“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t” – Steve Maraboli. it’s important to shift your focus onto important things that you can control; like yourself. you can’t control the rules or people actions, but it encourages to take control of what makes you positive in your life, embracing your personal responsibility within your reach that you can maintain and limit, responding to life is always our choice and its important to make the right one. (quote given by Anika)
Warren Township 3-Sport Senior athlete, Anika Youngman plays basketball, golf and soccer. The first thing I wanted her to address was what she loved about each sport because it take a lot to do 3 sports, “What I love most about basketball is the sound the net makes after swishing a three
pointer. What I love about golfing is the mental accountability the sport takes. You can’t let one bad hole define your whole round of golf. If you hit a bad shot just worry about the next. Soccer is being able to control the ball and score. Students struggle with balancing their sports and school work so asking what she did out of school and how she balanced all her activities. “In my free time I love to hangout with friends, watch All- American, have drinks at Starbucks with friends and golf with my dad. And maintaining good grades is hard and difficult at times. when you add on applying to colleges as a senior it’s more stressful, but the key is managing time efficiently and remember that I play the sport because I love it” Anika Shared. And she is correct that maintaining time is important, because even when your not playing sports, you still have to catch up on sleep, spend time with family and friends. People are so cocky when it comes to activities, they disrespect the losing opponent, and even their own teammates. Anika told me why she thinks it’s important to remain humble playing sports? “Being an “uncoachable” player who responds to criticism poorly and believes they are on top is the worst type of player to be. It is not hard to remain humble, because you can always get better in some way. No matter how skilled or unskilled you are, being open to make changes in your game and being able to listen to feedback are the two most important qualities an athlete can obtain.”
Anika’s golf coach, Mrs. Boncher described her as a “hard-working player who is dedicated to the team as well as improving her golf game. She is a leader by example. At practice, she is focused and intentional with her time. During competition, her sportsmanship and support of teammates is an asset to our team. She has a great attitude and growth mindset. Anika is not one to be defeated or make excuses. Rather she tackles the challenges of golf and works to get better. Anika is also an encouraging and supportive teammate. As one of our team captains, she works hard to mentor new layers, maintain an inclusive community and an enjoyable experience for teammates.” Even her teammate Dede Colon, added, “ she is a reliable person, she is supportive and makes everyone feel better.” Anika said that “whether it comes to basketball, golf or life in general, if I know I can do something better, I will. A teammate of Anika, told me that “Anika is a hard working person when it comes to the things that she loves, it was great playing with a person you can rely on during a game.”
As an athlete in school it’s hard to not be stressed you want to maintain relationships with people and even your family. but having to wake up earlier than 7am not getting home until after 8pm. I asked Anika’s gold teammate, Dede colon what she thought about how sports increase stress more than anything, “I think when the sport takes up school time it can be very stressful trying to balance everything at once because it comes to quick . National institutes of health said, “Stressed has increased over the 10-years, a survey was taken and about 91% of teens have high anxiety of sports
Being in a position like that is hard but you have to find a way to push thought that if you want to continue. Leading into another question asking Anika is there a coach or athlete that she looked upto. “Hands down, Sabrina Lonescu. Not only is she an amazing basketball player whether it be regarding scoring, passing, or defending, she’s also a big advocate for female athletes. She’s one of few WNBA players to have created her own basketball shoes and also shattered Steph Curry’s record of 31 points with a 37 in the NBA/WNBA 3-point contest. She is the perfect example of hard work and dedication paying off.” “Anika is a hard working athlete, she comes to practice everyday working 10x harder than she did last practice.. I count on her during a game knowing she will always try her best for her team and herself. but overall she’s a great kid I watched her grow a lot” Coach Stan said. leading to another question, “You can tell when a student really loves their sport, when there coming to practice, asking questions, helping there teammates and other new incoming athletes, although students should love their sport they should make school their biggest priority because
you have to know your knowledge if you want to play NBA,WNBA, NFL and more.
As we make are ending interview I wanted acknowledge would she play a sport at college level, Anika responded with “No, although I love both sports, after a lot of thought and consideration I’ve decided to just focus on my academic and career path after school.” also adding “This is the lesson learned in life, is that you’re never as good or bad as you think you are. You can continue to learn from every experience or interaction each day.” Anika said she loved each sport she played but she doesn’t want to play in a college level and that’s fine! she’s worked throughout all her years in High school. Hoping Anika enjoys her last year of High school! Basketball is starting soon.. so look out to watch some of her game time on the varsity team.
