix 12 Girls
3 teams for this age group
Adidas- 12 Girls Molten- 13 Girls
