Volleyball, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Middle Blocker Andi Jackson (of Nebraska)
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning Council Rock North Invitational in discus
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The announcer butchering my name for the announcement of the starting lineup
Music on playlist: Anything by Lil Baby or Rod Wave
Future plans: Majoring in Kinesiology for a future as a physical therapist
Words to live by: “To whom much has been given, much is expected”
One goal before turning 30: A successful career that has happiness in it and God blessing it.
One thing people don’t know about me: I don’t like chocolate
By GORDON GLANTZ
When then-sophomore Aliyah Adewale peered into the gym at Harry S. Truman High School two years ago, she spotted her friend, Malaya Toby, practicing volleyball alone.
She was intrigued.
What it led to was a fateful chain of events for Adewale, now a senior and a stellar two-sport athlete in both volleyball and track who also excels in the classroom (3.6 GPA)
“My friend was on the team,” she recalled. “After the season was over, I saw her practicing in the gym by herself. I tried it out with her, and she said I was surprisingly good at it for having never even touched a volleyball before, and that my height put me in a good spot.”
After she was formally introduced to coach Shane Slovinski, Adewale began working out with the volleyball team that winter and played all the way through to the recently completed fall season alongside best friend and teammate Jayda Lopez.
“She is the main reason why I still played volleyball,” said Adewale. “Getting to play with her has been the highlight of my senior year.”
Along the way, Adewale’s vivacious personality led her to serving as a senior captain this past season.
“As a captain, Aliyah was a team leader that led by example,” said Slovinski. “She always had a presence on and off the court, always being there to pick up teammates and encourage them.
“She is very dedicated both in sports and in the classroom, taking the initiative to take advanced classes. She is resilient and always works hard during matches and during practices. Her personality is one that teammates truly rally around, and she has earned the respect of everybody in the Truman volleyball program.”
Thrown into the Mix
Looking for a way to stay in shape for volleyball, Adewale decided to give track and field a try.
Little did she know that it would become her primary sport as a thrower – primarily discus and shotput (with a little bit of javelin as needed).
“I started throwing my sophomore year of high school to stay in shape for volleyball season because I had just started playing that in my sophomore year,” said Adewale. “I didn’t want to wait a whole year until it restarted. The head coach introduced me to the throwing coach. I went to the first practice, and it just took off from there. I grew to have a love for it, and I became determined to do my best.”
Throwing coach Jon Candy found an initially timid but willing pupil in Adewale, who has emerged as a leader and mentor to younger teammates.
“She was a little shy at first, but everybody is always a little bit shy when they are still learning things,” he said. “Once she understood what to expect, it picked up.
“She definitely helps out. Every year, we have the younger group come in. She has definitely become a leader in terms of showing them the right way or whatever needs to be done. When it comes to getting the team prepared, or with individuals, she is definitely up to the challenge. “Her character is unique. Even though this is her third year, you would think she has been doing it for longer.”
Carving Out a Niche
Adewale’s older siblings – sister Lateefate, a sprinter, and brother, Lateef, a high jumper and long jumper – were also track and field standouts for the Tigers.
Adewale, though, felt Adewale could carve out her own niche as a thrower.
“Throwing was a way for me to not be in their shadows while still making their legacy proud,” she explained.
Candy has had the unique experience of coaching all the children of Kudirat Fale-Adewale, their mother.
“For me, it’s fun because I also coached her older brother and sister,” said Candy. “It just completes it for me. I got to coach all of them.
“It’s different from her older siblings because she is trying to do something that they weren’t able to do – go from leagues to districts and then to states. They had the work ethic as well, but hers – especially in the last two years – is like she is on a mission to get there.”
The Final Step
It is sometimes said that getting there is half the fun, but getting to the point where she is a district qualifier has been a source of frustration for Adewale.
Last season, she won the discus at the Council Rock North Invitational Meet under difficult circumstances, having been praying through the night during Ramadan.
“I was fasting, so I didn’t eat all day,” said Adewale. “I probably slept two hours before we had the meet. I was willing to go out there and do my best, but my body felt drained. When I was able to go out there and hit the winning numbers, it was such a relief.”
By the time the league meet rolled around at Neshaminy, however, Adewale could not quite get to where she needed to be to make the district cut.
“I didn’t do as well as I wanted to,” she lamented. “I don’t want to say I hit my peak too early in the season, but something just seemed to fall off. I wasn’t as confident as I once was.”
Adewale conceded that the pressure she was putting on herself was the biggest impediment.
“The idea of getting to districts kind of clouded my head, rather than just doing my best,” she explained. “In the meet for districts, it was like, ‘I have to get there. I have to get there. I have to get there.’ It just became a very unhealthy obsession that clouded my mind.”
Looking forward, Adewale has a plan in place.
“It’s still a goal, but I have channeled it in a different way,” she said. “I have gone back to the drawing board. I’ve gone back to the gym, picking up heavier weights and picking up little habits, like just eating better, and devoting more time in the gym before stepping into the circle. For my senior year, I’m focusing more on what I can do outside of the circle so that I’ll be better once I’m in it.”
Adewale feels she is doing it all for more than just herself. There is her family and friends, not to mention the coaches who have invested so much into her development.
“My coaches have spent so much time with me, especially this winter,” she said. “My coach has taken so much time out to come out and train with me so that I can get better.
“So, when I’m out there throwing or playing volleyball, it’s so much more than being just about me. They have devoted their time and their effort and have taken time away from their families, just to come and train me or make me a better player. I want to make sure I do my best. It’s not just for me, but also about them.”
Candy, for his part, is confident that Adewale can go out strong and be at least a district qualifier – if not more.
“She’s been close – just two feet – but we are hoping that she gets it this year,” he said. “I changed my style of coaching last year. I treated them all as if they were all seniors. I wanted them to improve as if they were looking to college. I have worked with a lot of college athletes and college coaches. Things that I wasn’t doing as much before, because I wasn’t on the college level, I started doing.”
“It comes down to the weight room – Olympic lifts, power lifts – incorporated into more than just the technique. I put it all together, so that they would hit certain marks and standards.”
No Rest for the Weary
Adewale takes two classes per semester at Bucks County Community College and is primarily in the AP/honors realm of study.
She is also slated to play a villain in the school musical and is active in an extracurricular club that focuses on community service.
Somehow, Adewale also finds time to work in customer service at a local restaurant.
“Some would say I should just really relax,” she said with a chuckle.
In all seriousness, though, Adewale is following the example set by her mother.
“Seeing her work hard for our family has really encouraged me to work hard and to do my best,” she said.
Passion and Compassion
At present, Adewale is leaning toward Howard University in Washington, D.C. or Arcadia University in Glenside.
At either of those schools, she would be working toward becoming a physical therapist, a craft she gained a passion for after helping her sister recover from a torn ACL, and she would likely put aside her athletic
career.
Not so fast, says Candy, who thinks a strong senior season can propel her onto the collegiate level as a thrower.
“I don’t have a doubt in mind,” he said. “She definitely can. That’s what I told her. I saw it last year. I have a friend who came up and spoke to her, and her whole demeanor changed. She started asking me more questions. She started researching, and she started asking me about this and that. She became a believer once somebody from the college level came and spoke to her. That gave her a little bit of fuel.
“Whether she goes for track or just academically, she can definitely do both.”
With that thought in mind, Adewale is willing to wait it out and listen.
“I’m also still considering going to college for track and field,” she said. “A lot of the prep that I have been doing over the winter is to just to do my best through the spring, go out with a bang and see what schools come calling and pull me towards them after the end of the spring.”
Bottom line, though, Adewale will be at peace with whatever comes next.
“Truly, in my future, I just want to be happy,” she said. “Whether than means track and field or volleyball or just focusing on sticking with my future career as a physical therapist, I just want to be happy with whatever I do decide for myself.”
