EDWARDSVILLE - Junior Leticia Bennasar Lluy of Metro East Lutheran High School had a big season this year, averaging 9.2 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Knights.
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Leticia is the Metro East Lutheran High School Female Athlete of the Month. She said she would like to thank her parents for always helping her, taking her to basketball practices and games.
"I also want to thank my coach Sonia Pons, from Spain for always making me work hard and not giving up and for trusting me as a player," she said. "And thanks to Mr. Stock for coaching me this season and making this a great basketball season for me."
Leticia averaged 3.5 blocks per game during this season, 9.2 points per game, and 8.1 rebounds per game.
"I also think that I had a lot of dedication for the team, going to all the games and practices," she said. "I’ve been playing basketball for 12 years now; I started when I was 4. The things that I like the most about basketball are that I got to meet a lot of people for it and it brought qualities such as constancy and effort to my life.
"I like listening to all kinds of music and learning about other cultures/living new experiences. Playing basketball has helped me become the person I am today by being constant for 12 years, playing all year long and practicing during the summer; it made me learn how to work as a team, and at this point basketball has become a lifestyle, it is something that I do at all times and that’s why I love basketball."
The MELHS junior said she hopes she can keep playing basketball throughout my college career; "I still don’t know where I want to go to college, I will probably end up going to college in Spain but if I got a scholarship I would probably stay in the U.S.," she said. "I would like to get into medical school once I am done with high school.
I kept my GPA up (4.0) even though I switched schools from Spain to the United States, taking all my classes in a different language."
Leticia mentioned she played volleyball this year for the first time, playing as a middle blocker most of the time.
"I learn very fast, if I am interested in something I can learn by myself, that lead me to learn English and wanting to come here; English being my third language," the MELHS player said. Leticia can speak Catalan, Spanish, and English. "I was learning German in Spain, but I’m not taking that class anymore.
"My involvement in basketball is not only as a player, but I also studied to be a coach and I helped coach two basketball teams last year. I also took classes to be a basketball referee, and I ended up being part of the officials in the Basketball Federation of the Balearic Islands in Spain. I keep track of the scoreboard, clock, and book as my job, and I love doing that too."
