“She’s 5 feet 4 inches and slow. I might never be lucky enough to work with another young person as outstanding as this one again.” So said Coach Glenn Lavey, head coach of the Herricks girls’ varsity basketball team.
He was speaking about a young lady whose presence becomes the personification of the expression that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. He was speaking in utmost admiration of Michelle Weinman, and although on paper she may not come equipped with the physical size and quickness one might seek in a basketball player, she plays huge and somehow finds ways to get the job done well.
She was the JV team captain as a freshman, and she was varsity team captain as a junior and as a senior. She has been responsible for leading and organizing the team, and she worked closely with the coaches both in season as well as during the so-called off-season. She has served as a volunteer coach at the Herricks Basketball Camp and at the Saturday morning basketball clinic sessions organizing and supervising drills and games for kids aged six to 12. She found time to play AAU Basketball with weekly practice sessions and up to four games on the weekends in the Westchester, New York City, and Long Island region. She has won Basketball Scholar Athlete (3 years), tournament MVP, and All-Conference (2 years) as a three year varsity basketball team member. Ah, but we barely scuff the surface. This young lady’s prowess runs deep.
She has been a three year varsity volleyball player where she has won tournament MVP, Scholar-Athlete, team MVP, and All-Conference awards. She was JV team captain as a freshman and varsity team captain as a senior. Even now she is preparing for her fourth season on the varsity softball team, where her influence as a volunteer instructor in Herricks softball clinics has helped to make this a highly competitive program.
Just another female jock, you say? Yeah, sure. Weinman is a National Merit Commended Student, a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the National Spanish Honor Society, and an AP Scholar with Honor Award recipient. By the way, Michelle has received A+ grades in all of her classes in grades 9 through 12. (Is that a lot?)
We live in a society in which it is all too increasingly common to find parents enrolling their offspring in extra tutorial (remedial?) sessions for S.A.T. exam, A.P. exam, and Regents exam preparation thereby pretty much admitting that little Hobart or Hermione are below the norm competitively (academically speaking), and of course they might have to drop out of athletics because they aren’t capable of being successful both academically and athletically at the same time; especially when one takes into consideration all of the time necessary for texting and Play Station activity. (Is it true that there are kindergarten review classes in snack and nap?)
Perhaps we spend too much time and effort in promoting the tacit message of our youngsters’ limited ability and weakness instead of developing their strengths by challenging them to manage their own time and efforts across a broad spectrum of diverse activities and endeavors.
Michelle Weinman is a throwback to the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s – times when, for the most part, parents did not feel compelled to micromanage the lives of their children.
Somehow, in those olden days, kids managed their time, invented games, arbitrated disputes, and all who wished to do so went on to college. They accepted responsibility for themselves (whether they wanted to or not) and actually believed that they could do many different things concurrently.
Michelle was honored with the Outstanding Physical Education Award by the Nassau Zone of New York State for leadership, citizenship, and outstanding achievement.
Coach Lavey says, “Michelle Weinman is the hardest working young person that I have known in my 15 years in education. Michelle is an inspiration to every person she comes into contact with. She has shown the girls that anything is possible if you are willing to work hard for it. She is intense and focused, but at the same time she is patient and can laugh at herself. She is a leader in every way. I truly believe that she could coach the Basketball team.”
We tip our Highland tams to her folks for all that they have done (and in some cases not done) to have provided her with an environment in which she could spread her wings.
We commend Michelle for her contributions to our community, and for demonstrating yet again that you can be an accomplished athlete and an accomplished scholar concurrently.
