DeAngela
My name is DeAngela but everyone calls me Dee. I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I come from a basketball family, my mom, dad, and sister all went to college for basketball so it was only right that I grew up playing basketball. Even though basketball was my main sport as a kid, I still played various other sports. I played softball, volleyball, golf, and tennis and was a competitive cheerleader. Once I got to high school I began to play volleyball and softball as my two main sports.
I loved basketball, but I just didn’t love playing it. In my sophomore year of high school, I discovered that I loved volleyball and that I was pretty good at it. I tried out for Chicago Elite and made the team as a middle blocker and right-side hitter. I continued to play with them throughout high school, I even played during the summer with them for their sand league. Senior year of high school, I was the Captain of my volleyball team at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep. I had the opportunity to play at the colligate level and decided to attend a junior college in Kankakee called Kankakee Community College. I attended there as a middle blocker and played 3 years there during COVID.
Over the years of being a jump athlete, I developed plica syndrome and a tear in the meniscus of my left knee. After trying physical therapy, cortisone shots, and the RICE method I decided it was time to get the surgery I needed during my sophomore year of college. I graduated with my Associate of Arts from Kankakee Community College and continued my education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
I am a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. I spent 2 years of undergraduate there where I studied at the College of Applied Health Science for Kinesiology on a Pre-AT track. Currently, I play indoor and sand volleyball. Now that I have my Bachelor's in Kinesiology I am excited to begin a career as Speed and Sports Performance Coach, and Personal Trainer with POW! GYM and Chicago Parisi Speed School.
