Diary Of A Female Baller: Zoey Brooks 23' (Holy Savior Academy Middle School) Plainfield, NJ / New Jersey Sparks Entry #4

Zoe, Brother, & Mom

Hey, my name is Zoe Brooks. I’m 13, I attend Holy Savior Academy in South Plainfield, I’m a 5-7 guard for the New Jersey Sparks (Class of 2023) and here are some of the things I do on and off the court on a daily basis.

Monday, April 30

Sadly, today was our last day at Disney World. After packing up our stuff in the hotel room, me and my brother Jalen played ping pong, air hockey and shot around on the basketball hoop outside for most of the morning.  Around 3 p.m. we got something to eat and hopped on the plane back to New Jersey. It was a great vacation.

Tuesday, May 1

After a few days off it was time to get back into my normal routine. I woke up, showered, ate my breakfast and went to school. After school I worked out with my trainer Eric for an hour and then I had dinner and did my homework.

Wednesday, May 2

Happy Birthday, Jalen. My brother turned 18 today. My parents took him to his favorite restaurant Bahama Breeze for dinner, but I didn’t go because we had Sparks practice. I already missed Sparks practice on Monday because I was flying home from Florida so I didn’t want to miss it again.

Thursday, May 3

Today at school we had a bunch of tests in religion, language arts and social studies.  When I got home from school I hurried up and banged out my homework because I had to go to Eric for training at 6 p.m. Once that workout was done I ate dinner and studied for my math test on Friday until I fell asleep.

Friday, May 4

I wanted to go to my trainer but I couldn’t because I didn’t have a ride. My parents were focused on my brother’s junior prom so I just walked to the park and worked myself out. After an hour, I spent the rest of the night playing my favorite game Fortnite with my friends. When I’m not playing basketball, you can usually find me playing Fortnite.

I also talked to some of my friends on the phone and got packed for our trip to Washington D.C. this weekend.

Saturday, May 5

My dad woke me up at 5 a.m. and we were in the car heading to the Team Takeover tournament an hour later. Our team played well and destroyed Team Takeover in our first game. There was a seven hour break between games so I went to hang out with my friend Gabby until the next game. Our second game was against Lady Prime and I started off really strong. Then I sprained my ankle and had to sit out for the rest of the game but we still won. Gabby’s grandparents live in Virginia, so after the game I went with her to their house to hang out and ice my ankle.

Sunday, May 6

I woke up and my ankle was killing me. My dad gave me two Advil, Kool Aid’s dad taped my ankle and my teammate Kayla let me use her ankle brace. We were playing our rivals Norfolk Express from Virginia and although I was in pain, I wasn’t missing this game. Our starting center Kelyse was still out hurt and our other center Mikaela was running late because her parents confused the game times. That meant although I could barely move I had to play center. We fell behind 11-1 and 13-2 before Coach Chez got on us and we started playing like the Sparks.

The game was tied early in the second half when one of their players fouled one of our players really hard. Our player’s mother went on the court to check on her. Then I saw one of their player’s mothers come on the court and then it got crazy. For the next few minutes, there was a lot of arguing on the court and in the bleachers by the adults while both teams just sat on the bench wanting to finish the game. After all of the parents calmed down, Coach Chez and their coach decided it would be better if we didn’t continue the game after what happened so it ended in a tie. We are now 1-1-1 in our three games against them.

After the game, me and my dad went to Fridays with Gabby, her dad and brother for lunch before driving home.

Diary Of A Female A Baller: Zoey Brooks 23' (Holy Savior Academy Middle School) Plainfield, NJ / New Jersey Sparks Entry #3

Zoey & Family

Hey, my name is Zoe Brooks. I’m 13, I attend Holy Savior Academy in South Plainfield, I’m a 5-7 guard for the New Jersey Sparks (Class of 2023) and here are some of the things I do on and off the court on a daily basis.

Monday, April 23

After big tournaments, I like to rest on Mondays. That wasn’t the case today. My dad picked me up from school and told me I had to hurry up and get my basketball gear because he scheduled a workout for me with a high school coach. Normally I train in a group, but this was one on one for an hour. We worked on a lot of countermoves and the coach used the clock on the scoreboard so that everything was done at game speed. After I was done working out I went home and watched my favorite TV show Supergirl on the CW.

Tuesday, April 24

After school I did my homework and then went to the park with my dad. He didn’t work me out. Instead I shot around while he grabbed my rebounds.  After about 30 minutes I asked him to play me. Of course I won both games and I had a lot of fun.

Wednesday, April 25

Sparks practice was cancelled so I was able to work out with my trainer Eric Myrick. My friend Jadin Collins, who also played on my school team during the winter, was there. As usual the workout at EMB was good.  

Thursday, April 26

We took my brother to get a haircut from his barber, Tank, and then me and my dad went shopping at Menlo Park Mall.  I got a bunch of clothes and then went to my hairdresser to get my hair washed and braided.

Friday, April 27

I had a hard time concentrating at school because I knew we were going on vacation today. My brother went on a class trip to Great Adventure and as soon as he got home we headed to the airport to fly to Disney World. My brother’s 18^th birthday is coming up and this is where he wanted to go to celebrate. This was my fifth time going to Disney. Like me and my brother always do on our first night in Florida, we found a hoop and played against each other.

Saturday, April 28

The Sparks were off this weekend so this was the perfect time for our quick trip. When we woke up we went downstairs to the gym and did 20 minutes on the treadmills. Afterwards I went outside and shot around before we got breakfast and headed to Hollywood Studios. We spent the day there, had a great dinner at Ohana, watched the fireworks by the pool and ended the night at the arcade.

Sunday, April 29

We went to the character’s breakfast at the Disney Beach Club and then spent the early part of the afternoon at the ESPN Club watching LeBron and the Cavs beat the Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Playoffs. Later, me and some man we met from North Carolina played two on two against my dad and my brother. We won the first game and they won the second game (only because they were bigger than us and played bully ball). We were about to play a tie-breaker but my mom said we couldn’t because it was time to go to my favorite park, Magic Kingdom, for the night.

Diary Of A Female Baller: Zoey Brooks 23' (Holy Savior Academy Middle School) Plainfield, New Jersey / New Jersey Sparks Entry #2

Zoe & Azzi Fudd

Thanks for reading.

Monday, April 16

Talk about a bad day. After school my dad told me that two of our starters, Kelyse and Kool Aid, were definitely not playing this weekend at the Nike Invitational in Virginia because they are still injured. Also, another starter, Gabby, is out for Boo Williams because her grandfather passed away. Gabby, I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather.

Tuesday, April 17

This week in school was different because we had testing in all of our subjects. At the end of the school day my brain was fried. The good part about testing was that we don’t have homework all week. After school, I took a power nap. After that, I went to the gym and worked out for two hours. When I got home, I ate dinner and Face-Timed my friends.

Wednesday, April 18

After school, I watched TV and then went to EMB to train. My hamstring was feeling a little tight during my workout, so when I got home I did a bunch of stretches to loosen it up.

Thursday, April 19

I had a good session with my trainer Eric. We worked on my handle and shooting. This was my last work out before heading to Boo Williams and I think I’m ready. Afterwards, me, my brother and my dad picked up Chili’s for dinner and I went home and did laundry and got packed for the weekend.

Friday, April 20

My dad woke up the entire house at 3 a.m. and we got on the road around 4. About 25 minutes into the ride, my mom realized she forgot her cell phone and we had to turn around and go back home. The trip took us about seven hours and the first thing we did once we got to Virginia was get something to eat and hit the mall. At the mall I ran into my Sparks’ teammates Kayla, Kelyse and Kool Aid. I think it’s cool that Kelyse and Koolaid came to support the team even though they aren’t playing. Our game was at 8 p.m. and we played the St. Louis Eagles. I could give you a bunch of good excuses why we lost, but the bottom line is it wasn’t our night. Afterwards, me and my dad stayed in the gym watching a bunch of other 14U games and I kept feeling if we were healthy, we could beat them all.

Saturday, April 21

Without three starters and playing up a grade, we took the court against the Maryland Belles 14U at 8 a.m. We started off strong, led by four at halftime and won the game by double digits. My shot was on and I had 15 points in the first half but what I was most proud of is the way the entire team contributed to the win. Special shout out to Carey, Lauryn, Kayla and Mikaela for the way they stepped up in the second half.

Our second game of the day was against the Alabama Twisters. It seemed like every shot we took went in and we won by a lot. Tori and Laila were great for us.

After the game I went over to watch the Sparks 17U EYBL team play the Fairfax Stars. It was an unbelievable experience. There were so many college coaches checking out the game, including UCONN women’s coach Geno Auriemma. The stands were packed and even though the Sparks lost, it was a great game. Azzi Fudd from Fairfax really stood out to me. She could shoot threes, had an amazing pull up, could get to the rim and played just as hard on defense as she did on offense. I later found out she was only a freshman. I wear No. 35 because Kevin Durant is my favorite player. Azzi wears No. 35, too.

Sunday, April 22

Me and my dad went over to Boo Williams to watch some more EYBL games. Fairfax beat Team Takeover in the EYBL Final and Azzi, who was the best player I saw at the tournament, scored 26 points. After the game, I took a picture with her before heading over to support the Sparks 17U EYBL team. The Sparks beat Boo Williams by two to finish with a record of 4-1.

Diary Of A Female Baller: Zoey Brooks 23' Holy Savior Academy, Plainfield, New Jersey / New Jersey Sparks Entry #1

Zoe & Sparks Family

Hi, my name is Zoe Brooks. I’m a 13 year-old from Plainfield, N.J., and this is my first diary of a Female Baller. I’m in seventh grade, I play AAU for the New Jersey Sparks and my basketball nicknames are Baby Storrs, Bully and Z-Bow. Thanks for reading.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Today is my first day back from Spring Break. After school, we had Sparks practice. Although our practices are hard, I always have fun because my teammates are some of my best friends. We did a lot of skill work and focused on defensive shell drill.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Ouch! I woke up and my back is killing me. I think I hurt my back last night at Sparks practice. I have to rest and ice it. The last time I felt like this was back in the fall. It ended up being growing pains and I grew about two inches. I’ve decided to stay home from school and just do my homework online so that I won’t be behind tomorrow. After I completed my homework, I watched TV and Youtube for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

I woke up and my back was still hurting me but I went to school. Before I left, I put Icy Hot on my back because that helped me last time my I felt like this. I was feeling a little better after school, so my dad took me to the gym. The name of the gym I go to is called Lifetime Fitness. It’s one of the best gyms out there. It has two full basketball courts, a really big weight room, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a kiddy room because you have to be 12 years old or older to go up in the weight room. I tried some ball handling and my back was bothering me so I decided to just do shooting. I put up shots from different places on the floor. Then after about a hour and a half of that I went upstairs to try and stretch my back out. After two hours in the gym I went home and went to sleep.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Today was pretty cool. I was still dealing with my growing pains, but we didn’t have an actual Sparks basketball practice. Instead we had Media Day and a WNBA Draft Party to celebrate former Sparks players Myisha Hines - Allen and Teana Muldrow on being picked 19th and 29th in the WNBA Draft. Although I don’t personally know them, that’s a great accomplishment and shows what happens when you work hard. Congrats!

Also, we received our new uniforms for the upcoming AAU season, had a photo shoot and there was food and music.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Finally, I woke up feeling good enough to get back to my normal basketball routine. After school, I worked out with my trainer at Eric Myrick Basketball for two hours. I love going to EMB on Fridays because he focuses on catch and shoot and shooting off the dribble with the proper footwork and form.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Today was our first AAU tournament of the spring - the New Jersey Sparks Basketball Classic in Paterson. During the winter season, our team, which is coached by Chez Williams, Keith Gilchrist and Brandon Howell, won 57 games and lost just once. We won a lot of championships and were one of the best seventh grade teams on the East Coast. For the spring, we’ve decided we’re going to play up a grade in order to be challenged more. We had three games and none of them were close. We blew out the New Jersey Crusaders, St. Michael’s and Philly Freedom Stars.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

We beat a tough New York Havoc team by double digits in the semifinals but had a really bad game against Takeover in the championship. None of us played well, we had two starters carried off the floor because of injury and Takeover did to us what we normally do to other teams. We travel to Boo Williams in Virginia on Friday for a big tournament and we’re going to be short-handed because of the players that got hurt. As we learned today - Gabby, Mikaela, Carey, Tori, Lauryn, Kayla, Laila, Kool Aid and Kelyse - we have to play better in order to compete on this level. I’m confident we will.

Diary Of A Female Baller: Emily LaPointe 19' (Staten Island Academy, NY Manhattan Committed) Entry #8

Emily & Family

Hey this is Em checking out of my last 

week of a Diary Of A Female Baller its 

been fun. 

Monday March 26th

This morning I woke up and went to the gym. When I came home from working out my dad and I went to a basketball gym so I can workout and put some shots up. Next week I am getting back to Hoops America to begin training again. I was supposed to leave for California tomorrow with two of my friends, but one of them got really sick and I had to cancel my flight at 10:30pm. 

Tuesday March 27th

Because my trip had to be cancelled, my mom decided to take me to New Jersey to go shopping. We went to Menlo Mall and shopped for a couple of hours. When I came home, I went to the gym to shoot and work on my ball handling. When I came home my friend came over for a little to hangout and than I got an early night sleep. 

Wednesday March 28th

This afternoon I went to a party at my friends house. After the party, my friend Maxine and I went to get something to eat. I came home and took a nap and than got up and got to working on my game. I spent the night with my family, watching movies and TV shows. 

Thursday March 29th

For most of the morning, I worked on basketball and training. After I finished working out, I went out to eat with a couple of my friends. We hung out for a while and than I went home and just relaxed. 

Friday March 30th

Today was a lazy day. I went to the gym and hung around my house until night. My best friend Maxine came over and we watched the girls semi-finals game. I was hyped that Notre Dame won, they really deserved it. 

Saturday March 31st

Today was a really fun day. My friend from school turned 17th today, and as a way of celebrating, she invited a couple of her friends to dinner at a place called The Tuck Room in the city. We went to dinner and watched the boys semi-finals games while we were there.

Sunday April 1st

This morning my family and I had a nice breakfast for Easter Sunday. We went to Church at 1:30. I have a lot of blessings in my life, so it is always good to praise and thank God. After mass I went to my uncles, my dad’s brothers house. We spent Easter with my family and it was a great time. At night we watched the Notre Dame and Mississippi Game.