Student-Athletes of the Month

Robbie Smiley, Director of Athletics
Coleton Namie and Inaya Abdulkareim were honored as our Student-Athletes of the Month for September.
Live Oak recently honored two Student-Athletes of the Month to recognize their hard work and leadership skills in the classroom and in athletics. Our first recipient, eighth grader Coleton Namie, participates on the Live Oak cross country team. Coleton was interviewed and asked about his thoughts on academics and athletics. Here were his responses:

Q: What is similar between academics and athletics?

A: In my opinion, I think that you get the best of both worlds when you play a sport and are present in the classroom. You see similarities such as working with a team, facing challenges, learning more about what you’re doing and about yourself, and setting/eventually accomplishing your goals.

Q: What is something you’ve learned from either athletics or academics and were able to apply to the other field?

A: One thing that I have learned on the field, while it being a baseball field, football field, or a soccer field, is the ability to be a good teammate but also a good leader. Something like learning how to become a good leader is not taught in the classroom. It is learned from experiences that you can have with sports teams or groups in the classroom. In my case, I learned how to be a good leader through my athletic experiences and decided to bring that not just to the classroom, but to any situation that called for a leader. 

Q: Do you find yourself working equally hard in both athletics and academics? If not, which one do you work harder at?

A: I do find myself working hard in both athletics and academics. I say this because over the years, I have come to understand that both are extremely important, not just to me, not just my team, but my future. So I think about that whenever I am feeling unmotivated to run in that cross country practice or to study for that upcoming test. It always helps. 

-WIN stands for What’s Important Now-that practice is important now. That studying is important now. 

Q: What is your favorite sport?

A: My favorite sport to play is Flag Football. To watch-probably NFL Football.

Q: What is your favorite subject?

A: My favorite subject at the moment is Humanities.

Q: Do you have an academic or athletic role model? If so, who is it and why?

A: I would say that my role models for both athletics and academics are the kids that were a part of The Class Of 2022. I say this because that class not just inspired me on the field and with their incredible academic achievements, but the fact that they were all individual leaders that took many risks and opportunities and they were just a year or two older than me. I still look up to them and all that they have left behind, and look forward to seeing some of them in high school. 


Our second recipient, eighth grader Inaya Abdulkareim, participates on the Live Oak volleyball team. Inaya was also interviewed on some of these same topics and here were her responses:

Q: What is similar between academics and athletics?

A: Two similarities between athletics and academics is hard work and ambition, this is because they are both key factors in my life and are fundamental qualities to live by.

Q: Do you find yourself working equally hard in both athletics and academics? If not, which one do you work harder at?

A: I like to think I work harder at academics because I grew up believing “school first then sports”. While I do enjoy playing sports I know that I am academically stronger and I strongly believe that I’m a student before I’m an athlete. Even though I am a scholar first, that doesn’t take away my love for sports.

Q: What is your favorite sport?

A: My favorite sport is soccer, not only because I’ve loved playing it since I knew what a soccer ball was, but because I found a passion outside of school that motivates me to work towards something. I joined my first team in kindergarten and have been playing since. It has been one of the many things in my life that enlightens me. One quality I was learned throughout my time in team sports is competitiveness which I apply on and off the field. I can apply my competitiveness to school which comes in extremely handy when it comes down to test taking. In summary, I would like to say soccer has and hopefully will always be my favorite sport.

Q: What is your favorite subject?

A: I find math to come easy to me, which makes it quite a convenient and lovable subject. Math is a subject that I am able to share my knowledge and mentor my peers, so not only do I have a better understanding of the work we are doing but I’m also able to give my peers a better understanding. Math can be a struggle for many, but we have a relation like no other. However, math does come with some challenges, some being beating myself up on a test score that I know I could have done better on or staying up late trying to cram just to make sure that I improve from my previous test score. But at the end of the day I love math because it has given me qualities that I most graciously apply to my everyday life.
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