Meet Tori Rogers

Victoria "Tori" Rogers was nominated by her mother who gave Holly Springs-Hickory Flat Patch all the details:

Tori is an upcoming freshman in Sequoyah High School and is the daughter of Scott and Cheryl Rogers. Tori is a well-rounded young lady and always strives to do her best in anything that she takes on whether that is academics, sports, or caring for others.

Math has always been Tori’s favorite subject. She was in the AIM/Gifted program in Hickory Flat Elementary School and won the Math Superstar award for her grade two years in a row and was runner-up her last year at Hickory Flat. She was in Junior Beta Club and was the president in sixth grade. She was on the Honor Roll/Principal’s list first through eighth grades. She continued taking advanced/accelerated courses in middle school at Dean Rusk and took eighth grade math in seventh grade. In eighth grade she took ninth grade math (Math 1) and ninth grade physical science and scored a 97 on her Math EOCT, the highest in her class.

She took all advanced classes at DRMS and had an “A” average both years in her classes in middle school. She received an “Honorable Mention” in the Cherokee County Science Fair in seventh grade and was nominated to participate in the County Math competition, but could not because of previous commitments.

In addition to her academic awards over the years, Tori has been active in community service, basketball, and cheerleading in the Hickory Flat area. Basketball is Tori’s passion. She played CCYB basketball in first through fourth grades. In fifth grade she started playing travel basketball with the North GA Heat, playing one age group up from her age group. She made the Jr. Chiefs Basketball team in sixth through eighth grades and was nominated by her coaches all three years to participate in the Cobb County Junior Basketball All Star team. She helped her Jr. Chiefs team tie for the Region Championship title in sixth grade and to the runner ups in region in seventh grade.

She was also a stand-out basketball player and team captain for the Dean Rusk Middle School Panthers receiving the team MVP award in seventh and eighth grades. (Her DRMS team took second place in Cherokee County both years in the regular season.) She went to UGA camp in the summer of 2008 and won the “Top Dribbling Award” for 12U as an 11 year old. She went back to UGA camp in the summer of 2009 and won the top camp honor, the “Top Dawg Award” which was chosen by Lady Bulldogs Coach Andy Landers. She also won the “Most Points Scored” award in her age group at UGA camp that year. In the summer of 2010 she went to Pat Summitt’s UT Basketball camp and was named the first alternate on Pat Summitt’s All Star Camp Team. In addition to school ball in Hickory Flat, Tori won several honors in AAU/YBOA travel basketball.

She competed with her North GA Heat team in AAU Nationals held in Orlando  and was a starter on her Peak Performance team that were the state co-champions in 2010 in Georgia YBOA Division 1. They also took second place in the state in GA AUU Division 1 competition losing only to a Georgia Pistols team that placed 6th in the nation at AAU Div 1 Nationals . Tori’s Peak Performance team went on to compete in YBOA Nationals in 2010 in Orlando and Tori was named to the “All Tournaments Team” at YBOA Nationals. She won “Most Valuable Player” in three games at YBOA Nationals in 2010. (This honor was chosen by opposing coaches in those games.)

Tori was nominated by her team and won the “Humanitarian Award” in her age group at YBOA Nationals in 2010 for her community service work that she has participated in over the last few years. Tori was involved in Girl Scouts since first grade and some of the service projects that she has done over the years with that group were: MUST Ministries, Project Linus, Toys for Tots, ConnKerr Cancer, Empty Stocking Fund, Rivers Alive Clean Up, etc. Her troop organized & ran a Fall Festival in Bradshaw Farm to raise money for a girl in her neighborhood that was hospitalized out of state and needed a lung transplant.

Tori also did several community service projects on her own and with her church. In 2005 she traveled with her mom to Louisiana and they both volunteered at Katrina Relief Station for two days in her mom’s hometown of Minden. She helped sort clothes and food that was coming in off 18-wheelers from all over the nation. Also that fall she helped volunteer with her church () that had a 18 wheeler trailer stationed at the Sequoyah library. She helped sort and load donations that were dropped off so that they could be sent to Katrina victims in Mississippi. In the summer of 2009 Tori volunteered to work as a basketball trainer at the “Keeping Pace” program at Pace Academy for underprivileged children in the Atlanta area. Tori and Ashlyn Brandon are also planning to host a basketball program for underprivileged kids from the metro Atlanta area this fall.

Tori took dance for eight years and also cheered for the Sequoyah Chiefs football teams in elementary school. She cheered for the Chiefs in sixth through eighth grades and made the Sequoyah Freshman football cheer squad for the upcoming 2011 school year.

Tori knows that academics is very important, but sports is also because it has prepared her to be successful in life. She has learned how to be a part of a team and that sometimes she needs to put others first over herself. She has learned to cheer her teammates up when they are down on themselves over a foul they committed or something that they did wrong. Sports have also taught her that sometimes life is not fair. Referees miss calls, teammates miss passes, teams with lesser abilities beat you, and sometimes you have to sit the bench even when you think you can do a better job than those on the court.

You have deal with it, learn from it, and get over it and not feel sorry for yourself. Sports have also strengthened her resolve and made her have tougher skin so when she begins her career and an irate boss starts to voice their displeasure over something she has done, she can handle it because she has had coaches yelling at her for years and she knows to not take it personally but to learn from the experience. Basketball has shown her how to manage success and disappointments and how to deal with adversity. It has taught her that she has to work extremely hard to achieve her goals.

All those hot days in gyms during personal training - running, doing drills, shooting and passing with medicine balls, is all worth it because it makes her be a stronger person and a better athlete. She also knows that she can’t coast on her past or current successes but has to keep working hard because anyone at anytime can take her spot. She has come to realize that playing sports is a privilege and it can be interrupted at any time with an injury or an illness. She has also met players and made fast friends with girls that can’t afford to play sports (without help from others) or that come from different backgrounds. She has learned not to judge people on their looks, or their personalities at first glance until you get to know them because you just don’t know what is really going on in their life or what they have had to deal with.

Basketball has prepared her on how and when to take risks on the court and how to manage and take responsibilities for those risks. She has also learned that she needs to be humble and to help other teammates and not be flashy or throw her success in other people’s faces. She has learned how to deal with players that have an attitude. Instead of judging them she has learned how to talk to them to help them deal with their frustrations and she has learned that sometimes that doesn’t work but that she just has to let it go and not let it bother her. She has learned how to be a leader when asked by coaches to call plays or help her team get motivated. She has learned that sometimes you will fail and you just have to get up, dust yourself off and try again and you can’t dwell on the failure but you can always learn something from it.

Sports have prepared her to be successful in school, in her career, and in life and she feels  blessed to be able to participate in something that she loves.