When senior Kaityln Akerele takes the floor for the Sedona Red Rock High School volleyball team, she’s only nearing the end of what had already been a full day.
An average day for Akerele consists of waking up at around 5 a.m. and heading to Cottonwood to take a 7 a.m. class at Yavapai College. Akerele then heads to SRRHS for her normal high school classes. Following school, Akerele’s focus shifts to volleyball for either a practice or a game. On days of Scorpion road games, she often doesn’t return home until after midnight. After getting home, Akerele finishes her homework [usually at least an hour’s worth] before calling it a day and repeating the cycle the following morning. Despite the long days, her teammates don’t notice Akerele being tired or worn down.
“Her energy is always up,” fellow senior Lizbeth Corral-Diaz said. “She doesn’t let it show if she’s stressed or tired from all of those activities that she does throughout the day.”
Akerele’s classes at Yavapai are in phlebotomy, CPR and basic health care. When she finishes high school, Akerele plans on attending Northern Arizona University for two years to get her basic courses out of the way before hopefully transferring out of state to complete her education.
“I definitely want to study forensic psychology or be an athletic trainer,” Akerele said. “Those are my two top choices. When I get to college and start getting more into it, I’ll see what I really want to do.”
On the volleyball court, Akerele is best known as a serving specialist for the Scorpions. She can hit short serves which narrowly clear the net. That makes the opposition scramble to get the ball back over. It’s one of the many things that coach John Parks has enjoyed about having Akerele on the team.
“She’s one of those kids that you love to coach,” Parks said. “She’s a great kid who works hard, always tries to do her best. She is a great student and a good leader. She just does whatever you ask her to do.”
Akerele is one of six seniors on a team that otherwise consists exclusively of freshmen and sophomores. But Akerele’s role as a team leader goes beyond just being one of the more experienced players on the roster. In fact, Akerele’s teammates — including the other seniors — think of her as the team mom.
“She’s super responsible,” senior Amari Sonn said. “She makes sure everyone has money for food, makes sure that everyone has their jerseys, their socks before the game. She’s just kind of there for everyone when they need her. She’s not really more friends with anybody else than she is with other people … We love her. She’s always so sweet.”
Akerele wears the role of unofficial team mom proudly. She feels that the trait was inherited from her mother, Lara.
“I think that comes from my mom, personally, because she’s a single mom,” Akerele said. “I’ve always been caring for other people. It’s kind of my nature.”
Akerele also hopes that the people in her community know that she sees herself in that role for more than just her friends and teammates.
“I want people to always know that they can count on me,” Akerele said. “They can come to me, even if they don’t know me, for whatever problem they have. Or that I can always put a smile on someone’s face.”
Michael Dixon can be reached at 282-7795 ext 131 or email to mdixon@larsonnewspapers.com
