Katie Hutchings '22 Recruiting Profile

I lived to play volleyball. From my first volleyball camp in 4th grade, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I worked hard and I gave it my best shot in 7th grade at the tryout, but with 53 girls there that day, I just didn't stand out enough. I didn't give up though, I kept working hard and when I tried out the next year, I made it. I even earned myself a position on Middle School varsity team as a first year player. Making the team my freshman year of high school was an absolute dream come true. Although I had lived all my life with unexplained pain in my joints, it wasn't until the middle of my freshman season that I learned that I had an auto-immune disorder and that I suffered from hyper joint mobility. This made practicing, playing and sometimes just moving difficult with pain always present, but I never missed a practice or a game because of it. I later learned that the best thing for me, was to play the sport I loved so much. To keep moving was the key to managing the pain. Yes, it still hurt, but to move less, sometimes hurt more. I continued to play through my 10th grade year and then during the first part of my 11th grade year, I quit. I had exhausted all efforts to resolve a problem that myself and others had been dealing with for the previous 2 years and I decided that my self worth wasn't worth sacrificing, so I walked away from volleyball. The coach did not care at all about my plans to play in college, nor was she willing to offer any advice or help guide me on that journey. She had her select players that she was attentive to and those were the only ones she cared about. This didn't just happen to me. She yelled at a 10th grader in the middle of match and belittled her to the point of throwing up, because the girl did not know how to properly swap out with the Libero, but in her defense, the girl was never given instruction on how to do so. Just an example of this coach's approach and her neglect of duty. She was fired from her position at the end of that season. I moved on from this event and have pressed forward in life, but I know that deep down inside, that dream still lives. Will I ever get to live it, I'm not sure, but if given the opportunity I can guarantee that I will give it nothing less than my absolute best.