Vanessa Bond: Hightstown High’s Female Athlete of the Year
By: Neil Hay
As captain of three sports teams, Vanessa Bond was expected to provide leadership. And as captain of three teams that had to scratch out wins this year, leadership was an important ingredient. When her teammates needed to be picked up or challenged to play harder, Bond was there to persuade, exhort, demand, and encourage them.
But Bond provided leadership by deed too. On a basketball team lacking height, she moved to center and battled bigger opponents for rebounds and points in the paint. On the hockey field, the center midfielder was always in the middle of the action, trying to throw the other team off its game while looking to provide the spark on offense. And playing first base in softball, a new pair of contacts help Bond lift her batting average to a career-best .373.
For all that she did this year in three sports, for what appeared in the boxscore and what did not, Vanessa Bond was named the Hightstown High School Female Athlete of the year.
Being a leader, being a key player for the Rams, just seemed right for Bond.
“Sports has been a big part of my high school career,” said Bond. “It has always been a part of my life.“
A big part. Bond first began playing T-ball and basketball “as a little kid,” and picked up her first hockey stick as a 5th-grader. This year she was able to successfully balance a full sports plate with academics (she is third in the senior class with a 4.3 GPA), singing (she wants to teach vocal music at the high school level), and other activities.
No matter how much talent an athlete has, as the song says, “You gotta have heart.“
“The heart if number one,” replied Bond when asked to reveal the secret of her success. “You have to have skill. But so many have the talent but don’t have the desire.“
A lack of desire may have prevented some of her teammates from being the best players they could be. That, in turn, hindered the teams’ success on the court and on the field. That is where leadership came in.
“Even when we were losing I had to be enthusiastic. I had to show leadership.“
Bond admitted that, at times, some of the less experienced field hockey players were unable or unwilling to display the heart and character needed to win. There were times she wanted to yell at her teammates.
“Some seniors never played varsity before. They didn’t show heart. That was upsetting. It was a struggle to get them to fight to win.“
As a sophomore Bond was a member of the Rams field hockey team that came within one win of a sectional championship. The following season Hightstown was again in states. But in her senior year the Rams won only three games. The Hightstown softball team finished with a losing record and failed to make states. While the basketball team qualified for states again, it too had a record under .500.
“It was tough this year, with all three teams struggling. Especially field hockey. It was a rebuilding year. Two years ago we made Central Jersey Group III finals. It was a completely big turnaround.“
Despite the travails of playing on losing teams, there was no shortage of good times.
“Basketball was so much fun. The girls were great, wonderful. It was my favorite team.
“Softball was a fun year. We were always a few games under .500. But it was my best year hitting. I got contacts and my hitting improved,” said Bond.
At last Wednesday’s annual sports night Bond took home several major awards and honors. She was named Scholar-Athlete for the winter sports season, and earned her third 3+3 (three varsity sports with a 3.0 GPA) award. She garnered MVP for hockey and basketball, and the Coach’s Award for softball. Bond also took home a $1000 Trenton Softball Hall of Fame Scholarship. And she carted off the 2000 Female Athlete of the Year.
“I kind of felt I worked for it, so I was very happy” with Female Athlete of the Year.
The 18-year old Bond expects to play field hockey for Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania in the fall. Somewhere down the road she would like to coach the sport in high school. Said Bond, “I will miss everything” about Hightstown sports.
“It will be wierd not being on a team every season. Being on a team is like family. I love the coaches, Mr. (Gary) Bushelli, Mr. (Jim) Nichols, and Mr. (Sam) Sortino. And I will miss playing the game. I love sports. I am very competitive.”