Leaving basketball behind

Junior Christine Dimacali sat on the bleachers at a Nov. 28 home basketball game to support her old teammates, the team she played with for the last two years. All she wanted to do was jump into the game and play.

It was difficult for her to be a spectator instead of playing but she knew with three other sports and six AP classes she just couldn’t.

“I actually went to the girls game one night and I had such bad FOMO [fear of missing out],” Dimacali said. ”I wanted to play so bad. But doing volleyball, soccer, basketball and eMotion at the same time with junior year— like everyone says that’s the hardest year, it’s just going to be so much.”

Dimacali realized during her sophomore year that she needed to put basketball aside so she could focus on her other sports and school work. She wanted the best for her team and felt it would be biased if she was allowed to not always present at team practices and games.

“I feel like it’d be unfair to my teammates to miss part of a team event but then go to a different team event and still be treated the same as everyone else if I’m not putting everything into it,” Dimacali said.

Although she made up her mind, it was hard to leave basketball behind. She was the starting player for every game and pushed the team to success. It was sad for the team to let her go, and even her coach tried to get her to stay.

“It’s funny because the coach pulled me out after [they lost the game] and he said this is why [the team] needed me and that he’s still considering giving me a chance to be on the team,” Dimacali said.

Crunch time

The pressure is on. With assignments and after school practices to keep up with, Dimacali had to find a way to balance her studies with volleyball and soccer season coming up.

“It’s very difficult. I have to really think about what I’m gonna do each day and how I’m going to spread it out throughout the week especially with due dates and everything,” Dimacali said. “I also try to do a ton of my schoolwork during the day, because after school I have practice.”

Although she had a plan on how she wanted to manage her time, managing seven classes wasn’t as easy as she thought.

“It was difficult to space it out because there’s just so much, and I remember being really, really stressed,” she said.

When she falls under too much pressure, Dimacali turns to her volleyball coach Briana Jones for support and advice.

“I like to go to her about things like stress or problems,” Dimacali said. “She lets me rant to her about it. She always has a solution for me and gives me advice. Sometimes it’s not even just about volleyball but about life in general.”

Even when she is under a lot of stress, Dimacali’s strong work ethic and determination sets her apart from other players on the volleyball team.

“Christine stands out because of her upbeat and positive personality,” Jones said. “She always shows up with a smile and is ready to work 110 percent each day.”

New team bonding

At first, Dimacali wasn’t interested in dance or being a part of eMotion; she just needed an art credit that was fun and easy. She was also unsure because she had never danced before and wasn’t used to such a delicate sport.

“I did it because I needed my art credit and my brother was a senior on eMotion breakdance and he was like, just try out for eMotion since he has fun so I would also have fun,” she said.

Joining eMotion wasn’t just about having fun for Dimacali. She also learned the importance of team bonding and helping others on the team. Dimacali was even able to make a long lasting friendship with sophomore eMotion dancer Ellie Loor.

“It was good to have Christine as a support system,” Loor said. “Because she just has a lot of experience with sportsmanship and conflicts, so she did give good advice on how to get through it. No matter how stressed she is, or how much is piled up on her, she never fails to make people laugh.”

Dimacali thinks of all the people around her as family and realizes that she needs them during difficult times.

“I just feel like there’s no point in worrying or stressing,” Dimacali said. “Make use of the people around you, use them as your help.”