Aylin Humpherys '23 Recruiting Profile

In life, I have faced adversity by growing up for many years in a single-parent environment with minimal financial resources.  I learned at a young age that if I wanted to find success I would have to work for it without additional camps or personal trainers. My mom provided opportunities and support through her previous track and field coaching experience, but it was up to me to put in the time and effort to become successful. 

The sport that taught me the most about myself was baseball. For 4 years, I strove to make the Boys 11U Select Travel Team and when I was in 6th grade, I made it and became the starting catcher. It taught me the value of perseverance which has assisted me on my athletic journey through basketball.

I played Upwards basketball from first grade until fifth grade because that is all my, then, single mom could afford. In fifth grade, I tried out for the sixth-grade Herndon travel team and made it; I continued to play travel through 7th-grade.   In the spring of 7th grade,  I tried out for the Lady Attack, a local AAU team, and made it.  I played for them during both 7th and 8th-grade spring/summer.  At the beginning of 8th grade, I was invited to play in a fall league with the Herndon High School varsity team. In winter of my 8th-grade year, having forgone my spot on the Reston Travel team, I ended up without a team as a result of trying to maintain loyalties to our local Herndon Travel team who could not field enough players. Fearful that being without a team during the winter of my 8th-grade season would have an adverse effect on my chances of making the high school team, I began implementing a workout plan. I spent the winter doing skills, agility, and speed training on my own and was fortunate enough to be invited to get additional training with the FCBA  (Full Court Basketball Academy) Soldiers, an A-Level National Team under Coach Marvin Somoza.   All of the hard work paid off when I made the Herndon High School varsity team as a freshman.  After my high school season ended, I tried out for two showcase teams, the Slam-City Ducks and Chantilly Elite, making both but chose Chantilly Elite under Coach Leland Moore.  Unfortunately, Covid-19 changed my plans, but past circumstances prepared me for working on my own and I spent the time during quarantine participating in daily workouts in skill, agility, shooting, and speed, while at the same time, maintaining my 4.0 GPA and taking an extra class to get ahead. 

Ultimately, in college, I want to implement these learned characteristics at the next level and continue to grow in both sport and my desired career in law enforcement.