Five students commit to continue athletic careers in college

“I played three sports- track, basketball, and soccer…but soccer’s the one I stuck with,” said Kendall Bonam, a senior who was signed with Missouri Western for her sports prowess. She signed it with her mother on February 9^th.

Originally founded in 1915, Missouri Western is around 2 hours away from Central, has a griffin mascot, and is in the NCAA Division II. “They have big old huge brown buildings, and indoor soccer, field, and the athlete dorms have their own bathroom and fit four people,” Bonam says. The other reason she chose MW was because of Chick-Fil-A. “Every college I went t, I made sure that there was a Chick-Fil-A, or I wouldn’t go.”

To get to the level of being signed by a college, Kendal has been working for a long time. Now she does weight training on Monday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. She also does an hour practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays that last till 10 at night.  With all the extra training, school practice, and traveling, Bonam has a lot on her plate. “The hardest part is missing school, coming back, then getting on top of the homework, and remembering to turn it.”

Some may ask how Bonam is able to deal with senioritis, sports, extra practice, school, and work; but her inspiration comes from her sister Jordyn, who passed away six years ago for Pontine Glioma when she was 11. This is a rare brain tumor that effects 300 children in the U.S. each year with a 2 percent survival rate. “I don’t want to let her down,” Bonam says, “she just pushes me to do better… I wear a picture of my sister every day… If I don’t wear this, things go bad.”

Her sister has also influences her desires for life after college. After her sister, she wants to help people. “I either want to be a pediatrician because I love working with kids and I used to work at a daycare, or a physical therapist because my sister id physical therapy when she couldn’t walk. I want to help people gain their mobility back.”

Bonam has worked hard and found a college, but she thinks that anyone can achieve that, with hard work, the right motivation, and a positive mindset. To JV athletes, she says, “Don’t settle for less, keep working hard, push yourself, and don’t stop loving your sport…Hard work pays off.”