In this episode of The 9INE POINT Started With A Dream Podcast, Jacolby Gilliam welcomes Leah Edmond, a University of Kentucky volleyball alum. Leah is a pro volleyball player at Athletes United (AU). Today, Leah shares her story of going from a young dreamer to a pro athlete while facing racial stigma when it came to others describing her game and injuries. Despite it all, Leah continues to be a strong force in the world of pro volleyball.
Leah begins by sharing her dream as a young athlete. She talks about wanting to play at the University of Kentucky and going for it. She shares with us the expectations required from her as a freshman and a black athlete. She also discusses the stigma black volleyball players face and why volleyball should be made accessible to different communities. The episode comes to a close with Leah giving valuable advice on how to love what you do but, at the same time, not play through the pain.
Key Points:
- Leah’s dream as a young athlete
- Starting the college hunt
- Questions to ask colleges that reach out to you during recruiting
- Leah’s expectations as a freshman
- Embracing your achievements
- Dismantling the stigma around black volleyball players
- Leah’s game as a volleyball player
- Making volleyball accessible to black communities
- Leah’s gameday playlist
- The decision to go pro
- A tearful process following an injury
- Leah’s advice to her younger self
- Why you should love what you do
Quotes:
- “My first goal was to play in college. I grew up around college athletics with my dad being a coach. “
- “Recruiting is a two-way street.”
- “I knew what I could bring to the table. I knew who I was as a player and a person. And if someone wasn’t going to be 100% full for me from the beginning, then I didn’t want to be there.”
- “My mentality was if I’m shooting to be one of the best in the conference, or be one of the best in the country, then I have to hold myself to a certain level of playing every time I step on the court, and if I’m holding myself to such a high level, that will help everyone around me.”
- “With black athletes, it’s a very small adjective pool for us, for some reason, no matter what we do.”
- “I’m very team-oriented.”
- “I spent almost four or five months literally rebuilding how to swing again. “
- “And I took pride in pain through my injuries. And I took pride in playing through pain because it showed how good of a leader I was. And then when this happened, I was like, Wait a second. Why? Why did I take pride in playing through pain? Like why did I take pride in playing through being injured? Why do we take pride in that? “
- “Why do we glorify playing through your body being injured? Why do we glorify playing when you’re sick?”
- “Sometimes it’s frowned upon to be selfish.”
- “No one’s more disappointed in me than black people when I tell them I don’t play basketball.”
- “Volleyball to me is not a career. It is something that I love that I happen to get paid to do as well.”
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