Before The Banks III
May 14 | General
Meet Members of the Rutgers Athletics Family Before They Were Scarlet Knights
Take a look at the first steps toward becoming a Scarlet Knight as our student-athletes share their earliest memories before they arrived "On The Banks".
Volleyball - Kamila Cieslik - Junior - Knoxville, Tenn.
"My earliest memories of volleyball involve going with my dad to pick up my older sister from her club volleyball practices. Soon enough I decided to put my early growth spurt to use and started playing for my middle school team in 4th grade. At 10 years old I signed up for a local club team, and our group of five girls stuck together for the rest of our volleyball careers until we scattered to universities across the country. We went through a lot together, but in that first year I vividly remember the day we practiced overhand serves and almost all the balls were going under the net!”
Softball - Zoe Rodriguez - Freshman - Lumberton, N.J.
When I started playing softball when I was five, I used to run around the bases the wrong way and I used to get in trouble for blowing bubbles with my gum in the field.
Gymnastics - Hannah Joyner - Freshman - Waldorf, Md.
My earliest gymnastics memory is my first meet ever. My mom said it looked like I was going over the vault table in slow motion. I always dreamed of being an elite and college gymnast and it came true.
Softball - Taylor Lane - Sophomore - Tinton Falls, N.J.
My earliest memory is from t-ball when the bases were loaded and I was playing shortstop. A ground ball was hit to me and instead of throwing the ball, I ran to home plate and beat the boy who was running home from third.
Softball - Payton Lincavage - Freshman - Parker, Colo.
My earliest memory would be my first year playing t-ball with all the boys and older brother. My very first influence in the game was my older brother because I wanted to do everything he did.
Softball - Courtney Wilde - Freshman - Nutley, N.J.
“I insisted on wearing that pink glove and pink glove only until I was eight years old. I played basketball my whole life, but started to get serious about softball at a later age than others would. My biggest influence in softball were my parents because they thought I would have a bright future with pursuing softball at a higher level.”
