Jade Smedberg: The Feeling of Success

This week we connected with Jade Smedberg as our TruStrength player of the week. Jade recently helped the basketball team win its first state title and is now working to take the ladies lax program further than ever before. She had some great insights to share about the life of a year round athlete. TS- Oxford Hills has never won a basketball championship. You've dreamed about it a lot. What did that moment feel like when the clock expired? JS - It felt incredible because we’ve all been working towards this since we were in elementary school. It’s nice to accomplish this for the community and the school as well as my teammates. TS- you are playing sports year round, training, and school work. Athletes don't get much time to unwind these days. what's your favorite downtime activity? JS - My favorite downtime activity is getting rest and spending time with my friends! TS- what is your greatest challenge as an athlete? And how are you preparing to answer that challenge? JS - my greatest challenge is being able to balance having fun and taking things seriously. It’s easy to joke around when you’re playing sports with your friends but sometimes it’s hard to focus and get in the zone. It’s the best when we are all focused but still having fun. I think training helps me prepare for that. We keep things loose but have specific goals and know what we need to do. TS- How has training at TruStrength affected your performance on the court? JS- Training at Tru Strength has made me a much stronger player overall. its really helped me as a rebounder and has made me a much more aggressive player. It improved our performance throughout the season and really contributed to our championship. Our training style helped us with pushing the ball up the court and outrunning teams but also the mental prep it takes to play in big games.