Name: Jayde Grant

Sport: Volleyball

Position: Defensive Specialist

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Naperville

High School: Wheaton Warrenville South

Lily Goodfellow: When did you start playing volleyball?

Jayde Grant: I started playing volleyball in third grade through the park district.

LG: How do you think the team has done this season?

JG: I feel like our team has come a long way this season. I feel like we’ve done pretty good. At the beginning, it was a little rocky, and I feel like we’ve really improved as a team. Especially being a team with a lot of freshmen, I feel like we really came together as a team.

LG: What are your personal highlights from your time playing for COD?

JG: Out of all of my personal highlights, I would say last year when we went to nationals and placed fifth. That was definitely my favorite memory and my highlight of playing here at COD. That was really special.

LG: What does your nutrition plan look like when you’re in volleyball season?

JG: In volleyball, we are on a lifting schedule as well, so I try to include a lot of protein and a lot of vegetables to give me energy. Overall, just balanced meals.

LG: What are the strengths you have that make you a great athlete?

JG: I would say being able to work with people in general is really important for being an athlete and a teammate. So being able to work with people and being a friendly person.

LG: How do you plan to make volleyball a part of your life long-term?

JG: I’m planning to go into elementary education so I plan to be a teacher. Hopefully, on the side, I can mix in coaching as well. I think it would be really cool to be a volleyball coach when I’m older and give back to the sport.

LG: Do you enjoy any other sports?

JG: Personally, no. I really have just always liked volleyball and I’ve always focused on volleyball. When I was younger I tried out dance, but I was always drawn to volleyball. I just love volleyball.

LG: Who are some of your role models in sports?

JG: I would say Simone Biles is one of my biggest role models in sports, especially with being a female athlete and focusing on mental health. I think her stance of focusing on mental health as an athlete is really important and it’s something that I believe in too. She decided to take a break and do what was best for herself, and I think as an athlete, that’s commonly looked down upon. Sometimes people frown upon taking breaks for themselves. But personally, I think that’s very important and I think that her way of showing the world that it’s okay to take a break sometimes and how important mental health is makes me look up to her as a role model.

 LG: What are some of your favorite hobbies?

 JG: I really enjoy camping with my family and friends. Over the summer I like to travel and go camping at different places. Another one of my favorite hobbies is skiing. Ever since I was little my family has been a really big skiing family. We like to ski in different places and check out new places.

LG: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

JG: I’ve always really wanted to see Greece. I’ve never been and it looks really, really beautiful and at some point in my life I’d love to go there. I think it looks like a beautiful place and it has some really cool culture too.

LG: What one word best describes you? 

JG: I have to think about that. I would say open-minded. I feel like I’m a very open-minded person in all aspects of life. I like to hear other people’s point of view and I’m always open to learning. Obviously, I’m very young, and I think that there’s a lot more for everyone to learn. I think that if everyone was more open-minded a lot of people could benefit from that. So, overall I would say open-minded would be a good word to describe me.

LG: Thank you very much, Jayde.

JG: You are very welcome.