Player Profile: Woodlawn High School’s Kiera Hicks

This Maryland high school player profiles series is presented by the U.S. Army.

Kiera Hicks, a senior point guard for the Woodlawn High School girls’ basketball team, was nominated for the Maryland high school player profiles series by Warriors head coach Sherri Anderson.

“Kiera is that well-rounded player that you’d love to coach,” Anderson said. “She’s very attentive to detail and encourages her classmates and teammates to be great. I’m excited to see her blossom in college and in life.”

Hicks is a leader on the basketball team, both on and off the court. Anderson mentioned her exceptional grades; she has a grade point average better than 3.5 in Woodlawn’s Early College Program. On the court, she led her team in defensive rebounds as a junior. She also plays volleyball for the Warriors.

Hicks answered some questions about being nominated.

PressBox: What’s it mean for you to be recognized by your coach like this?

Kiera Hicks: It means a lot. One, because to me, I really don’t think I have it in me sometimes. And sometimes, other people will have to point it out to me, that I have what it takes to be better, and I have the work ethic and stuff like that.

PB: How did you get into basketball? What do you like about the sport?

KH: I got into basketball in middle school. I have always been interested, but I didn’t really start until my seventh grade year. And so far from there, I just improved, and I really like it a lot. I like being active. I just like the sport.

PB: Why do you like playing point guard?

KH: Point guard takes control of the court. You have to set the pace of the game for your team, and you have to call the plays. Basically, you’re like the captain of the team. You have to take control of the game.

PB: Do you play any spring sports? What’s your favorite sport to play?

KH: I played lacrosse for two years, and I was going to get into softball last year. But, of course, the pandemic happened, but hopefully if they do continue to have a season again this year, I was going to continue with softball. [My favorite is] basketball.

PB: Coach Anderson mentioned your leadership on and off the court. How important is it to you to be a good leader and set an example on the court and in the classroom?

KH: Very important, because you have other people looking for you to motivate them. Usually, I have to motivate myself sometimes. But I take that role and help [my teammates] motivate themselves to do better and to want to improve as motivation for myself. It’s important to me because I like how other people can look at me for leadership.

PB: How hard was it for you when the pandemic canceled softball season? What were you doing to stay busy?

KH: It was very hard. I like to stay active all year round. And during that time, not being able to play sports or really get competitive with anybody, it was very hard for me to be active. But other than that, I tried to do some workouts at home, keeping up with my schoolwork online. To transition to class online and everything was very hard, but I still tried to keep active by doing little workouts and a little practice. Since it was my first year of softball, I tried to keep learning as much as I can by myself so that if we did have a season coming up here, I’d at least have some idea of how to play. But I mainly just tried to stay in shape.

PB: What are your plans for after high school?

KH: I plan on going to college and studying criminal justice.

To nominate an athlete or team for a future U.S. Army Player/Team Profile, visit PressBoxOnline.com/Impact.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sherri Anderson