CORVALLIS, Ore. – Heading into the 2020-21 year, 24 student-athletes were named to the Cascade Collegiate Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), representing their schools.
Isabella Robles is one of Walla Walla University’s two representatives this year. The Temecula, Calif., native is a sophomore on the women’s basketball team for the Wolves, majoring in psychology.
“I chose WWU to continue my athletic and academic career because I get the opportunity to learn new things in my major and learning more about God,” said Robles. “I also get to play the one thing that keeps me going.”
Being a student-athlete isn’t always easy, but Robles has a year of college under her belt and uses basketball as her escape.
“One demand of being a student-athlete is being able to juggle everything that comes with [that],” said Robles. “You have to juggle between practices, games, classes, homework, traveling and missing classes. It can take a toll on one's mental health but being able to do something you love makes up for everything.”
In her first collegiate season, Robles had to deal with a lot, but she still found positives.
“My best experience as an athlete this year was not one game or practice, but a series [of them],” said Robles. “We were down seven players due to injuries and ineligibility and we were playing with five to six players, but that didn't stop any of those players. We pulled together and suffered together and we got through each grueling game and practice together. Not only did we get through it, we gave every opponent a fight and it was the most fun and beautiful games I have ever had the opportunity to be a part of.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Robles has had to adjust her workouts to get ready for the upcoming season, but she hasn’t let that stop her.
When Robles isn’t hooping or studying, she enjoys watching television, talking with her family and boyfriend, or working out on her own. She also enjoys going on walks to clear her head and give her mind a break.
Robles has also found some influential people at WWU to help push her both on and off the court.
“Some influential people in my school are my teammate Carolina Montes and [WWU men’s basketball player] Zayne Browning,” said Robles. “They are both fighters on and off the court. They put in the extra work on their own and are beautiful players to watch. They have the ability to push themselves hard enough to make sure that each game, each scrimmage, each practice, they are not only pushing themselves to the max, but also pushing their teammates to the max.”
While graduation might seem a little far away for the sophomore, Robles plans to go to an accelerated nursing school to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She also wants to be a mom.
As a SAAC rep, Robles hopes “to represent myself, my sport, my fellow athletes and my school well to the other schools involved and accurately relay everything I learn.”