When Kaiya Dickens has two team practices a day, that’s considered an “easier” workload.
Such is the life of Dickens, a Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) freshman who doubles up as a basketball and softball player. In a recent stretch, the 2021 San Benito High graduate played nine games in eight days and didn’t have a day off in two weeks.
Mind you, everyday is a double day that consists of two practices or games, strength-training, classes, study hall and a lot of time in the training room. In fact, the MPC athletic trainer is probably Dickens’ best friend, keeping Dickens’ body strong and durable to take the pounding it undergoes through all the constant activity.
Dickens has been super vigilant about doing all the right things after suffering a sprained ankle in the last week of September that sidelined her for three weeks.
“Ever since then, it’s been more like rehab and preventative stuff for both sports to keep me on the field,” she said. “I’ve felt pretty good since I returned and it’s been a fun freshman season here at MPC.”
As she neared her graduation from San Benito High last June, Dickens knew she wanted to continue playing basketball. After all, Dickens had to choose between her two favorite sports—basketball and softball—in her final year of high school because Covid condensed all of the prep sports seasons and the Haybalers’ athletes were advised to select one.
Not surprisingly, Dickens elected to play softball, which had a full schedule of games unlike basketball. Usually, the basketball high school season is in the winter and softball is in the spring, but both were in the spring last year due to Covid delaying the 2020 fall and 2020-2021 winter sports seasons.
“I got my senior year of basketball taken away from me so I was really hungry to get in another season and play as long as I can,” she said.
Dickens has excelled on the hardwood, earning Coast Conference South Division First Team honors after helping to lead MPC to a 19-7 overall record and a perfect 10-0 conference season. The Lobos earned the No. 18 seed and played in the opening round of the California Community College Northern California Playoffs on March 1, losing at Folsom Lake, 53-45.
Dickens will now make the transition to playing just one sport at a time. That means for the first time since last May—about a month before she decided to enroll at MPC—Dickens won’t have double duty. Per the norm, the MPC basketball and softball programs have a summer training period and there really isn’t much dead time throughout the entire calendar year except for when the season ends.
The Lobos women’s basketball team started official practice in October, and the softball team had a fall ball season and practice started in late January. So, Dickens has been balancing both sports for quite a while.
“Some weeks are crazier than others,” she said. “Two practices a day for a week is a pretty calm week.”
Dickens has excelled playing the power forward position, shooting 52% from the field, the fourth best mark in the conference. She’s always been a heady player and has utilized her footwork to get shots off against taller opponents.
Dickens said she got off to a slow start to the season, but her performance started to pick up with each passing week.
“Coming off the ankle injury, I wasn’t playing like myself,” she said. “Things started off a little rough for me, but as the team started jelling more and figuring out each other’s strengths and weaknesses, I’ve gotten a lot better individually as well.”
Dickens has several double-doubles this season, and most of her scoring comes from 8 feet in. However, she has shown the ability to knock down shots from mid-range and even the occasional 3-pointer.
Last May, Dickens met MPC softball coach Keith Berg at the batting cages when Berg gave pitching lessons to local youth players in Hollister.
At the time, Dickens wasn’t sure where or what sport she was going to play in college. From there, Berg connected Dickens to women’s basketball coach Erin O’Hare, and the rest, as Dickens said, is history. Dickens wanted badly to play both sports and got her wish at MPC.
“It’s been a pretty smooth transition with how busy I’ve been and the expectations I’ve set for myself,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do my best and to have a great attitude and effort every time I’m practicing or playing.
Entering the week, the MPC softball team was 9-8-1 overall and 1-2 in the Coast Conference, which boasts three of the top teams in the state in College of San Mateo, West Valley and San Jose City.
Dickens’ primary position is third base, but she’ll also play some outfield and catcher depending on who’s pitching. She’s been hitting fifth or sixth in the lineup and ranks among the top three in several offensive categories among the MPC starters.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at el**@we*****.com
