From Gymnastics to DI Collegiate Athlete
7 years ago admin 0
As coaches we constantly tell our athletes to trust the process but honestly we don’t truly know the outcome. What we do know from our experience is hard work, commitment and a true belief in yourself pays off; even when you don’t know exactly where it would lead. I’ve had the opportunity to witness this as an athlete, coach and now as a basketball skill trainer. Today I am beyond proud to announce, Gabrielle Harris has received a DI athletic scholarship to St. Peter’s University!
Gabrielle and I have spent countless hours in the gym working on the fundamental and more and honestly I was amazed by how quickly she was able to learn the skills and grasp the concept of the game. There’s not many stories of a young lady coming from gymnastics deciding to pick up a basketball and becomes star in less than 4 years!! The milestones she achieved in such a short amount of time includes 1,000 point scorer, 1st team all-conference & county, team captain, academic honors, lead her team to state championship and continued that success in college (2nd leading scorer, all-american honorable mention, 2nd team all-maac, etc.). There’s one particular moment that we both will remember forever; we were in the gym working on a ball handling drill and she became frustrated when it didn’t come easy and I was not letting up. So she started whining & complaining and ultimately decided to slack off. Instead of yelling at her, I told her to take her shoes off and go home! She was not happy with me at all (lol) and the best part about it, she couldn’t get a ride home so she had to ride with me. From that day on, I’ve never had a problem with her working hard and bond became stronger! We built an understanding, established some boundaries and ultimately she knew how much I cared and wanted her to succeed.
The best part of Gabrielle’s journey is she never expected anything to happen, she just worked hard, trusted the people around her and humbly embraced all the blessing that came her way. I’ve been a mentor/friend to her for several years now and I’m so grateful for the impact that I have on her life. I couldn’t be more proud of her! Both her and I have achieved some great milestones together and separately and neither one of us will brag about ourselves and what we have accomplished but our stories speak for themselves. You must trust the process, follow your heart, surround yourself with people who love and care for you and God will open doors and opportunities that you’ll never imagined. How amazing is it that she went from playing at 2 DIII schools and now she’ll finish her collegiate career as DI scholarship recipient!!!
I have found my path and I embrace the journey God has set forth for me to, “Inspire. Believe. Lead.” Being a part of Gabrielle’s journey and many other athletes whom have trusted me to be a part of theirs, its beyond fulfilling to see them be successful on and off the court!!
Screaming with every ounce of energy in my body… THANK YOU JESUS!!