By Ken Hansard
The Baxter Springs Lions’ volleyball team recently started their season with two victories in a triangular against Oswego and Liberal. Sydney Charles, a senior outside hitter for the Lions, is excited for the 2-0 record and a fresh start, “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. Last year didn’t go how we wanted it to, but I’m eager to see how we overcome that. We have really good attitudes coming into this season.”
If attitude truly does reflect leadership, then the Lions have Charles to thank, in large part, for imparting that demeanor. Sydney has been the Lions’ captain for the past two years, and she had this to say about her philosophy as the leader of the team, “We have a lot of underclassmen. The other seniors and I need to be leaders and have a positive effect on the younger girls. We would like to introduce them to a love of volleyball and teach them to someday be leaders, also.”
A lot of Sydney’s attitude and perspective appears to have been learned after she tore her ACL during summer softball following her freshman year, “I have always played sports growing up, but I really started to understand how much I really enjoyed competition. After the ACL tear, I still came to most of the volleyball events. Sitting and watching everyone have fun made me fight harder at physical therapy to come back better and stronger.”
She definitely came back with a vengeance. Sydney was the Lions’ leader in kills last season with 120, and with a lot of hard work in the off-season, she and her teammates are prepared to rise to even greater heights, “I have my own personal goals, but my main goal is for our whole team. We all have worked very hard this whole summer by going to camps, open gym, and weights. We will have our challenges, but we just have to keep our heads up during the times we struggle and focus on getting through it together.”
Besides volleyball, Sydney plays softball in the spring. She is an outfielder who received second team All-Conference in the tough CNC and additionally was named Honorable Mention All-State.
When she is not competing for Baxter Springs, Sydney is quite active in the Lions’ academic culture. She is a member of the prestigious National Honors Society; she also participates in Science Club, Spanish Club, and was previously a member of the Student Council. After high school, Sydney plans to attend Fort Scott Community College to pursue her dream of cosmetology school. She would also like to study to obtain a business degree.
