Anjelica Del Valle, a senior at Portage High School, shows off her incredible talents on and off of the basketball court. Del Valle has played basketball since she was only four years old, having followed in the footsteps of her older brother.
“My brother is really who inspired me to play basketball. I guess you could say that I followed in his footsteps, and we just played together. I also think that he is the reason I am so athletic and was very good at such a young age because I used to play with his team. I used to practice and play against the older boys,” Del Valle said.
Since those practices against the boys, Del Valle’s life has been surrounded by basketball. While the thought of playing other sports had crossed her mind, Del Valle has diligently stuck with basketball.
“Basketball has literally been my entire life; my whole life has wrapped around it. I have always loved other sports, and I have always been very athletic. I have explored other sports, but not seriously like basketball. I am a very ambitious and driven person in a lot of different ways, not just in sports, and I really take pride in that,” Del Valle said.
Del Valle’s high school career came with lots of ups and downs, but Del Valle came out on top, earning a leadership position and being accepted into a college basketball program at Danville Area Community College. While in college, she plans to pursue a major in architecture and a minor in business.
“I was on the junior varsity team my freshman year. It was cool, I was able to play with a lot of the girls that I looked up to in middle school. My sophomore season was very frustrating. I was moved up to Varsity, but throughout the season my time was cut short on the court. My junior year was a lot better than my sophomore year. I got more playing time, but my Point Guard was out, so it made it a little challenging. My best year by far was my senior year. I got to be a leader, which was a huge deal for me,” Del Valle said.
During her senior season, Del Valle learned what she needed most in her basketball career. She realized that she was missing the element of fun, and was just focused on winning. Once she shifted her focus to having fun, Del Valle was able to enjoy the rest of her high school basketball career.
“This year, we learned that we need to have fun in order to actually win games. The games that we really needed to win were the games that we needed to have the most fun. We needed to not be in our heads so much. It definitely opened my eyes a lot, gave me a bigger perspective of basketball,” Del Valle said.
Off of the basketball court, Del Valle spends her time in the cosmetics world. Del Valle is currently working on getting her lash tech license.
“I am really good at cosmetics and everything involving it. It may not be something that I want to do long term, but I do love doing makeup, hair, and am obsessed with eyelash extensions. I love getting mine done, so that is what led me to wanting to get my license. Seeing what they did, I thought that I could definitely do that. It’s a fun thing to do. I like the bond that I create with my lash tech, and I am definitely a people person,” Del Valle said.
Throughout her life, Del Valle’s love for basketball has only increased, teaching her how to be the person that she is today. She shares her love for her community and her personality shines through, all because of basketball.