For most people, a change of season means a change in the weather, but for Trinity senior Kelly O’Brien, it means a change in uniform. O’Brien has been a three-sport athlete all of her years at Trinity. Each fall, she started the school year with volleyball, went onto basketball for winter, and then took on softball in the spring. She was co-captain on both the volleyball and basketball teams this year.
One would think O’Brien would surely take a break from athletics during the summer.
It turns out summer is the most grueling sports season for this all-around athlete. Here’s a look at a typical week last summer: “Every Tuesday and Thursday there were double headers for softball. We would have two games of basketball every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then after basketball, I would have volleyball twice a week in the gym,” says O’Brien.
Playing three sports and going to school leaves little time for other outside activities. When asked what she does on her off time O’Brien jokes, “I don’t have any off time. I’m usually completely consumed with sports.” She admitted that she does find time to spend with her friends and continued, “I have fun with it. I’ve made good friendships with the summer leagues and with the regular in-school leagues.”
Now that her high school career is winding down, O’Brien is enjoying her last season of softball at third base for the Blazers. She has been an All-conference player since her sophomore year and was the leading hitter last season. Helping her school when its first regional championship in softball last season is one of O’Brien’s most valued accomplishments. But she feels that this year’s team has the ability to prolong its postseason run.
“We’re going to be unbeatable. We’ve had a couple errors that were mental mistakes, and we broke down,” says O’Brien. “Once we get rid of that and get over that hill, we’re going to be unstoppable.”
O’Brien has played for a lot of different coaches at Trinity. Her current softball coach, Bob Osborne, has coached her all four years, but not just for softball. He was her basketball coach on the JV when O’Brien was a freshman. At the end of that season she was brought up to the varsity level and headed downstate with the rest of the team for their first visit ever in the school’s history. O’Brien was able to match that feat in her senior year when a crucial win against area-rival Fenwick jettisoned the Blazers into the super-sectional and then downstate.
O’Brien most memorable moment playing volleyball was a match against Resurrection. She had 25 kills and 34 service points for the day before getting injured.
“We were not supposed to beat them. The team played so good,” remembers O’Brien. This year O’Brien was named Athlete of The Year in the GCAC (Girls Catholic Athletic Conference) for her volleyball efforts.
Although she was recruited for basketball, volleyball might be O’Brien’s sport of choice in college. “It’s my favorite sport,” she says.
Academically, O’Brien wants to major in pre-med with the ultimate goal of becoming a pediatrician. When not on a court or a field, she has been immersed in her IB (International Baccalaureate) Biology course this school year to prepare. She plans to attend Illinois State University in the fall.
Although O’Brien has been recognized for her play in all three sports, receiving The Trinity Award at the winter sports banquet a few months ago she says was the most rewarding.
“It made me feel like a leader, and that is what I would rather be remembered as.”
