Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
NAME: Lexie Balisterri
PARENTS: Michael and Stacey Balisterri
SIBLINGS: I have a sister, Hadley, and she’s 15. And then a little brother, Bentley, and he’s 6.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: English
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? Hang out with my friends and family, shop, and play soccer.
FAVORITE FOOD: Spaghetti
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: Maroon 5[more]
FAVORITE MOVIE: Rudy
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Probably, Dancing with the Stars.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? A Barbie doll maybe.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? I’m attending Arkansas State University and I want to be a nurse anesthetist.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? Probably my grandparents, both sets, just because they raised my parents to be great parents to me.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT SOCCER: Probably just my teammates; I’ve been playing with most of these girls since I was 5.
POSITION: I play center mid.
WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY ON THE FIELD? As a midfielder, I have to play both offense and defense. And, in the center of the field, my job is just to kind of control where everything goes and make sure I drop back and help my defense and then get the ball to the forwards so they can score.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? It’s been a great season so far. Our tournament in Fort Smith, we won that then we’ve just kind of been building off that into conference where we’re undefeated so far. I’m really excited to see what we do in State.
WHEN THE TEAM’S PLAYING WELL, WHAT’S IT DOING? Everything’s one and two touch, everybody’s moving where they need to be, everybody’s communicating and we’re getting the ball into the back of the net.
WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SEASON SO FAR? I would say the Fort Smith Tournament. In the beginning of March, we went up there and won that.
WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE SEASON? For everybody to come out to practice and to every game with the intention of getting better, every time we step on the field.
INDIVIDUALLY, WHAT ABOUT YOUR GAME ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT ABOUT? Getting the ball to my teammates, getting the ball where it needs to be.
WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST TO IMPROVE? My ball control and getting my head up and playing smarter, making smarter passes.
AFTER YOU'RE THROUGH PLAYING SOCCER AT BHS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT IT? Just the impact that my teammates and Coach (Julie) Long have made on me and just the bond that we have. It’s great.
