Freshman Selena Robinson was on the varsity girls’ basketball team at Saint John’s Prep. Although she is new to high school ball, she is not new to the sport of basketball as she shared that her favorite sport was basketball. She says she enjoys basketball because she likes being on a team and getting close with her teammates. She also says coach Maddie McConnell made her really love the sport even more. Selena’s favorite memory from basketball is riding the bus to away games and when her teammate Gloria shot a three-pointer on senior night. Selena looks up to a lot of people, but the person she looks up to the most and who she thinks is the most inspirational basketball player is Lamelo Ball. Selena feels this is because he’s hard-working and he was the youngest of all the “Ball Brothers” but that didn’t stop him from outworking them. He was also Rookie of the Year in his first year playing in the NBA. Lamelo also inspired Selena when it came to his jersey number. Her favorite jersey number is “1” because Lamelo Ball was number “1” before he went to the NBA. When it comes to Selena’s favorite part about the game of basketball, she said it’s watching what we practiced come together in games. Selena’s favorite sports quote from Kobe Bryant is “Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.” She also said it’s her favorite quote because she says pressure makes her work harder. When asking Selena how being an athlete makes her a better person she says, “Being an athlete taught me how to work with people and communicate better.” She copes with the butterflies she gets before games by tuning out the crowd and focusing on what the coach has to say. Selena thinks being an athlete also made her a better student because she thinks it teaches her discipline. Selena started playing basketball in 7th grade but it didn’t take long for her to find her favorite sport.
The Viking Journal 