By Clarissa Olson Posted April 26, 2019
Although an injury has kept her from competing in track during her senior season, Student-Athlete of the Issue Hailey Fernandez has competed in numerous sports and is a two-time state champion.
Out of all of the sports, soccer is the one sport Fernandez couldn’t live without.
“I just played it for so long, and I have always enjoyed it,” said Fernandez. “It’s something I can do all of the time and don’t have to worry about it. You can do it by yourself, or you can do it with a team. You can always practice something. As long as you have a ball, there is something to do.”
Fernandez got involved in soccer because her parents wanted her to be around kids her age.
“My parents signed me up for it to get me involved with other people because I was pretty shy. I didn’t like to talk to anyone,” said Fernandez. “So I was around other people my own age doing something. It’s helped me make friendships with even people from other schools.”
Fernandez’s favorite memory was winning state track back-to-back two years in a row.
“We won it two years in a row, the 4×400 relay; we won it back-to-back,” said Fernandez. “The first year it was Shelby Garrison, Kennedy Jeppsen, Hailey Hinkle, and me, and the second year it was Shelby Garrison, Hailey Hinkle, Adia Bengochea, and me. And then last year, after winning the 4×4, we actually won the team state championship. There were nine girls, and we won the whole thing.”
This year, Fernandez decided not to do track, but she misses the bond with her teammates.
“These last couple of years, the track team has really gotten a lot closer, and we support each other a lot more,” said Fernandez. “So I miss having that bond with other people.”
Fernandez is happy to have her brother at the school with her so they can experience high school together.
“We’ve definitely gotten a lot closer because we experience the same things now,” said Fernandez. “We’re in the same school, so we go to the same events, and we go to homecoming together and Winterfest, and we can do the dress-up days together, so that’s been fun.”
Fernandez is grateful she has her family’s support with her decisions.
“They’ve always encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new and push myself and encourage me to pursue things I would not have normally done without them,” said Fernandez.
She has big plans for after high school.
“I am going to UNR and plan on doing something with speech pathology or education, I haven’t decided yet,” said Fernandez. “I have done a lot of volunteer work at the elementary school, Sonoma, so after this year, I decided that was something I wanted to do; to continue working with young kids, especially.”
Fernandez’s mom, Sarah, helped her make her decision about what she wanted to study.
“When I decided I wanted to go into education, she thought I wouldn’t find it as fulfilling, so she told me about Speech Pathology, and I did a little bit of research on it and looked at the classes,” said Fernandez. “It seems really interesting because it has a lot to do with how your brain works. It’s interesting how our brain works and how that can influence how we talk and the way we think.”
Sports have helped Fernandez a lot with the way she views herself and other things.
“It’s helped me a lot with not having confidence in myself, but reminding myself that you don’t have to be the lead scorer to still have made an impact in that game,” said Fernandez. “You might not score, but your pass helped someone else score, and you win the game. And just teaching me that you don’t have to be the biggest person to have made any contribution to whatever you’re doing. In school or in life, if you’re doing a project for work, your little input will make a big difference in the overall product. I think that’s the biggest thing that sports taught me is that all the little things will add up and pay off in the end.”
Leaving your hometown is always hard, and Fernandez will miss Winnemucca and the people.
“I will definitely be sad,” said Fernandez. “I like Winnemucca; I’m fine here. I have my friends and my people. I’m fine staying here, but you’ve gotta go out and do new things. [In Winnemucca,] you can always find support wherever you go. Every business here will support you in what you’re trying to do. I’ll miss that the most, just having so many people that you can count on.”
Fernandez will also miss Mrs. Doyle’s Anatomy class.
“I loved Anatomy, that was one of my favorite classes, and I just understand that stuff a little better,” said Fernandez. “I loved going to that class. There wasn’t a day I didn’t want to go.”
Fernandez is also close with her family of four, who pushed her into athletics at a young age.
“There’s my mom, Sarah, my dad, Luis, and my younger brother, Zach,” said Fernandez. I have a very close bond with my mom. Zach and I are pretty close, too. Soccer, I started when I was four, dance was about four, then basketball was second grade, and track was seventh grade.”
She jests that Zach only uses her for her homework.
“I don’t see him that much, but he definitely thinks he gets all of my old notebooks so he can just copy the homework that I worked very hard on,” said Fernandez.
Without trac,k Fernandez is still staying active and enjoying her time with family.
“I go to the gym, I go on walks with them and try to stay as active as possible,” said Fernandez. “They are encouraging me to fill my time with work and trying to get a job.”