blog #4 - How Asjia O'Neal overcame difficulties to become the BEST

    

    The podcast "On Her Mark" by Hannah Donnelly focuses on learning the stories of female athletes, fitness professionals, and women in sports, as well as their why's, all in an effort to find inspiration and celebrate those blazing trails for the next generation. The podcast I chose to write about is the episode with Asjia O'Neal, a Texas graduate volleyball star. This episode elaborates with how O'Neal has accomplished some remarkable things in her volleyball career so far even through some difficult times and an upcoming chapter of her career at the professional league with the Columbus Fury. Her story is one of triumph, perseverance, and hard work. 

     

    The 24-year-old O’Neal, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, helped power the Longhorns to back-to-back national titles in 2022 and 2023. Asjia O'Neal has been a driving force for Texas over the past six seasons. She has earned six conference titles, had three final four appearances, and earned two national championships while playing for Texas, holding the record for the most blocks in school history. She's been one of the nation's best players as the Longhorns try to defend their national title in 2023, and she's one of the best to ever wear burnt orange. While being known as one of the best college volleyball players this season, O'Neal made history in the professional world by becoming the first draft pick in the Pro Volleyball Federation. Asjia O'Neal is now tearing up the court in Columbus, Ohio, playing in the inaugural season of the Pro Volleyball Federation. 

    Asjia have been playing volleyball since she was 12 (7th grade). She loved that volleyball is the ultimate team sport where you really have to rely on your teammates and work with one another in order to succeed. She thought is is great to see how trust and chemistry is needed for a team to be successful in the sport. Growing up, O'Neal tried a lot of different things and she enjoyed how she got to get her feet wet in a little different areas all across the place. She played soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, and basketball, as well as participating a lot more of creative arts such as acting and dancing. In 7th grade when she moved to Dallas, Texas, where volleyball was a hugely popular sport, she decided to settle down and focus with volleyball. Ever since then, she fell in love with the sport and it became her whole life.

 

     O'Neal was born with a mitral valve leak, a condition where the valve between heart chambers is not closed fully, causing blood to leak. The first issue she had with the condition arose in 2013, not long after she began playing volleyball. The leak was worsening due to O'Neal's increased physical intensity, so she had to have open-heart surgery. A ring was placed around the valve to stop the leaking. At 13, she had undergone an open-heart surgery so she could play the sport she loved at the highest level. But seven years later, just as she was positioned to become an impact player at one of the elite programs, the one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs was staring her right in her face: a life without volleyball. In 2019, O'Neal's condition worsened again, but this time doctors found a second leak in her tricuspid valve. The intensity of volleyball was putting too much stress on her cardiovascular system. It was too dangerous for O'Neal to continue. Asjia was in disbelief when the doctor told her and her family in that checkup that her condition was getting worse and that she needed to quit volleyball. It was either quit volleyball or have the second surgery, go through intense recovery, and have a chance to play again, and of course, O'Neal chose the second option - to have a second open-heart surgery on January 14, 2020. Despite discovering her heart complications had worsened in 2019, she played out the season and appeared in 26 matches.

    Asjia was frustrated by the fact that her injury would hold her back from performing the best she can.

"And it definitely was frustrating because you're coming into a big program and you're a freshman, so you are trying to prove to everybody that you work hard and you have this mindset. and with something like a cardiac problem that people can't really see, its not like a broken leg or twisted ankle. People don't really know how you are feeling and they don't know how to gauge it. It was really hard for me because I never wanted to single myself out. So I definitely try to push myself, but then it would cause us a lot of anxiety and stress about workouts everyday."

    Obviously, the beginning of her college career wasn't exactly what she wanted it to look like, and at times she did have doubts and wasn't sure how it was going to play out. But her family really kept her motivated through her difficult times. They've sacrificed so much for her to get to this point. O'Neal also has a really strong faith which helped her as well, just to know that it's all going to work out in the end. Her passion and love for volleyball was everything that made brought her this far in her careers today. She truly believed that regardless of what it looks like right now, it's going to get better and that it's going to be the best version of a story that she will have for herself. To walk into every room like god put you there.

The podcast concludes with Asjia's special advice from her experiences to the young athletes,

    "My advice to any young athlete battling something whether it be injuries or anything else, is to always remember the bigger picture. What you are going through right now may be hard and make you want to give up, but take time to think about why you started and put an emphasis on changing your mindset. Instead of thinking “why is this happening to me'' ask yourself “how am I going to use this experience to learn and make myself a better person”. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, so you have to embrace the struggle if you want to succeed. Life during and after sports will always throw obstacles at you, what matters is how you respond to them." - Asjia O'Neal.

Columbus Fury Sign No. 1 Draft Pick, Asjia O’Neal - Pro Volleyball Federation