My St. Mary's Career

By Olivia

It might only be Bryan’s second year as athletic director at St. Mary’s, but he has been an amazing one at that, bringing in new sports for the school. I now don’t only have basketball to play here at St. Mary’s, but basketball, volleyball, and baseball. Without Bryan, I probably wouldn’t have that extra push to embark on these new adventures.

As I graduate and leave for high school in Minnesota this fall, I will always remember all the sports I played at St. Mary’s.

This is my first year playing volleyball and I’ll always remember those silly times my friends and I had at practice with our coach King. We’ve had our rough times, where he would make us run a ton, but we’ve also had our funny moments like when we broke his flip-flops, or when Shari blasted the volleyball over the fence at Helen Wills.

One memory I will remember forever is winning our last game of the season. I remember it went into the third set and the pressure was on. I was probably one of the least consistent servers on the team and it was up to me to serve the ball over the net-- not under, or into it.

I think at that moment, I realized I couldn’t let the pressure get to me. I ended up serving all the balls over, and we won the last set 15-9. But I couldn’t have done it without the support of my whole team.

Because I learned a new sport in volleyball, I now play club volleyball. I would’ve never had the opportunity to play volleyball if I didn’t try something new. So, if Bryan ever asks you to play a sport. PLAY IT! You’ll never know what potential you have in that sport until you try. It might also be harder to start a sport as you get older, so start young.

Volleyball might be a new sport this year, but another new sport that came before that was baseball. Everyone might think baseball is a sport for boys, but NO! A girl can do anything just as good as a boy can. I might be one of the few girls out there willing to play baseball, but baseball is such a fun sport and I really hope more people would play. I started playing baseball in seventh grade, with one other girl—Sophia. We both had a great time just being out there with all of our friends.

Last year, I was probably one of the worst players out there because I was always afraid of the ball. I would always be like “OMG the balls going to hit me!” Even if the ball was like a million miles away! But this year as an eighth grader, I found baseball to be ten times better! I went from being an outfielder, to now being short-stop, second base, or even pitcher (even though I’m the worst pitcher, it’s still fun :). Last year I couldn’t even hit a ball, and this year I batted fifth in the line up. Baseball is really a sport anyone can play and it isn’t just for boys. Girls can have a blast out there, too!

At the same time I played baseball, I also continued to play the sport I was most familiar with – basketball. For the eighth grade girls, some of us have played basketball since third grade, but for some others, it was only their second year. We’ve won championships in third grade and in fifth grade. But the weirdest thing from those victories, I don’t even remember playing those games.

Last year, we had three new coaches, Matt, James and Alex. The three of them would yell and scream at us, but they would always have their reasons. We were 7th grade girls when they took us in and they didn’t know us very well. But they still did everything they could to try to make the season successful. They were such remarkable coaches.

We went from a disastrous 2-6 season in 7th grade, to being the eighth grade girls division five runner-ups. Not only has Bryan been an amazing AD these past two years, but he was an amazing coach this year. I wish we had all our coaches for most than just a year or two.

We had those times at practices where we couldn’t stop laughing or the times out of basketball when we were just chilling at those Warriors’ games goofing around with each other. I think we’ve grown so much as a team that it will be hard say goodbye to all my teammates and my coaches.

I will always remember what they’ve taught me and those moments where I/we would go crazy. They would always call me loud or crazy or all those things but it was always for a reason. I love them and I’ll miss then so much next year.

Playing sports is so much fun and you never know what potential you have until you go out and do it! It can give you so much more confidence in your abilities. And just being there with friends makes it all that much better. Remember, if you are only playing basketball, try something new like baseball or soccer or volleyball. You’ll never know what can happen unless you take the chance of trying something new.

As I leave St. Mary's, some of the things that will stick out most is my time playing sports. Playing basketball since 3rd grade and making it to championships three times, and bringing home the championship title twice. Playing baseball for two years and making it to playoffs the second year. Playing volleyball for the first year, being team captain, and playing in the CYO all-star achievement games.

Without sports I probably wouldn’t be the person I am today. Thank you to all my coaches, teammates, parents and everyone who made my time at St. Mary’s so much fun. I will miss you all.