
Hannah Schmidt has shown improvement on the basketball court due to her dedication. The junior shows up early and leaves late to work on her game.
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It's no coincidence
Hannah Schmidt has steadily improved this season.
She gets to basketball practice early a couple days a week to work on her form. Once practice finishes and her teammates have left the gym, Schmidt sticks around and shoots more.
"I feel like it's something I have to do," Schmidt said. "If this is what I want to do, I'm going to put in 110 percent. I'm not going to do half and let go of the rest.
"Even before I could drive, my mom, even though she knew it was important to me, sometimes she'd be like, ‘Do I really have to get you there 45 minutes before practice?' Or, ‘Do I really have to pick you up an hour after?'"
The answer was always a resounding "yes."
The
Southside (Fort Smith, Ark.) junior is seeing results from her continuing work. Heading into the season, Southside coach Steven Brown noticed her release getting quicker.
Schmidt is in her first season as a starter after primarily being one of the first players off the bench as a sophomore.
Schmidt's dedication on the court showed Brown she is ready to compete at a high level. According to her coach, Schmidt has always been an unselfish player. She possessions a pass-first mentality, but as the team's shooting guard she needs to take the game into her own hands once in a while.

Schmidt raises money for breast cancer research
after her mother's best friend died from the disease.
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"Sometimes I have to get her to believe and just tell her, ‘Look, you've got to shoot your shot,' " Brown said. "This year, she's been responding very well and I'm very pleased the way she's playing."
"I try to move the ball around first and I just want to get the best opportunity," Schmidt said. "If getting a 3 is one of the first things I should be able to do, I'll do that. But if I have to keep working the ball around to try to get it in the middle and get that easy layup or something then I'm going to do that."
Learn more about the MaxPreps US Marines program at www.maxpreps.com/marinesSchmidt is having a career season, averaging 10 points and two rebounds per game while connecting on 46 percent of her shots. Staying consistent with her shot has been a key to success.
The highlight of her and her team's season thus far was Mavericks' first win of the season on Dec.
20. Down two points with 20 seconds remaining, Schmidt drained a 3-pointer to put Southside up 63-62. The team hung on for a three-point victory. Schmidt scored 17 points in the game on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Schmidt started playing basketball in third grade but had to overcome an obstacle in middle school. She tore her ACL during a tournament and missed the entire eighth-grade season. That motivated her to work even harder to become a stronger player.
"I had to sit out a whole year and that whole time I was just prepping to get out there, because I'm extremely competitive and just sitting on the bench and watching isn't enough for me," Schmidt said. "It definitely made me want to get better. I did everything I needed to do and my leg got way stronger than my right one."
Along with basketball, the 17-year-old is on her school's soccer team.
Schmidt has been a two-year starter, tallying seven goals and four assists in conference play last season. She's expecting bigger things out of herself this upcoming spring.
Playing sports has always been important in Schmidt's life. She's has a supportive structure of people around her who have helped her through thick and thin. Schmidt competed in travel soccer when she was young, but had to give it up when life got too hectic.

In addition to basketball, Schmidt also excels on the
pitch, having played soccer since her younger days.
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"It became so important to not just play for me but to play for all these other people who have supported me throughout all these years," Schmidt said. "All the money we've spent and all the time I've put in, I'm just trying to make it for what it's worth."
With sports taking up a big chunk of Schmidt's schedule during the winter and spring seasons, she doesn't have much free time. However, she's proved to be a good juggler between athletics and academics, maintaining a 3.9 grade point average.
Schmidt enjoys being involved in as many school clubs as she can fit into her schedule. She takes part in National Honor Society (NHS), Spanish NHS, DECA and the sorority Delta Beta Sigma. Through the sorority, Schmidt learns life lessons and helps with charitable events. One majority activity for Delta Beta Sigma is raising money for breast cancer awareness. Schmidt and a friend have raised over $2,000 this school year alone.
Bringing awareness to help find a cure for the awful disease is close to Schmidt's heart since her mom's best friend died of breast cancer two years ago.
"When it really is personal, it makes the difference in everything," Schmidt said. "You can say, ‘Cancer is horrible,' but once it happens to you, you really come to realize how bad it is and how much you want to fix that for everyone else. There are so many people that have it and so many people that go through treatment every day, and it's just important for me to put some of my extra time and energy to a cause such as that."
Schmidt also ventures out into her community and assists with Keep Fort Smith Beautiful, picking up trash around the city. She volunteers through her church youth group, going caroling around Christmas and visiting homeless shelters and handing out food.
Schmidt figures she volunteers on average about five hours per month.
"I don't keep track of it," Schmidt said. "I feel like just doing it is just enough. There are a lot of people that just do it for the points and it's a lot more than that and it means so much more to me. I'm not just going to go out there with the mentality that, ‘Oh, I just have to get this done so it will look good for me.' I just do it because it's the right thing."
Coach Brown has been coaching high school athletics for 37 years and loves working with student-athletes such as Schmidt who are very polite and dependable.
"She really has a servant's heart and that just tickles me to see," Brown said. "I know there's kids out there because she's one of them, but they seem to be few and far between."
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Schmidt manages to balance school and school all while volunteering for many extra curricular ventures.
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