by By Dan Ninham
Marissa Van Dyke, 16, will be a junior next school year at Green Bay Southwest HS in WI.
“I am Oneida, Osage, Chickasaw, Cherokee,” said Marissa. “I am wolf clan.”
Marissa was the leading scorer of her lacrosse team with 18 goals. She also ranked third in the Bay Valley Conference for ground balls with 35.
She also plays basketball and won state tournaments at the sixth and eighth grade divisions 4/5.
“Being a native athlete I like to show that I’m a strong role model for my team and young girls,” said Marissa. “My elders have always taught me to have respect for myself and for my teammates. I always want to be a good representative for my community because they always supported the Oneida Nation basketball team.”
Marissa wants to continue to develop her skills in volleyball and lacrosse. She has set goals to improve in each sport. She said: “My goal for volleyball is to become one of the top hitters for my team. In lacrosse I want to have an average of three goals a game. My way to achieve my goal is to get my vertical up for volleyball and to have better court vision. To achieve my goal for lacrosse I have to continue to work on both hands and get a stronger shot.”
“My mentor is my older sister Kirsten,” said Marissa. “I watched her play sports since I was little and seen her be a hard worker and a good teammate. She always had respect for the coaches, referees, and the other team. She had passion for tennis, volleyball, and soccer throughout her whole life.”
“Kirsten has shown me and pushed me to try and do my best in every sport especially volleyball and lacrosse,” added Marissa.
“Marissa has been a hard working athlete ever since she started playing,” said big sister Kirsten. “She consistently shows up to open gyms, lifting, and practice even when they are not mandatory. She is constantly challenging herself by putting herself in different offense and defense positions to be a better all-around athlete on the field and court.”
“Marissa knows the importance of being a good teammate and keeping a positive attitude winning or losing. She maintains her composure in high pressure situations and remembers the basic skills that she has been working on for years. She has been a role model for younger athletes as she continues to challenge herself to be better,” added Kirsten.
“Other mentors of mine are Mariea and Derrick King,” said Marissa. “They were my coaches from third to eighth grade in basketball and taught me a lot. They gave me the love for the game of basketball and always helped me whenever I was down. They taught me I could do anything from guarding the tallest girl or being the first one down the court if I worked hard enough. Even off the court they supported me and always wanted the best for me even when I decided to quit basketball after my freshman year.”
Coach Mariea and Derrick King spoke about one of their star among star athletes:
“We had the opportunity to coach Marissa from 3rd grade through 8th grade for the Oneida Futurez basketball team. She always played her hardest and left it all on the court. Marissa was that hustle player that would do all the little things for her team. She would set the tone from the start of the games and gave it her all until the end of the game. Marissa always showed up ready to play, she always had a good attitude and did her best to do what we asked of her.”
The King coaches reflected on a state tournament performance: “One of Marissa’s stand out performances was in the 8th grade State championship game. On defense the coaches assigned Marissa to guard the top scorer from the opposing team full court all game. The player she was guarding at that time was averaging over 25 points a game. Marissa held her to just five points which was key to the Futurez team winning their 8th grade state title.”
“The hard work and dedication Marissa displayed will take her a long way in sports and life. Marissa has a bright future ahead of her,” added the King coaches.
“My coach’s for lacrosse are Kevin Ketter and my dad Kilabrew Van Dyke,” said Marissa. “They taught me the rules to the game and pushed me to always perform my best. They always taught us how to play clean lacrosse and to be respectful to the other team even if they played dirty. With half our team being new girls they always encouraged us to keep our heads and play to our full potential even if we were losing.”
“Marissa was a surprising leader as a first year starter,” said Coach Kevin Ketter. “Her quite humble demeanor did not yell out leader to me at first. While I started her on defense to make up for some early season gaps, she quickly helped her teammates get up to speed which allowed me to move her to attack.”
“Marissa quickly became our #1 shooter and scorer. She moved the ball well in transition as well as had quick hands when shooting. I also utilized her quickness and aggressive nature on ground balls on the circle during draws,” added Kevin.
“She was the ultimate team player,” said Kevin. “Always positive and cheerful on and off the field and working hard during games and practice.”
“She does the little things to make a team great,” said Dad and Coach Kilabrew Van Dyke. “She was kind of like the Rodman on the state championship teams but never flashy her eighth grade year. She shut down two of the best players in the state.”
“She is always pushing her teammates by leading by example. She is always listening to her coaches, always helping on defense, and she’s always looking to see where her teammates are and where the defenses are,” added Kilabrew.
“At 5’4” in volleyball she knows she can’t go through those big blockers so she has to place it and does,” said Kilabrew. “She would rather work harder to do things the right way than ever do anything wrong.”
“A challenge that I overcame is that my freshman year we only got two weeks into practice before COVID-19 happened and made us cancel our season,” said Marissa. “This year we had to start later than most of the schools we played.”
“I had to focus on learning the rules faster because the rules from girls to boys’ lacrosse is very different,” said Marissa. “The girls pocket in the stick is also shallower which made learning how to cradle and do moves more of a challenge for me.”
“Coaches and other teammates have always told me that my respect for other teams have always been visible since I was little,” said Marissa. “I have a tendency to always say sorry to the other teammates if I accidentally fouled or bump into them. I take responsibility for my actions on the court.”
“My parents always told me that sports should always be fun and that in the end it didn’t matter if I won or lost,” said Marissa.
Photo Credit: Kilabrew Van Dyke
