Sophomore Ava Shook continues to excel as a standout HHS athlete. During her 2023-2024 season, she received the “Athlete of the Week” by Asheville Citizens Times. She had tough competition; however, she beat out the other five girls to win the title.
Ava has had a long journey to get to where she is today, and she has made a significant impact on her teammates along the way. Sophomore Bryleigh Krieger comments, “Ava brings many things to the team. She brings talent, leadership, friendship, positive attitude, effort, communication, and many other great things.” She also says that Ava has something to bring to everyone on and off the court, describing Ava as someone that you would call a great friend. Many of her teammates describe her as very nice, funny, uplifting, and encouraging. She is willing to do whatever it takes to lead the team and get them where they want to be. Ava is passionate about basketball and she is always putting in the maximum effort and work to make herself and the team better. Overall we should see everything good Ava has done for her team and what she continues to do to help her team grow and become the team they want to be. She has great potential to continue to help the program. Bryleigh would also like to say, “Ava is a very good friend to me and my team; we have grown close together as friends and have become a family and I really do think that is a part of the reason we are where we are today. She means a lot to us and brings a lot to the table for our team; she has helped us tremendously.” It takes a lot to have a leader on the court and Ava has stepped up to the position and does it with her whole heart no matter what is going on. When she goes onto the court, she is there to get the job done and continue to help everyone on her team reach their full potential.
Ava has not only touched her team but has also reached out to her coaches as well. Coach Chad McClure, the Lady Jackets head coach, has very positive things to say about Ava, “Ava is very athletic, competitive, and works hard to improve her strength, conditioning, and skills. She is a great defender and has a high basketball IQ. Ava is a great student and person; she has a very high character and embodies leadership.” Coach McClure says that even though, as a coach he has clear expectations, he gives the team a lot of freedom to play the game and Ava handles it well. They try to challenge her to score more and she has accepted that challenge and is always up to change or get better. Ava has come a long way since her freshman year. She has worked on her game and confidence she has in herself along with everyone else on the team.
Ava also has a lot to say about what she has done to get to where she is. Ava says that there are a few things that she does before each and every game to get ready to play, “I do have a couple superstitions or routines before games. Before every home game I always go home, even if it is just to drive home, drive up the driveway, and turn around and come back to the gym. If I have time, I just come home to sit, chill, be alone for a few minutes and just get focused on the day’s game. I always wear my hair the same way for every game, and I always braid Brooke Graves’ hair before every game.” These are just the small things that have gotten her to where she is today. There are the more important things that have made her have tremendous accomplishments, such as her family. “I find my motivation in several different ways and people. First of all, my family. I have tremendous family support in both my immediate family and my extended family. They all provide me with encouragement and they also pick me up when I start to feel down.” Ava says she is and will always be thankful to her coaches and teammates for the work they put into the team and into helping her stay motivated, and the success they are beginning to experience. Ava is thankful for everyone who has helped her along the way, “Next would be my coaches (McClure, Amanda, and Meghan) and my teammates. Basketball is a great team sport, and we all have to always be encouraging and motivating each other. I’m thankful to each coach and teammate for the work they put into this team and into helping me stay motivated, and the success we are beginning to experience. Each individual from the groups mentioned helps me stay focused, humble, and working hard to be a little better today than I was yesterday.”
Moving forward Ava has even more goals she would like to achieve, “My current goals are to try and help my team out as best I can, and get the Lady Jackets Basketball back to where it has been in the past. I want to be a good team player and leader with my actions and energy on the court. I also have a personal goal of reaching 1,000 points within my high school career.” As Ava continues to strive towards these goals she has many choices to think about. She says that she is undecided on where she wants to be once she is finished with high school. She says she has thought on many occasions that playing in college might be something she wants to do, but isn’t one hundred percent sure yet. Some advice to give someone looking to achieve some similar goals Ava says, would be to set personal goals to help his/her and help their teammates also set some team goals as well. She says to begin to work hard trying to accomplish these goals, stay focused, work hard, and stay disciplined. In Ava’s view, “This goes for all sports he/she is playing as well as work in the classroom. Stay focused, stay disciplined, stay humble, stay kind and be a good encouraging teammate.” When you are playing a team sport you have to have the support of your teammates. Ava says that, even though she won the award, the entire team works hard, is disciplined and focused on building Lady Jackets Basketball into a team that is competitive every time they step onto the court. “We are striving to get better everyday, as basketball players and as students and people. This helps motivate me and my teammates to play for each other and encourage each other to be successful. If the player beside me is giving her best, even if I’m tired, it motivates me to work harder and be better because I don’t want to let my teammates down.”