Senior, Chloe Simons, is the female Athlete of the Week brought to you by Palisade Dino Mart. Chloe is having a great senior season of basketball so far, with a lot of growth and learning. Her desire to learn from herself and others shows what great work ethic she has.
Simons is a multi-sport athlete. “I do tennis, some running, and I play basketball,” said Simons. “Tennis and running are more of hobbies.” Inside of basketball, Simons plays shooting guard. “I have been playing since 6th grade,” said Simons. “What got me started was my sister. I wanted to follow in her footsteps.” Simons has one younger sister and two older sisters. “She played basketball competitively, but not for Palisade. She played for a different league. She played all throughout high school, my other sister played her senior year, and my younger sister is now playing.” Simons has been playing basketball at Palisade High School since her sophomore year. Going into the season in general, Simons expounded her thoughts on how she feels it is going. “I think it is going very well. We are doing really well at playing together, trusting each other, and knowing that we have each other’s backs. We are playing and having fun.”
Although Simons plays basketball for Palisade, she does not attend PHS. Simons is homeschooled and lives on the Mesa. She briefed on what life is like as a student athlete being a homeschooler. “It is probably the same as here,” said Simons. “You get your school done whenever you have time and then you come to practice.” So why Palisade? “I had another homeschooled friend who played here and so she invited me to come play.”
Outside of sports and school, Simons shared her other enjoyments. “I have a small business. I do my own art and sell them as gift-type things. I use a lot of watercolor and acrylic. I am glad that I have it, because now I can help bring joy to other people, as well as myself. I also dance, ski, and about anything you can think of outdoors.”
Simons has learned so much about herself and from her team. “One of my greatest accomplishments is mentally learning how to prepare for things,” said Simons. “It is hard, but it is also good to know who you are and how to play with yourself, which is something that I have really learned.” Being a senior, there are a lot of experiences that she will be taking with her.
Lastly, advice that she would give to an incoming athlete is: “Working hard and having a good attitude towards everything is really important. It is not always going to be easy and you are not always going to have a good game, but if you choose to take every opportunity as it comes then it will eventually start to work.” Congratulations Chloe Simons, on Athlete of the Week!
