My name is Phoebe Low Wilson and I graduated in 1997.
In my freshman year, I was elected to the Freshman Honor Choir. My sophomore year I was chosen as one of the select young women for the first Ladies Show Choir under the direction of the very talented Mr. Wells. We would compete at the show choirs in California and beyond. Unfortunately, choir overlapped with basketball so I had to choose between music and sports and sports it was.
I am a firm believer that you are who you surround yourself with. Fortunately, my friends played sports and took honors courses, so that is exactly what I did as well. When I was in high school, we used to register for classes in a very strategic and competitive format. You would line up at a specified classroom in alphabetical order based on your last name. Then when they rang the bell you were handed 1-8 cards which represented 1-8 periods. You ran as fast as your could to the gum, frantically looking for the teachers lined up behind tables in a “U” shape in the gym. If you wanted Mr. Watson for PE for 1st period, then you would rush to Mr. Watson to hand him card #1. Then it was off to Mr. Suggs for period 2 and so on. We plotted our entire schedule with our friends for what period and what teacher we were going to take so we could be in the same classes together. As I mentioned, I was lucky enough that my friends signed up for honors classes. With a little friendly competition, we pushed each other to be successful and it gained us a few college credits at the same time.
From Honors English with Mr. DeGennaro to Spanish with Mr. Encinas, we were in it! I was not the smartest person in my class; I was just smart enough not to do my homework by myself. One of my best friends since kindergarten was Molly O’Brien, who also played volleyball and basketball with me and my sister Hannah. She happened to be our neighbor, as well. So, if we were not playing basketball (Horse) in the front yard or softball in the back yard, we were at Molly’s house finishing our homework.
We had Mr. Urquhart and Mr. Wong as our counselors and they were fantastic. They were always wanting at our home games cheering us on and pulling us aside with other top students to tell us what scholarships to apply for or, reminding us to sign up for the SAT I and SAT II. They wanted us to have choices such as going to CSU or a UC in California. Coming from a big family and being one of the first ones in our family to attend college, my parents and I had no clue how to get into college, how to pay for college, or even know if I was good enough for college. Thankfully, I had the right teachers, mentors, and friends who led the way. I was just wise enough to follow.
We had a brilliant class. Our valedictorian only missed 1 question on the SAT I. In a graduation class of 100 students, I believe we had over 15 students with over a 4.0 GPA. From what I remember, we had almost our entire squad with a 3.5 GPA or higher. We definitely were a strong group of young women who pushed each other to be our best. Every season I was honored with the All-Academic MLL Athletic Award. This award recognizes athletes for their academic achievement; for those with a 3.5 GPA or better during the previous grading period.
Now, as a parent, the best gift I could give my daughter would be to foster her friends group: to mentor and encourage them to push each other to strive for excellence, but, also, to be sure to have some fun along the way.
My first sport was soccer at the age of 5. At that time, they did not have a girl’s soccer team, so up until 8th grade, I played every summer with Leann Lupo and the boys. In 6th grade, I was the only girl who played baseball and the only girl nominated for the All-Star Team. By 7th grade, my sister and I were playing girl’s fastpitch. We had some of the best parent coaches to this day, which in turn, made us a pretty competitive group of young ladies, fighting for first place. My pops, Griff Low, held open gym every Sunday night at Twain Harte Elementary School. It was $1 for students and $2 for adults to play. All proceeds went to the school. It was in that gym that I learned to play volleyball and basketball against grown men. I was taught, “If it’s not bleeding-you better not cry.” My Pops would drill Hannah and me in the gym before everyone showed up to play. Pops taught us that free throws win games. So, in order to play, you had to shoot a free throw to get on a team. The winning team stayed on until another team could finally de-throne you. It was these competitions in these earlier years that helped to grow my competitive spirit.
As a freshman in high school, I had to narrow my love for sports down to three sports: volleyball, basketball, and softball. For volleyball, I was asked to join the Varsity Team, and as a sophomore, I was the setter until I graduated.
Thanks to Mrs. Mager, the volleyball coach, our first 2 weeks in volleyball were known as “hell weeks.” It consisted of double-day practices that started at 6 am before school and then another practice after school. There were a few times, I would sleep in my practice clothes, that way, I just had to wake up, brush my teeth, and put on my shoes. We would also attend the annual, week-long, all-day volleyball camp every year at Sonora High School. By the time we were seniors, we had an impressive squad. We were not the tallest group of ladies, but we were the most determined to win. We would practice against the boys and drill after drill to get better with our trick plays of back sets, to shooters, to bump, set, spike and point. We played in an impressive league, too. Multiple girls that we played against had Division I full-ride scholarships. But we held our own and made it to playoffs our Junior and Senior years. Under Coach Dwyer, we even moved up from Division 4 to Division 3 and made it to the semi-finals in the playoffs. We had a great camaraderie of young women both on and off the courts. I was honored each year as “1” Team, All League, 1st Team All-District and the Union Democrat named me as the “Athlete of the Week” a few times, too.
For basketball, I was asked to move up to Varsity as a sophomore. Mr. Wingo had us make 25 free throws every day before we showed up to practice. We had another solid group of your women who helped us go to playoffs every year as well. Our senior year was a promising year, with a great start beating Sonora High School for the first time in years! We had the three-point shooters and the low post moves. We even hosted the semi-final playoffs in our own home gym. I was honored with 1st Team All League, and the Union Democrat again awarded me “Athlete of the Week,” so exciting!
In softball, I was asked to move into the Varsity catcher position when I was a freshman. I remember thinking how big the girls were compared to me. I was definitely intimidated as a freshman in that position. Mr. Watson and Mr. Roberson were a fantastic coaching duo. It was during this time, that we were coached that sports are 80% mental and 20% physical. I even remember I had a game where a few balls kept getting past me as a catcher. The next day Mr. Watson too me to the outfield and told me to take off my glove. I had only my mask and knee guards on and I was in the catcher’s position, Coach Watson threw whiffle balls after whiffle balls at me until I got the correct form down of blocking the ball and keeping it in front of me. Nothing was going to get past me now! Our softball team was not just good, we were phenomenal!! We went on to win the League Champs and went to the semi-finals in playoffs every year. I was chosen 1st Team All League, all 4 years, 1st team All District and Modesto Bee Athlete of the week along with each year and many other awards and accolades including the Union Democrat’s “Athlete of the Year.”
I was a freshman and playing setter for Coach Dwyer. We were playing at the Merced tournament. I wanted to do everything right because I am competitive and a pleaser. Every time I would make a mistake I would look over at Coach Dwyer to get her feedback. Coach Dwyer would calmly look at me and tell me, “It’s O.K.” Well, this went on for quite some time. We were up in the game and then we got behind and Coach Dwyer instantly called a time out. She basically told us to pull our heads out and finish the game and win. Then she looked at me and said, “Phoebe, stop giving me that puppy dog look.” Later Coach talked to me about the importance of being a leader. It was at that moment that I started taking the initiative to become a better leader. I focused on digging deep to motivate my team to finish strong and to win. Sometimes, you need a coach to bring out the true leadership qualities in you.
My sister Hannah and I stood out not only for our athletic ability but also because we wore skirts. Yup, I was a catcher, wearing a skirt. Hannah and I even played sports in college in skirts. Our church believed that women should wear women’s clothing and men should wear men’s clothing and we were taught that pants were considered men’s clothing. My mom, Sheila Low, would take the uniform shorts and turn them into a skirt. Of course, as teenagers, we wished that we could blend in with the team, but I guess the skirts helped us to stand out. “Who’s guarding the girl in the skirt? Don’t let her shoot the 3!” We would sometimes joke when people asked us why we wore skirts. We would say, “The school ran out of shorts.” Hah! Some people actually believed us. We found that wearing a skirt made us stronger mentally and physically. Everyone was looking at you, so you better perform to the greatest. And at that time, we were one of the greatest!
Coach Wingo scheduled our basketball team to go to the Gridley Tournament up by Chico State. We have fond memories of staying with the local families and they would take us out to eat. Coming from a big family, going out to eat was rare so this was quite a memorable experience for us. In between our games, Coach Wingo took the senior girls to the local school so we could take our SAT II exams. Our coaches and mentors were well invested in us as student-athletes. They wanted to make sure that we were just as successful on the courts as we were off the courts.
If I were able to speak with students today, I would encourage them to surround themselves with friends who push them to be better. During lunch, we were playing pickup games in the gym, or on senior hill finishing an assignment together. We joined clubs, did homework on the bus, helped each other get to and from school, and practice games. We also used our natural environment in the mountains and rivers to hike, ski, swim, and just have fun. As I said earlier, I was not the smartest person; I was just smart enough to team up with others to do my homework. Be sure that you do your research and find out who are the most interesting teachers to take classes from, to make your time at school enjoyable. Ask questions, lots of questions, about colleges or trade schools. Find a career path where you work smarter, not harder. Find a career you love; one where it doesn’t feel like you are going to work, but one where you are helping other people and feeling fulfilled.
Sports can give you a great foundation [for the rest of your life.] It teaches you to be competitive in life, to want to win, and strive for greatness. Sports teaches you to manage your time between school and practice. And it teaches you about mental toughness. When things get tough or when you get behind in a game; will you give up or are you going to find a way to win?
At the end of your junior year or the beginning of your senior year take some time with your parents or best friends to tour two or three colleges. I was one of 7 children and the idea of going to college seemed impossible. I remember my parents sitting me down on the couch and telling me that they were proud of me and they wanted to see me go to college. But, they had no money and really had no idea how to help me get there. My neighbor, Molly, would call me up and tell me that we were going to do a campus tour at Chico State and UC Santa Barbara. By doing a campus tour, I found that it stretches your vision of what the possibilities are and that this next chapter in your life is more doable than you might think. The college will conduct the tour and take you around and answer all your questions including those about scholarships, financial aid, and grants.
If you play sports reach out to your coaches to ask if you can attend a practice or a camp that they have coming up. Thankfully, my Aunty May flew me to Texas A & M to see my cousin at a college football game. One my visit I was able to fill in for a volleyball league and during that time I realized that maybe I was good enough to play at the college level. My aunts then gave $225 so I could apply to 5 colleges of my choice. At that time, I believe it was about $65 to apply to a college, and there was no way my parents could afford that.
I was all set to attend UC Santa Barbara until CSU Stanislaus called and asked me to play volleyball, basketball, and offered me a full-ride scholarship for softball. During my freshman year, I lived in the dorms which I think every freshman should do. You will likely make some of your best friends; friendships that will last a lifetime. I ended up playing basketball and softball but had to quit basketball after my freshman year because it overlapped into the softball schedule. Our softball team ended up going to West Regional’s our last 2 years. We knocked the #1 team in the nation out of the tournament. We finished 13th in the nation! We had an incredible squad. I was honored with 1st Team, All-League, and 1st Team All Team West Regionals. My sister Hannah ended up with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Tennessee for the Lady Vols.
My time at SHS is a huge part of my success today. I had the right coaches and the right group of friends to help lead me to where I am today. I can’t thank my mom and dad: Sheila and Griff Low enough for their dedication to us playing sports. With 7 children, I honestly don’t know how my mom got us all to our practices and games. My dad would go to work at 6:00am, so that he could be off work by 2:30pm just so that he could be our coach. Later on, he became the referee at our games.
I am forever grateful for SHS Hall of Fame for taking the time to honor me and my fellow alumni. It is truly inspiring to hear how much you have given back to the next generation of athletes and students that are coming through the high school. I am honored to be a part of this organization and your legacy.