Tara Jackson had the chance to interview Bald Eagle Area student athlete to Harlee Witherite. Harlee is an 11th grade student at Bald Eagle and plays volleyball and softball.
HS: How long have you played the current sports you are in?
HW: I have been playing volleyball for now 4 years and softball for now 11 years
HS: What is one piece of advice you would give to young athletes?
HW: One piece of advice I would give to younger athletes would be to trust in yourself and your instincts
HS: Who is someone you look up to?
HW: Someone I look up to that is very close to me is Gabbie Perry. She is a great person, friend and teammate to those around her. She also is a great example of a student athlete and has given me so much help throughout my high school career with her.
HS: What are your goals for the upcoming season?
HW: My goals for the up coming volleyball season is to earn a starting position, for softball my goals are to hit a home run and as a team make another playoff run
HS: What do you enjoy doing outside of sports?
HW: Outside of sports I enjoy shopping, hanging out with friends and family, hanging out in my room, and taking pictures.
HS: What are your plans after high school?
HW: My plans after high school are to go to college to be a child psychologist.
HS: Is there a coach or teammate who has gone above and beyond and pushed you when you wanted to give up?
HW: I can name many people who have had an athletic influence on my life but, my softball coach Don Lucas has had a tremendous impact on my softball career and my life in all, I remember a practice from this past season where I was being extremely hard on myself he stopped pitching and came up to me and said “ if you let yourself get frustrated so fast you no longer have control, stay calm.” I can think of another time I was being hard on myself again and saying I didn’t hit good that round he said “ be grateful you’re even in here the little things matter”. He always reminded us to be grateful.
HS: What is one of your weaknesses as an athlete? What is one of your strengths as an athlete?
HW: One of my weaknesses as an athlete is overthinking and being so hard on myself, I am often hard on myself and push myself to much because I expect so much out of myself and sometimes this does more harm than good, one thing I think I’m good at as an athlete is slowing down the game weather is on the court or the field I am good at calming myself down and slowing it up to just take a breath, throughout sports and when the games or matches get close I can tend to get anxiety and will snap my fingers and tend to amp myself up and then suddenly the game feels 10x harder so as an athlete I think I have gotten good at slowing the game down.
HS: Do you ever feel overwhelmed balancing academics and sports? What things do you do to balance the two?
HW: I get overwhelmed with academics and sports often balancing the two can sometimes feel impossible with the late nights and getting off of school early but I have really tried to focus in on what we are doing in class and work head sometimes I would be 2 lessons ahead bc I knew we have 4 games or we were getting out really early but I had to learn to be a student before an athlete.
HS: How do you prepare yourself for a game?
HW: I am a very superstitious person so before every game I prepare myself by listening to music while doing my hair or getting dressed and then I pray over my shoes.
HS: What strategies do you use to stay motivated during tough times?
HW: Strategies I have used to help me stay motivated are thinking about how hard I worked to get here in the first place and it reminds me over how far I’ve come and the things I can make it through, I also snap my fingers often when I’m in a tough situation in a game because it helps me concentrate in on what I need to do.