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STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: KAYLA GRIFFIN, LEADING DESPITE ADVERSITY

By Kalli Sandberg (RPTA '14), Staff Writer

The RPTA department is filled with talented students, many of them former or current athletes who still love to be competitive. Kayla Griffin, a 4th-year RPTA student, has been on the Cal Poly Women’s Basketball team since her freshman year and completed her final year of eligibility in memorable fashion this past spring, as the team made the NCAA tournament for ths first time in the program's history. Yet, for Griffin, the "heart and soul" of this year's team, the script did not play out as she dreamed it might. In the Big West Championship game where the team won and received an automatic bid to the NCAAs, Griffin tore her ACL and effectively ended her stellar collegiate career. Or so she thought. In the waning seconds of the team's first round game versus Penn State, Coach Faith Mimnaugh turned to her senior leader and motioned for her to enter the game. In an inspirational moment, the type that defines why sporting environments can be so special, Griffin inbounded the ball and ended her career playing in her first NCAA tournament game. Through it all, Griffin has learned how to deal with the demands of playing college sports, time management, and injuries as a student athlete.

Griffin played basketball growing up and in high school decided that she wanted to play in college. She was a natural-born athlete, so the decision to move forward with only one sport was tough for her. After feeling confident in making the right decision by picking basketball, Griffin had to deal with an injury that almost put an end to her college basketball dreams. “The summer going into my senior year (the most important recruiting season) I tore my left ACL and couldn’t go to any exposure tournaments, so I thought my dreams of playing basketball in college were over. Luckily, Coach Faith (Mimnaugh) had offered me a scholarship before summer had started so I called her and asked if she would still take me on the team. Luckily she said she would still love to have me on the team.”

After making the Cal Poly team her freshman year, Griffin had a bit of a reality check when she went from being one of the best players on her high school team to sitting on the bench for almost her entire freshman season. “My freshman year was the hardest year. To go from being the best player at your high school to getting 5-10 minutes a game was challenging. All the other freshmen got injured, so I was kind of facing that struggle by myself. I worked extremely hard though and got the opportunity to start my whole sophomore year.”

One of the hardest things that Griffin has dealt with during her four years on the women’s basketball team was managing her time with a full load of athletics and academics.  With two hours of practice every morning and a full day of classes, she learned how to balance her schedule and prioritize. Day-to-day practices were time consuming but the most difficult part of playing on the team and balancing school was missing classes due to games and tournaments. “Missing classes is probably the hardest thing because when we travel we leave on Wednesday and don’t come back until Sunday. It’s hard to play catch up and learn everything I missed, but my teachers were extremely helpful and understanding.” She thanks the RPTA department specifically for being so understanding of her situation.

Griffin has enjoyed and learned so much from her four years on the Cal Poly Women's Basketball team, and she is excited to give back this upcoming year. Although her playing eligibility has been exhausted, Griffin was invited by Coach Mimnaugh to serve as an undergraduate coaching assistant for the team while she completes her degree in RPTA. She'll be back on the sidelines again this fall, continuing to be a leader for her team.

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