It takes a lot of work to be successful at whatever you are doing. As a high school athlete, Payge Schaefer has put in a lot of time and effort and she has been able to see that the work is fruitful.
“It takes hard work and dedication to be at your best,” she said. “Another important thing is what you do the day after you lose. I think the highlight of my career was seeing my hard work pay off. I went from having about three minutes per game in my freshman year to being a starter my sophomore year and playing basically the entire game.”
Schaefer is a sophomore at Cleveland High School where she is a member of the basketball and cross country teams. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, the Business Professionals of America, and she is an assistant coach for a little league basketball team.
Outside of school, she plays for River Rats Basketball and Oklahoma Heat Basketball.
Throughout her life, there have been people that have had an impact on Payge’s life and helped shape her into who she is.
My biggest influences and role models would be my dad and my grandma,” she said. “They both pushed me to be the best version of myself and work hard for what they want instead of just getting it handed to them. Tycee Downey not only is she my best friend in my daily life but an amazing teammate and competitor. We both try our hardest to get each other better. And I also look up to Paige Bueckers because she loves the sport like I do and works hard at everything she does.”
When she steps out on the court each night, Schaefer is proud to wear the Cleveland Tiger uniform.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve and want to be better every day at everything I do,” she said. “It means the world to play for this program even though people doubt us, but we continue to work and get better every day.”
I’m very motivated when people doubt me or when I fail because I always want to be the best version of myself.
