Called to the Court

Being a teenager isn’t easy. There’s no roadmap, and everyone’s journey is unique. Navigating high school can turn into a search for a place to belong. The people and places you discover shape who you become—for better or worse.

Julia Dyck found her haven on her high school basketball team. And it had such a positive impact on her, that she came back after graduation to volunteer as a coach and help guide other young women along their paths.

For Julia, playing sports at the Bawlf School gave her a safe space to blow off steam and escape the pressures of being a teen. “I was okay at school, but sports were kind of my thing. It’s something that takes your mind off things,” she says, “You could get away from school and life, and just play and not think about anything.” Everything melted away when she walked onto the court.

Being on a team shaped Julia’s social life and connected her with like-minded people. “All of my friends weren’t from the school part; they were from the sports part. And playing got me out in the community, to other towns, and making friends through that too,” she says. The impact of being out in the community has left a lasting impression. It’s inspired Julia to work at a credit union. She contributes to her community and volunteers whenever she’s able, through her job and in her personal time.

But she always makes time for basketball. Julia’s positive relationship with the sport called her back to the painted lines of the court with the hope of facilitating equally enriching experiences for other young women. “I love to help those girls because it’s such a young and vulnerable age…Sports helped me so much to get through school…And I wanted them to have that same outlet,” she says.

Julia is familiar with the choices teenagers face, and she hopes that playing sports will help them make better decisions. “I think that especially nowadays, the girls that aren’t in sports can become involved in other things that fill the role that sports could,” she says, “I just think that all girls can play. And if they have the opportunity to play, they should.”

Perhaps Julia’s become such a strong role model because of her own high school coach: her dad. “Volunteering is important to me because of my family. My dad has volunteered for the last 15 to 20 years… I think I wanted to keep that going in the next generation,” she says.

Despite her love of being on the court, Julia may forgo coaching next season to watch her nieces play junior high basketball. It sounds like volunteering isn’t her family’s only legacy.