Hard-worker

Want proof that high school athletics is about more than winning and losing? Listen to a couple of the Rogers High School coaches who work most closely with senior Sara Fossum, and listen to Fossum herself.

A two-sport standout at Rogers, Fossum played libero in volleyball and is a starter on the Pirates girls basketball team that, through the end of 2004, had lost 52 straight games.

But here’s basketball coach Nicole King:

“Sara is absolutely the hardest worker I’ve ever seen in my career as a player and a coach. She never loses faith that we can win, always is optimistic and always wants to defend the opponent’s best guard.”

And conditioning teacher Cris Coffield:

“She’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been around. She does everything a coach could want to get herself prepared, and lots of times she does it alone, in the weight room or running by herself. She goes above and beyond in every way.”

This is a kid who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She has had no recent contact with her mother, and her father is incarcerated. She’s able to visit and write to him. Fossum lives with her older sister’s boyfriend’s family. She has an older brother but is not in contact with him.

“The situation I’ve been in has taught me not to give up, and to work as hard as if I had the same kind of support that other kids have, ” Fossum said. “It also gives me a reason not to fall into the situation that my Mom and Dad did.”

“Sara’s gone through a lot, but I think that all that adversity at home has motivated her,” King said. “Some kids use that kind of thing as an excuse to fail, but Sara’s going in the opposite direction, using it to push herself to succeed.

“Last year, she’d get down on herself for not meeting her own expectations, which are very high. She doesn’t do that this year. Instead, she just fires herself up. She leads in everything she does by her example, by her attitude and by her effort.”

Fossum welcomes the leadership responsibilities.

“Now that I’m in a position to lead, because of my experience, I welcome that role. I think of winning, so I don’t go into games thinking we’re going to lose. In order for the other girls to stay positive, I need to. Even when we’re losing, my love for the game keeps me in it.

“I work so hard because the situation requires it. A lot of us at Rogers aren’t blessed with extraordinary talent, so I work hard to get better and inspire the others to improve as well. And I try to work as hard in the classroom as I do on the court.”

A defensive specialist in volleyball, Fossum serves in something of the same capacity for the basketball team.

“She is an absolute warrior on the court defensively,” said Coffield, an admiring spectator.

“I think that defense is something I understand and that comes more naturally than offense to me,” Fossum added. “I always work on ways to improve my defense – if I play good defense, it can help create good offense.”

She suffered an ankle injury last week against Colville, King noted, but plans to be back on the floor this week.

“She was telling me almost right after she was hurt that she’d be back on Monday,” said King. “She wants to do everything right away!”

Although she’d like to continue playing basketball after she graduates this spring, Fossum is also a realist, and her college plans include Eastern Washington University, where she hopes to prepare for a career in the dentistry.