ATHLETIC SPOTLIGHT: RYLEE ROBINSON

St. Vincent junior excited about what team can accomplish together

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This week’s Athletic Spotlight is on junior Rylee Robinson, 17, who plays guard on the St. Vincent girls’ basketball team. She was recognized by her coach, Mel Kirn.

The daughter of Corey and Natalie Robinson, she has an older brother named Drake, who graduated from St. Vincent’s last year.

Describing what she does as a guard on the team, Robinson said, “We run a lot of offenses. We do a lot of different things on our team, so I can be anywhere on the court at any time. We run a lot of four out, one in, five out. I honestly just do a lot of shooting, driving, kicking out, hitting my post players.”

Asked when she first became interested in sports, Robinson said, “I played soccer since I was four. And then, around fifth grade, I started playing basketball. Throughout junior high and in high school, I really just started to love it.”

She added that what she really loves about playing basketball at St. Vincent’s is her teammates.

“We’ve all gone to school together since we were little. This year, we just picked up the two Ruble twins; they fit right in. They clicked with us. We all get along amazingly. There are never any problems on the team. We all stick up for each other. We’re always there for each other. Bus rides are always a good time. We do a lot of things in our off time to stay close together. We all just come together, and it works out very well for us.”

The close relationship of the players on and off the court may be the reason that the team has an 11-1 record so far for the season.

“Yeah, it really does make a big difference,” she said. “I’ve played on a lot of sports teams, and I’ve never been on one like this before, so it really has been great.”

Robinson said the team gets a lot of help from their two coaches — Mel Kirn and Matt Ruble.

“We’ve had Mel for a couple of years, and this year we picked up Matt. He is a great addition to our team. He really teaches us a lot. He’s just really positive on and off the court. They just want us to get better every day, and they want us to enjoy the ride — and it’s been great.”

As far as what things she does to improve herself as a player, Robinson said, “Honestly, I just focus before the games. I try to get focused and think about what we’ve been working on in practice and what I can do to help my team out before the games, mentally and physically.”

As she’s thinking about what she will be doing in a year-and-a-half when she graduates from St. Vincents, Robinson said, “I know I’m going to go to a four-year college for sure. I have never really thought about going to college for basketball. I talked to a few soccer coaches in the past about maybe taking that next step and going for college soccer. But it’s my junior year, so I have to start thinking about that more this spring with our upcoming season. So, I’m not quite sure, but it’s a possibility.”

Given a chance to say whatever she’d like to end the interview, Robinson said, “We’d like for everyone who can to get out and come watch us play. I mean, it really means a lot to us. We’ve been working really hard. Just to come watch us play means a lot to us, and we’re really excited for what’s on the road ahead. We’re expecting some big things, and we’ve got to get to work.”