James Wood High School 16-year-old junior
Sport: Softball. Positions: Third base and first base
Parents: Rebecca and James Maynard
Hometown: Gore
What do you love about softball?: I love the challenge of the game. I love how no game that you play is predictable. You never know what’s going to happen, whether you’re playing a good team or a bad team. Things just kind of unfold, and you have to adapt to the game. I also would have to say I love the family environment, especially at James Wood, and I just love producing on the field with all my friends.
Most memorable moment in softball: My sophomore year, first at-bat [against Loudoun County], I had a home run to center field. It was just the best feeling, because I was hitting four hole that year, and I felt, not so much pressured, but I wanted to do good for my team, and that kind of just set my mood for the rest of the season.
Most embarrassing moment in softball: During [U10] nationals in Ocean City, Maryland, during my travel season, we were on a seven-game win streak, and it was our eighth game in three days. I was catching, and the batter hit a pop-up right between me and my pitcher and we collided and fell down. It was just it was a crazy moment.
Most difficult moment in softball: It was about a year before my freshman season started, and I actually had a labrum tear in my rotator cuff. I had to go through six months of physical therapy during my eighth-grade volleyball season, so I couldn’t play volleyball either. I came back in my freshman year, I made varsity as a freshman and I played third base.
Three people you can have dinner with, dead or alive: My first person, without a doubt, would have to be my grandma [Kathy Hottle], who passed away in 2017. I miss her so much, and I would love to sit down and catch up with her, tell her about my life, tell her about my journey. I would love to hear her input on my life. My second person would be Michael Jackson. He’s a big legend, and I just liked how he was his own person. He didn’t care what other people were thinking about him; he was just going to do him, and I’d just love to walk with him through a day of his life and see how he did things. My third person would be Robert Duvall. He played Gus in “Lonesome Dove,” which is a household favorite here. He was just so down to Earth, and I’d love to sit down and pick his brain on some of his views of life.
Biggest athletic influence: My dad. He’s been coaching me since 10U and he really hasn’t stopped. We grind about four to five days a week in my basement with my sister right by my side through it all. (Maggie Maynard is a pitcher and outfielder for the James Wood softball team.) He just helped shape not only my physical game, but my mental game. He knows me, and he knows when to be hard on me, but he also knows when I need him to just put his arm around me and comfort me and really just take me through life and softball at the same time.
Favorite teacher: My Kindergarten teacher, Ms. [Ashley] Staley. I actually gave a speech about her not too long ago. She just helped shape me into the person I am today and gave me the confidence that I have.
Favorite athlete: Kobe Bryant
Favorite team: Tennessee Volunteers softball
Favorite movie: “The Notebook”
Favorite TV show: “Virgin River”
Favorite song: “Be Her” by Ella Langley
Favorite food: Fettuccine Alfredo. No chicken, though. Just fettuccine Alfredo. Just noodles.
Worst thing you’ve eaten: Meatloaf
Plans after high school: I’m committed to play softball at WVU Potomac State College. They’re a two-year sports college, so I’ll play softball for two years. And then my clinicals will start, because I’m planning to be in their nursing program, and so the year I stop playing softball, I’ll start my clinicals, go through the rest of my college experience, and get my BSN through WVU. When I first thought about going into nursing, it honestly was originally due to losing my grandmother to cancer. And I wanted to go into oncology, and then the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go into pediatrics. So, my end goal is to be a nurse practitioner for oncology and pediatrics.
— Compiled by Joe Tuman