Kailey Gates 

• Grade: 12

• Sport: Starlettes 

• Position: Colonel 

• Age Started Playing: 13

How would other people describe you as an athlete?

Dedicated and hard working. 

How and why did you start playing? 

I’ve always loved dancing and my sister was a starlette so I grew up watching her.

Describe how you prepare before a game/tournament. 

I practice till I’m confident and try not to get in my head.

For people that have never played your sport, what do you think the average person gets wrong about it? 

That it’s a lot easier than it looks when in reality it takes a lot of practice to get performance ready. 

What personal superstitions or traditions do you have before, during or after a game? 

I don’t have any personal ones but as a team we pray and do our starlette chant.

Tell us about your favorite memory as an athlete either on or off the field. 

Camp every year would have to be my favorite, it’s the time when we get the closest.

Tell us the story about what you are most proud of yourself for.

Becoming colonel.

As an athlete, who is someone you are thankful for and why? 

Heidi Kloes, I have known her for a long time and she has always been there to push me and knows what I can and can’t do.

What advice would you give to your younger self when you began playing? 

Don’t be scared to step out of your comfort zone.

What’s on your sports bucket list? 

To be an inspiration to someone.

Favorites

• Team/Sport Ritual or Tradition: Pray before performances 
• Pre-Game Meal: Potatoes 
• Post-Game Meal: Mama Kloes cookies 
• Exercise: Jumps 
• Practice: Summer “boot camp”
• Hype Music:  Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus 
• Sports Movie/TV Show: “Dance Moms”
• Coach: Heidi Kloes