Angelina Ramirez is only a freshman at Clinton High School, but she’s already an impressive student-athlete.
She plays volleyball and soccer, is a trainer for the football team and is involved in student council.
Standing at 4-foot-10 inches, she’s not particularly tall, especially for playing goalkeeper on the soccer team, but she doesn’t let that hold her back.
“As a smaller player, I do feel like I have to try a lot harder, especially when the other players are shooting over me, I have to jump a lot higher,” Ramirez said. “My height has never defined how hard I have played and how hard I try. It has made me try even harder, because I’ve been told so many times that I’m not good enough because of height. . . It is one of my favorite things about myself.”
Ramirez has spent time training at MAP, a local athletic training facility. It helped her improve her skills in both sports.
“I got so much stronger there. They really showed me to have so much discipline on myself, to push myself so much,” Ramirez said. “If you work hard, [and] if you don’t cheat yourself, then you can go be an amazing athlete, and I think that’s the reason why I have improved so much in my sports this year.” She brings a fiery, energetic spirit to every team she plays on. It seems to be working for her and her team.
“It’s going good. We still have so much work to do so that we can keep improving, but for me as an individual player, I have gotten so much better,” Ramirez said. “My hits, serves and digs are so much more accurate than they were last season.”
Ramirez aims to work on her game this season.
“My goal as an individual player is to continue to get better to be a better teammate, not get angry at other players when we are messing up and to improve on my leadership skills,” Ramirez said. “As a team, I want us to start working better together and communicating more.” Ramirez credits her mother, Lauren, for her excellence in sports and continued support. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without her,” Ramirez said.