Zoey Barela '21 Recruiting Profile

My greatest memory so far with basketball has been my 8th grade year.  We had 5 people on our team.  2 of the girls had never played the game of basketball before, but we believed in each other.  We ended up going undefeated that year and earning first place.  I am only a sophomore so I know that there are great things ahead but I have had some great experiences in high school as well.  I have learned to step into leadership as a sophomore with our senior leaders graduating last year and a new coaching staff this year.  I consider any time on the court good for experience and with a small school I start the game and play the entire game rather than rest.  

My best characteristic is grit.  Crazy word I know.  Some might say leadership, or work ethic, or skill, or fundamentals.  I have those too, but my parents have instilled grit in me.  It cannot be taught.  It cannot be given.  It is only gained through experience.  It is there when leadership fails or leaves.  It is there while you're shooting the night before a game to clear your head.  It is there when you spend hours working on ball handling, or lifting weights, or learning plays, or watching film, or mentally playing the game in your head on the bus ride to the game.  Grit.  My best characteristic.  Grit can only be gained through experience of using it, like a muscle in the gym.  So in a way I am thankful for many different coaches, small benches, a small school, players who enjoy the sport but may not love it like I do, or being smaller.  All of these things gave me grit that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise if my basketball story had been easier and I had gone to a bigger school with a coach who had a decade of coaching, with girls who tried out, and parents who were 6'0.  :)

 If grit is what you are looking for.  Than I would fit on your team.