Ysabellah Otero '21 Recruiting Profile

I am a high-school junior and know that I want softball to continue to be a huge part of my life into college and beyond. When it comes to softball, I’m a team player and I pride myself on positivity. I have been taught that you have to practice the way you play in order to be successful on the field. I always give my best, whether it is practice, a scrimmage, a friendly game or tournament. I try to stay upbeat no matter what the score is and will pick my team up when they are down. I have been told that I am very coachable because I always want to learn more and I apply what I learn to further my skills. I am not afraid of hard work whether it’s on or off the field.

When it comes to softball, my love of the sport comes from my mom who convinced me to play, when I was in third grade. My mom played in high school, coached and has been playing for several years on a 35 and older women’s slow pitch league. My dad also coaches and was a Marine so he knows all about hard work, courage and commitment and has instilled these values in me as well. As I practice everyday, my love for the game grows and has become a driving passion. I have been playing ever since third grade. In my house, education has always been the top priority. My parents insist on A’s and B’s or I would be restricted from sports. My parents have taught me that a good education will help you to be successful in life and sports are there to teach you life lessons like learning from mistakes, humility, social skills, fairness, etc. Besides sports, I am also enrolled in Honors Art and have had some of my work displayed in shows. My main interest is photography but I work with other mediums as well.

I am a three sport athlete and very athletic. As a Freshman, I played JV Volleyball, Freshman Team Basketball, and played JV Softball although I did play on Varsity a few games. My goal last year as a sophomore was to make all three varsity teams and I accomplished that goal and received by 3 letter Varsity Award. So far this year, I’ve received my Varsity letter for Volleyball and I am about to start my Varsity season for Basketball and my on-going hard work last year landed me as starting catcher for New Milford, NJ Varsity Softball and my travel team (UGALS New Milford U17) and my club team New Jersey Panthers (Ramsey). I play on my club team year in Summer and Fall. Softball is such a huge part of me and who I am as a person, continuing to play at the next level would be a dream come true.