Sherly Valentin '19 Recruiting Profile

The passion I have for basketball is unreal. My love for basketball is both my greatest achievement and downfall. When needing to clear my mind I play basketball. When needing to release my anger I play basketball.when feeling disconnected from the world, basketball allows me interact more with it than I normally would. Some people play basketball or sports in general just because it’s fun or to kill time. Once I entered high school it was nothing like middle school. I knew it wouldn't be exactly the same, but I didn't think it would be so intense either.. Practices were everyday from three to six with small amounts of breaks. I was a bench warmer, but that didn't stop me from continuing to go to the practices and work hard even stay a little longer with any of the assistant coaches to get my craft better. I took in everything that I saw in games and in practices in order to help me get better.

Majority of the time my mom wouldn’t support me. She disagreed with me going to the late workouts, going to games, and just using most of my time for the sport. My mom rather I stop playing basketball my freshman year and instead give all my attention to my school work. It’s not like she didn’t want me to play, she just didn’t want it to take up all of my time.My mom didn’t see the love that I had for the sport. She believed that basketball was just something I should do on my free time. I should be more engaged in academics. Although I am a good student, the work does get difficult and when that happens my getaway is basketball. I would go to the basketball court or the gym and not realize that I have a thousand unread messages and miss phone calls from my mom. Once I get outside the sun is either setting or it’s already dark, but it doesn’t feel like it when I’m playing. It feels as though time stops or it is just moving slowly and I can work on whatever I have to in order to get better.It wasn’t until my junior year when my mom finally came to one of my games since middle school. Once she got there and seen how I played she was proud of me. She could see that I am determined to be the best that I can be in the sport.. She ended up supporting the idea of me being a student athlete. She would make sure I got up on time and left the house on time in order to get to my practices and games. Now in my senior year I am averaging fifteen to twenty points. I went from a four points per game scorer to the second top scorer in the Bronx 'A' North Division.

Any coach I ever played for has always told me “You got the skills and the heart, perfect your weaknesses and you’ll be a killer.” Because of my coaches, my ball handling skills have become so much better. My only downfall is that I’m not as relaxed and aware in the game as I should be. Does it get frustrating and aggravating? Of course. The little mistakes that I do shouldn’t even happen. And on top of it all, I’m expected to lead the team. They put the blame on me if anyone on the team messes up because they believe that the little mistakes that the girls do shouldn’t happen if I’m addressing it to them in order to prevent it from occurring. Yea, my coaches are hard on me and yes it’s overwhelming, but that’s just the game. In my eyes if a coach constantly pick at the things you do, it’s because they see the potential you have and wants you to embrace it.