This week’s Athlete of the Week is Valere Zavala, a senior at Hoover High School. She has been playing since she was younger, and was inspired to play tennis because she wanted to become an athlete. She believes that tennis is sort of underrated compared to all of the other sports, so out of all the options, she chose to play tennis. To be able to play tennis, she thinks of it not just playing tennis but more of motivating her teammates so they can all improve together, to create a better bond among each other. Her favorite thing about tennis is to be able to help her teammates and help herself to grow and get better everyday at practices and games because there is always room for improvement. From most of her efforts, she is hoping to be able to receive a scholarship from colleges. Even if it is her last year playing tennis, it just means new beginnings for college.

There’s more to Valere than being Hoover’s #1 singles player. Some of her hobbies include playing tennis in her free time, studying for homework, reading a book, hanging out with her friends, crocheting, and sewing. To balance all of the time to do her assignments or classwork for school, playing tennis, or her hobbies, she balances those by doing her assignments during class putting her main priorities first which is her education, then doing all of her favorite stuff after school or on the weekends. That is mainly to hangout with her friends and play tennis. When she grows up, she would like to become a forensic scientist. A forensic scientist is to investigate someone’s body who is no longer living. She was inspired by her family from all of the good things that they have said about the job. Last year, she had straight A’s and she will continue to have it this year as well.