An extroverted personality with a welcoming demeanor and a great love of family is the best way to describe senior exercise-science major and captain of women’s basketball, Colleen Stewart.
“She’s so outgoing and so friendly and she’s super fun to be around just as a teammate and a friend,” fellow basketball player Lucia Neuber shared about her driven teammate.
Being a student-athlete does not slow down Stewart from achieving her goals. Once she finishes her time at Cabrini, Stewart said that she hopes to attend Occupational Therapy school close to home in order to be able to commute rather than living away from home.
Stewart is from West Chester County, New York which makes a quick ride home is not exactly possible. The total travel time to and from is about four hours. While she stated that this distance does make it harder to go home all the time, it is a nice taste of living on her own.
This does not stop Stewart’s family from continuing to support her when it comes to basketball.
Family means everything when it comes to having a solid support system and Stewart’s family has had more than just a small influence on her game.
“My whole family played basketball. My cousins, parents, and older brother all played.” It was inevitable that the love of the game would be passed down to Colleen.
This commitment to each other goes even further. According to Stewart, her parents make the trek from West Chester three times a week just to see her games. Since her freshman year, Stewart said that her parents have missed only about three games. “They’re here to support and see it.”
Each game they come to, they show their love and support not only for her but for the game itself. “We are very superstitious,” a quality it seems Stewart’s mother is very familiar with. Colleen said that she has worn “the same socks, spandex, and sports bra for every game since freshman year” just to ensure that their luck is never absent.
Her mother goes along with the rituals by supplying the team with baked goods for every game.
Coming from a family of basketball enthusiasts, Stewart also said that her brother has been a “great outlet” for the sport and how to balance basketball with school. Although he is four years her senior, she said she still considers him one of her best friends.
Having such a close relationship with her family appears to be what has created such a love of the game for the captain of Cabrini’s team. When her time her is up, Stewart hopes to pass on her enthusiasm so that “the rest of the team can experience” something as “cool and exciting” as succeeding as well as this team has during her time here.
