Today we're featuring our interview with Keri Lockett, who runs Gatorade's Player of the Year award, which recognizes high school athletes in 12 sports- six girls and six boys- and one male and one female Athlete of the Year. (This year's was track and field Olympian Sydney McLaughlin!) She talked to us about her love of sports, how learned to apply her drive and work ethic in sports to her schoolwork, and how important building relationships are to building a career.
I couldn't resist sharing this photo of our 7th grade park district basketball team at our season-end party. No one remembers why most of us were making sad faces, but Keri, second from right in the second row was not. (Julia's third from right in the back.)
I've known Keri since we were four year olds in pre-kindergarten. For ten years of elementary school, we saw each other at least five days a week, and played basketball and softball together for many years. Keri was always a standout athlete. She worked really hard on the field and the court, and always gave a game her all. It was hard to imagine her without sports in her life. It was a real pleasure reconnecting with her and learning about her work, and learning that she found something that sounds like a perfect fit. (Can't you see how excited Keri is in our park district team photo?)
When Keri Lockett was growing up, she says that "sports were always an integral part of who I was." Keri was recruited to play Division 1 softball. After working at ESPN and the Big Ten Network, Keri now works for Pepsi, running their Player of the Year program for high school. She applied her drive and work ethic to academics and work, building relationships, and finding a way to do work she really cares about.
