By Keenan Gray
Gabby Edison had no intentions of continuing her athletic career after high school. She planned to attend Western Washington University as an accounting major.
However, taking a whole year off from playing basketball and volleyball made her realize how much she missed playing these sports.
Edison reached out to the previous women’s basketball coach at Whatcom and was told to come out to open gym and play against the women already on the team.
After observing her, the Ferndale High School star athlete heard back from the coach and was granted the opportunity to play with Whatcom the following season.
A couple of weeks later, before school started, the Whatcom volleyball coach heard Edison was playing basketball. The coach reached out to her and asked if she had wanted to play volleyball as well.
From then on, Edison had become a dual athlete. With no regrets about her decision, Edison talked about life as a student and an athlete.
What’s it been like to be a dual athlete in college?
It is a lot of time when they are both going on at the same time especially when I have practice twice a day. On top of homework, it is a little rough, but since the teams are both enjoyable it wasn’t a bad decision to play both volleyball and basketball.
What has been your favorite basketball memory?
Probably the little mini-families I was part of when I played basketball in grade school for Ferndale. We were all so close with each other and I have made life-long friendships with so many of them from AAU. I still talk to them to this day.
What sparked your interest to play basketball?
I began playing at the Boys and Girls Club in Ferndale, and a coach noticed I was taller than the rest of the girls I was playing against. So, in fourth grade, I joined an AAU team. I really like the competitiveness and the fast pace of basketball, which makes sports fun.
What’s it been like playing for Coach Anthony Slater?
I love how much energy he has and how much he pushes us to be the best player we can be. I really like his game plan where we just play at a fast pace and run up and down the court. We definitely do play at a high pace.
What has your team taught you about teamwork?
We have learned, now that we’re older too, to call each other out and hold each other accountable, but not have that emotional side to it where it gets personal. We are able to talk to each other about what we do wrong and help each other get better.
What has it been like playing with teammates you played against when you were growing up?
It is so weird when they are on other teams and they are like the enemy and you hate that they’re good. Now playing with them, we’re all such nice people which makes it enjoyable. It is also nice to play with a few of them who were really good in high school who you wish were on your team.
What is your gameday routine?
As a team, we all show up before and eat together and we will watch TV in the meeting room. This gets us into a mindset before the game, and then after that we will do a shoot-around in the gym. It is very laid back, which is good because we don’t want to feel a bunch of pressure on ourselves going into the game.
How do you balance sports and school?
I really started using a planner. I know after class I need to work on homework because after sports are over, I am going to be tired and I will not be doing any work and will just lay down for the rest of the day. I’m also bad at procrastinating so I have to make sure I work on chunks of homework a day, so it is done by the end of the week.
If you could hang out with any celebrity for the day, who would it be and why?
I’d have to hang out with Johnny Depp, just because he is so interesting and interesting looking. I really want to see him in person and hang out with him and see what he is like. He also has a lot of money too so he must have a cool house.
