Jamy Shassetz has played sports her whole life from organized sports through the school system to recreational sports for fun. Shassetz has played volleyball, basketball, and soccer throughout her high school career, and next year at Black Hills State University, she will focus just on soccer.

The sports she plays have impacted her by teaching her how to handle defeat and success with grace. “Basketball has helped me manage my time and made me disciplined with morning practices,” Shassetz said. Sports have helped her learn how to stop procrastinating and get her homework done. She was required to keep her grades up to be able to compete with the team.

Next year is going to be a game changer for Shassetz. In a way, her life will be slowing down because she is only doing one sport, but it will still be a challenge because she will have to balance college classwork and practices and games. She will miss playing volleyball and basketball because of the team aspect and how it has been a large part of her life for so long. This basketball season, she plans to have fun and show the underclassman that basketball is about how hard you work and you set your mind to your goals to achieve them.

Shassetz is involved in many things outside of sports. She is involved in many activities such as National Honor Society and Big Brothers Big Sisters. National Honor Society is a school club that represents character, scholarship, service, and leadership through its members, and Big Brothers Big Sisters helps children reach their potential through mentors. She also lifeguards in the summer with her best friend Kaycen Townsend. Along with this she enjoys spending time with her family and friends outdoors.

Through her time with Big Brothers Big Sisters, she has discovered a passion for working with kids. At Black Hills State she plans to pursue a degree in education. “I would probably want to teach second or third graders because they would be old enough to understand what we are doing in the class, but they would not quite be sassy yet,” Shassetz said about what type of education level that she would like to teach in the future.

Shassetz said, “My favorite sport is soccer because of the physical aspects of the sport.” She is looking forward to the challenges and changes that are going to happen next year. She signs in February with Black Hills State for a scholarship in soccer. She has also committed to the school and applied for housing with a friend from Gillette. Shassetz and her friend will be playing soccer there and they have been friends both as teammates on the traveling team and as opponents on the school teams for years.

Through it all her parents have been her biggest supporters. “They pay for all of my gear, and they have shown me how having the right people and attitude in your life can help you achieve anything,” Shassetz said. Jamy is the daughter of Jenifer and Jim Shassetz.