Posted: Jul 10, 2015

Kayla Aberdale Becomes Second Generation Blazer

CHICOPEE, Mass. - Elms College women's basketball Head Coach Michelle Proulx has announced that former Monument Mountain High School standout Kayla Aberdale will attend Elms College in the fall of 2015.

A three-year varsity player at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Aberdale will be the first splash of Coach Proulx's 2015 recruiting class. "I love Coach Michelle [Proulx]," said Aberdale. "During my first tour, I met with her and she was awesome from the moment we met. She saw potential in me, watched my video, and came out to some of my games. She actually came to visit the same day as another coach, and that ended up being one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life. I know she's my coach, she's going to be there for me, and she's made me feel so welcomed into the program. I've never felt this wanted before, or this important before, and I'm very happy with my decision."

On the court, Aberdale claimed the All-South Country Girls Basketball Coaches Award as a sophomore, followed by All-South County First Team, and All-Western Massachusetts Division III Second Team honors following her junior campaign. As a senior, Aberdale served as team captain, and earned All-South Country Second Team recognition.

"Kayla is a great shooter and a strong defender," said Coach Proulx. "She is also very vocal on the court on both ends of the floor and really keeps people together. I have very high expectations for Kayla and the rest of our freshmen class. I expect Kayla to be able to play right away and compete for one of our starting guard spots. I also expect a lot from her as far as leadership. I know it sounds silly to say this about a freshman, but Kayla has something special and I think she can be one of our leaders right away."

"I feel like one of my strengths on the court is my high basketball IQ," stated Aberdale. "I think I'm good at reading situations. I started my career as a sixth-grade center being one of the tallest players, but my coach turned that around and said that I had a gift and we should explore it. I like bring down the ball at the point, and I feel I can notice when players are going to be open, and I can see possible plays developing. During my four years here, I want to grow into an all-around basketball player. I want to improve my ball-handling skills to help out the point guard, or work on my shot off the dribble to become a threat on offense, I just want become an all-around player for the team. I want to experience the pressure of college defense, because everyone talks about the jump from high school to college, so I want to learn to handle that pressure."

"I think the big difference Kayla will experience is the speed of the game at the college level," continued Proulx. "She's a great athlete, so I think she will adjust to it quickly. Kayla and I have spoken about what I want her to work on coming in this year. I need her to be able to guard anyone on the floor, from guards to big wings, so I challenged her to always guard the strongest guard she's playing against in summer league. I also need her to be able to handle pressure, so she's working on strengthening her ball-handling skills this summer as well."

Family ties paved Aberdale's way to Elms College with her mother, Carole, was a past graduate of the college. "My mom came to Elms, so they spotted me as a senior, and would send me information about the school. Every single week I would get these little papers saying 'You're the One', and finally I said to my mom that we should go to Elms and they'll stop sending these papers to me." Carole graduated from Elms College in 1989 with a degree in Education, and is a math teacher at Monument Valley Regional Middle School. "When we got here, neither of us said anything in the first five minutes, especially my mom since she didn't want to feel like she was pushing me here. After 15 minutes on the tour, I turned to her and said, 'What would you say if I told you I was falling in love with [Elms]' and she told me that it was my decision. Every time I come to visit, I fall in love with the school all over again. It reminds me of my hometown with the tight-knit community at Elms."

Aberdale has also excelled in the classroom, earning numerous educational scholarships and awards, including the Presidents Education Award. A four-year member of the honor roll, Aberdale took home Monument Mountain's Academic Award in Chemistry as a junior, and will be a part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program. Aberdale plans to major in Chemistry at Elms, and will a plan to pursue the field of Forensics following graduation.

"I started taking Chemistry my sophomore year, and moved into AP Chemistry as a junior," continued Aberdale. "My teacher really kept pushing it on me, and at first it didn't click, but as I progressed, chemistry started to grow on me. I realized I loved solving equations, mixing chemicals, and all that goes on in the chemistry lab. I want to take what I learn and move into the field of forensics. I received a great scholarship from the STEM program to pursue my dream, and I'm so thankful for it."

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