By Summer Reyes
With the new school year 2023 starting, there are regularly new students excited to begin their high school journey. One of those experiences is being involved with an extracurricular activity like a sport.
Rialto High School students, freshman Selah Tanzy, sophomore Naidelyn Carreon, and junior Fatima Hernandez share their experience with joining the girls' basketball team.
Tanzy is an incoming freshman who is starting her first year dedicated to the girls' basketball program. Basketball was something she wanted to do even as she was smaller, her mother even encouraged her to play basketball. One challenge she faced was not being able to make the basketball team in middle school. She attended tryouts in seventh and eighth grade and sadly didn’t make the team. This brought Tanzy’s confidence down tremendously, luckily her brother showed her a summer league basketball flyer. This gave Tanzy a sign to get back into basketball.
With the downfalls of Tanzy’s basketball journey, she never lost her love for the sport. One thing she loved about the sport was, “how competitive it is, sports like that are super fun to play and watch.” She found herself finding it easy to learn, not only that but even some of Tanzy’s family played the sport. Whether it was in school or for personal freewill. She was always grateful that her family didn’t pressure her into the sport, rather she fell in love with the sport.
Tanzy looks forward to playing in multiple games, and finally being considered to be on the basketball team. When describing her basketball experience in one word she said “Confidence.” Her reasoning for choosing this was, “You have to be confident while playing in a game or just playing for fun, or trying out to join a team, Confidence is key to winning anything.” As Tanzy expressed before she wasn't that confident in middle school, she believes no matter what confidence is something you have to carry with you. She thanks her mother and brother for pushing her to continue and strongly believes that they built her confidence. Without them, she wouldn’t be where she is right now.
Sophomore Carreon, is also an incoming first-year basketball player. Her reasoning for joining the basketball program was for her mother. Her mother used to play the sport, and would frequently take her siblings along with her. It's also something that Carreon enjoys doing with her friends. One challenge that she faced was that she did not seem good enough as some girls who were trying out were on a greater skill level than her. The program has proved her wrong and now she realizes that they motivate and support one another.
She has also expressed what she liked about the program, she said, “I enjoy meeting new people, and being able to share experiences and learn new tricks during practice.” Carreon is happy to see her progress and is determined to continue to grow. She is looking forward to giving her best effort, and what results come after. She is also feeling very confident about her team and herself for the upcoming season. Her word for her basketball experience was unexpected, she didn’t see herself where she is now.
Junior Hernandez, is no stranger to basketball, she played her sophomore year but soon took a break for personal reasons. Now she is back in her junior year, excited for what this year has for her. She joined the program because she admired the good vibes and the players that were in the program. The coaches were nothing but positive and were always willing to improve what they were willing to work on. She said that some challenges she faced were “learning the plays and the basketball basics.” She admired the sportsmanship that came with the program, when going against a hard team, there was some sense of respect. In her returning year, she is hoping to win many games and hopefully move up to varsity. She described her first-year experience as fun.