This is an article in Sporty Seniors, a bi-weekly column celebrating M-A senior athletes’ dedication to their sport.
Although senior Mo’Rhai Balinton didn’t join flag football until her junior year, she is ending her high school career as a crucial team leader and captain.
Balinton’s love of sports started early in her life. She played on the boys basketball team at Beechwood Middle School because she was the only girl who wanted to play.
Balinton then joined the M-A volleyball team her freshman year, but wanted to switch it up as a sophomore. Unfortunately, she was too late to try out for flag football in her sophomore year, but successfully joined in the fall of her junior year.
“I was really scared and honestly intimidated because a lot of the girls already knew each other, and everyone was friends already,” Balinton said.
However, she was quickly welcomed into the flag community, a quality she admires about the team. “The environment was just so welcoming and so open,” Balinton said.
Balinton has led the team to many victories as one of its three captains, alongside seniors Aryn Roodman and Juliana Pandolfo, a role that has given her valuable communication and leadership skills.
“I think that [being a captain has] taught me how to be more of a role model,” Balinton said. “I’ve learned that when giving advice to people, you have to take initiative in a certain way. If you’re going to be rude to them and be mean, what you say is not going to stick. But if you have good intentions and you say it properly, then of course it’s going to apply.”
Balinton loves the competitiveness of games and gives the field her full attention and effort. “I’m a sore loser. If I can do anything to not lose, then I’m going to do it,” Balinton said. “I think that practice is when everyone gets to bond, and we get to really just have fun. But then during the games is when we get to show off why we’re such a great team.”
During her first year, Balinton proved herself a crucial member of the team, particularly as a cornerback. She recorded two interceptions in her first-ever game, and her skills have continued to improve since then. She helped secure important wins for her team, a particularly memorable one in the senior night game against Carlmont High School.
“I think my favorite memory is most definitely our senior night last year. I had let up a touchdown, but then I, of course, had to intercept the ball because I couldn’t let my team lose like that,” Balinton said. “We were all crying, and we were so happy.”
Behind Balinton’s successes on the field lies a determination to keep up with her studies, a vital part of being a student-athlete. “I think the biggest challenge [of being a student-athlete] is maintaining my grades and understanding that I’m a student before an athlete,” Balinton said.
Balinton is most grateful for the long-lasting connections she has made with the other girls on the team.
“A lot of my close friends now are some of my best friends because of the fact that I play the sport with them. Even if we had mutual friends, our relationship would never be what it is today if it weren’t for [flag football],” Balinton said.
She encourages everyone to join a team, saying the lasting benefits outweigh the nervousness that might arise before tryouts. “Don’t be scared to try out,” Balinton said. “Playing a sport opens you up to a lot of different people, from classes and different middle schools and all that that you’d never imagine, [and] it’s just a great way to find new people to meet.”
