Current freshman and junior varsity basketball team captain, Sophia Bertolo is being featured as Athlete of the Week. Sophia is proud to be recognized for her hard work and dedication to the sport she loves.

Falling in love with basketball in the 3rd grade, Sophia Bertolo began attending practices for a team she didn’t play for and didn’t stop until the coach let her join. Her main motivation in basketball is working toward making varsity next season.

“Everything I do is the next step to making the varsity team,” Sophia says. Although getting used to the high school basketball setting and competition was an adjustment, Sophia knows that her constant hard work is paying off.

This year’s junior varsity team is very united; they push one another to always keep going and be the best athlete and student possible. “Especially when conditioning, there’s always a sense of togetherness because we’re all going through it,” Bertolo stated. Sophia’s teammates are not her only motivators, her coaches push her by showing she can do more than what she thinks is possible. By keeping her in the entire game, her coaches challenge her mentally and physically to keep going.

Navigating to find a balance between a packed academic schedule and her commitment to the sport, Bertolo said “at first it was hard to adjust to” but now feels comfortable juggling all her responsibilities. While it is very hard to navigate this year’s basketball season, she is optimistic that her team will succeed. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has greatly affected her teammates with positive tests, exposures and the overall season schedule. When asked about the Covid-19 issues, Sophia stated, “We’d rather play our hardest with five people than continue to cancel games and risk them not being rescheduled.” Adding, “my team will push ourselves as hard as we can go.”

Sophia’s biggest goal right now is to work toward making the varsity team. At this point, she is unsure if she would like to pursue basketball at the collegiate level but is very interested in the sports medicine field. We are thrilled to see how Sophia Bertolo continues to persevere and work as hard as she can in basketball. Congratulations!