S P O R T S
St. Bernard’s Amazing Female Athletes
Local high school students sign commitments to play collegiate sports
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PHOTO BY CHRIS MORTENSON
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“It was a difficult year with Covid,” Bledsoe said. Both Ellis and Conner are volleyball players, while Hawkins plays basketball. All three will continue playing their selected sport in college. Their passion for the game is also evident in their college majors. “I’m majoring in cosmetology and minoring in sports management,” Hawkins said. Hawkins plans to attend Santa Monica College in the fall and then transfer to a four-year college. Her future dreams include trying to earn a scholarship to play at a Division 1 college. Playing basketball since she was 4 years old, Hawkins earned All Conference, All League Awards and played Amature Athletic Union for two years and four years of travel ball. Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, she is a recent transplant to Los Angeles and transferred to St. Bernard for her senior year. Having attended three high schools, including Cretin-Derham Hall in Minnesota, she is used to being on the move. At CDH she played center, but at St. Bernard she switched to the position of forward shooting guard. She welcomes the change because Hawkins said she “learns different
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MORTENSON
By Michele Robinson t. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey has something to cheer about. It’s not every day that three of their female athletes sign commitments to continue playing sports in college. On May 19, seniors Jazmine Hawkins, Holiday Ellis and Zindzhi Conner showed up for the signings. “They all worked extremely hard,” said Coach Cheyenne Bledsoe. Bledsoe is the volleyball coach at the private Catholic high school. This year marks her first year coaching at the school, but she has eight years of previous coaching experience. Prior to St. Bernard, she was the head coach at Dorsey High School and assistant coach at Glendale Community College. As for many people, Covid proved challenging this year, and these young athletes were no exception. Some of the challenges they endured included trying to focus on playing when whole classes were out due to exposure to a positive case. This meant having to be flexible and shifting their schedules. Sometimes the team had to play three games in a row in one week, instead of the usual one or two games.
Jazmine Hawkins, Holiday Ellis and Zindzhi Conner are three high school athletes from St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey who recently signed commitments to continue playing sports in college. techniques.” Her motto is, “Win with class, lose with class.” A lesson she learned to live by from her fifth grade coach, Steve Prioleau, where she played travel ball with the SugAA ballers, which is part of the Summit University Girls Athletic Association. Besides basketball, Hawkins’ passion also includes writing. When she was younger she wanted to be a journalist. Coming from a long line of a strong Mexican-American background, she even wrote an original poem about her heritage. “My poem is about four generations in my family: my great grandma, grandma, my mom, me and my sister,” Hawkins said. “And how it was hard being a Mexican-American growing up. But also the beauty of it too, being half-American and half-Mexican. Being too white for the Mexicans and too Mexican for the whites, and trying to fit into a world where you are both.” “We are so very proud of Jazmine,” said her parents Hugh and Ashley. “She has fought through so much adversity from injuries to moving to learning under several coaches, and she has taken all of that and crafted her own story, which has led her to this moment and all the great ones ahead.” Ellis described herself as “born playing volleyball.” It’s in her blood; both her mother and older sister played the sport. “I’m her biggest cheerleader,” said her mother Le Nece Nichols. Showing great potential over the years, Ellis is already a seasoned player. Her main positions include playing outside and opposite (right side). Since eighth grade, she played with the Sunshine Volleyball Club and her team won first in the USA Division. Attending St. Bernard since ninth grade, she started on varsity as a freshman. With her on the team, they won First Team All League and All California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section in 2019.
After high school, Ellis plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Monticello and major in social and behavioral psychology with a minor in cybersecurity. Due to her strong academics and athletic abilities, she earned two scholarships for college, including the Principal’s Honor Roll Scholarship. She also wants to play on a volleyball team overseas when she graduates from college. Ellis has a big heart, which is evident in the fact that she started a donation drive with her best friend called Operation Holiday Joy. Together, they collected toiletries and other essential items for pregnant teenage mothers. Ellis’ motto is “Always be great and let go and let God.” Conner is also pursuing her volleyball career in college. She began playing in elementary school and has played club for six years. For high school, she started at Notre Dame Academy as a freshman and played on their freshman-sophomore team. Transferring to St. Bernard as a sophomore, she transitioned to playing on their varsity team during her sophomore year, where she continues to play the middle blocker position. Her college plans include attending Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. She wants to pursue a career in social work and her other interests include helping her sister make a short film and cooking. Conner’s motto is, “To always be the best middle on the court,” which she learned from her father Kobie, who was also an athlete. “Her mother and I are extremely proud of her drive and continued efforts as a student athlete,” Kobie said. “Zindzhi played through injury and a pandemic to get this far. We expect nothing but continued success for Zindzhi at Tougaloo and beyond.” St. Bernard High School stbernardhs.org
