Player Profile: Niera "Nini" Ovalles

image courtesy of Kimberly Phillips

Junior Niera Ovalles brought eight years of basketball experience into play during her first, official season as a Lady Warrior. 
by Norah Griffin

Junior Niera Ovalles brought eight years of basketball experience into play during her first, official season as a Lady Warrior. 

Niera Ovalles, or Nini as her friends and family love to call her, has made a big impact on the team, and the team has done the same in return. Nini has claimed that her favorite memory with them so far is, “FCA camp over the summer. It was [her] first one with the team.”

Even though she is new to the school, she is far from new with the sport. She has been around basketball since she started back in the 4th grade with many trials and errors. “I’ve had my fair share of coaches,” Nini reminisces. “[Some] made me question my love for the sport, so being here has benefited me a lot due to the fact that I have great coaches having my back, on and off the court.” 
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Since before the start of this season, she was fighting a recent knee injury. During a preseason game, Nini landed on it wrong while trying to get a rebound. “It was hard on me mentally,” she explained. However, she did recall back to the reassurances given to her by her coaches. “[They said] that it was ok that I was hurt, and they would be there when I came back.”

“[I have been] watching and anticipating when I [will] come back because I don't have a set date, but I’m supposed to come back in a few weeks,” revealed Ovalles.

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image courtesy of Kyle Sandy

She was congratulated with an invitation to attend Steph Curry’s 2023 Underrated Championship in Oakland, CA this March. In this Underrated Championship, Steph Curry only takes eight girls and boys from each region; north, south, east and west. 

Her dad had a coaching friend who invited her to a gym where tryouts were being held for the girls. The day one process was all “skills and looking for how [they] play and carry [themselves].” And, in order to come back for day two, you had to be announced by Steph Curry himself. 

She was very thankful for this opportunity to compete in the competition as she stated her favorite part will be, “Meeting Steph Curry himself 100%”.

UPDATE: Nini’s injury healed enough to allow her to play in the region tournament game on February 14th, 2023.