Rachel Uyemura is a dedicated senior athlete who participates in softball, swimming, and soccer.
Senior Rachel Uyemura is an all-star athlete. Photo by Tori Wallace
Senior Rachel Uyemura has been dedicated to excellence in sports – both at school and in the community – since she was a young child.
Rachel started playing soccer at the young age of four. “It was just one of those sports that your parents want you to try out when you’re a kid, but I really enjoyed it and wanted to keep playing, even when I grew up,” said Rachel. She began playing for Skyline with the Kicking Kittens, but two years later she switched to the Jaguars, where many of her friends from Samuels Elementary played. While she played for Skyline, she would compete only during the spring and fall. She played soccer until 6th grade. “When I tried out for the Hamilton Middle School soccer team and didn’t make it, I was really sad, so I decided to take a break from soccer for a while and concentrate on swimming and softball,” Rachel explained.
When Rachel came to Thomas Jefferson, she said she decided to try out for the soccer team in the spring and ended up making varsity, becoming one of the few freshmen on the Varsity squad. “I was really shocked I made varsity because I hadn’t played for three years, and I was really rusty, so I was both scared and excited to be playing again.”
Rachel believes that she has had a successful three years so far on the TJ soccer team. “I’ve learned a lot here at TJ and I can tell I have become a better soccer player than I was when I was younger,” she explained. As a senior, Rachel has high hopes for her final season as a Spartan soccer player. “Even though we lost a lot of seniors last year, I hope that we have seniors who will step up and make this a really good season. I want to leave everything on the field and, when I walk off for my last game, I want to know I did the best I could have,” said Rachel.
Jumping into the pool, Rachel began swimming in third grade when a skiing accident that broke her leg left her temporarily unable to play soccer. She was a swimmer for multiple teams, including the Hampden Heights Hurricanes, University of Denver Hilltoppers, Aces Swim Club, and Swim Dogs. She swam year round from fourth to eighth grade.
When Rachel was younger, she always dreamed of being an Olympic swimmer, but as she grew older, she realized “that wasn’t going to work out.” Although she never made it to the pros, she was able to make it to the city meets for DPS the past three years, and hopes to make it again this year. “It’s really awesome that I was able to make it to city the entire time I’ve been at TJ, because I worked hard to get there.”
When she got to TJ, Rachel continued to swim, but also decided to dive on the dive team her sophomore year. “I always thought diving looked cool and I wanted to try something different along with swimming,” said Rachel. She made it to City her junior year, which meant that she had 12 dives that were complete, and to the liking of the judges. “Diving in City was great because it was my first year diving, but it’s funny because in the qualifying rounds, I did all the dives I knew I could do, and between qualifying rounds and the finals I perfected two new dives,” said Rachel. These two dives were dives she had never done before in a meet, but had been working on them since sophomore year.
Rachel began swinging a bat when she was four-years-old, but she wasn’t hitting a softball quite yet. She first began playing T-Ball, and a few years later, she began playing baseball. She played for South East Denver Baseball League, as there were no softball teams for girls her age. “It was fun knowing that I was playing with boys,” said Rachel. Finally, when she was eight, she was able to play softball. Her parents, Brad and Pam Uyemura, coached her first team, the Angels. “My dad taught me a lot of what I know today, even though he wanted me to play outfield,” Rachel laughed, as her position is now catcher. “I think my parents were a lot harder on me when they coached me, because they expected more from me.”
When she got to Hamilton, Rachel tried out for the softball team her seventh and eighth grade year, and made the teams. “I tried out just for fun, but it was awesome that we were able to win the championships my eighth grade year, considering we beat Henry Middle School, whom we lost to the year before in the championships,” said Rachel.
“The transition from middle school softball to high school softball was different,” Rachel said. “For starters, you have [Kyler] Jackson as a coach.” Rachel was able to make varsity as a freshman and stated how nerve-racking it was. “I felt like I was expected to know more than I actually did, and there was more pressure.” She also said she intimidated when she was asked to pitch. She had never pitched before, and was asked to take pitching lessons at Hit Streak, a place where softball and baseball players can train.
Throughout the years, Rachel’s hard work paid off. “Rachel, as a whole, epitomizes what maturity in a game looks like from freshman year to senior year,” says Coach Jackson. Senior year, Rachel was awarded first team All-League, and was selected as one of the top softball players in the state, getting an All-State title to go with her All-League championship. Because she was an All-State player, Rachel was able to play in an All-State Game on November 4th, with the rest of the top players in 4A. “Playing in the All-State game was nerve-racking because I was playing with the best girls in the state,” explained Rachel, who also said it was weird not having her usual teammates by her side and her coach that she’s had for the past four years in the dugout.
But even though Jackson wasn’t on the bench, he was still there with her in spirit. “Rachel played awesome behind the plate,” said Jackson.
In the future, Rachel hopes to play college softball. “I don’t really care where I go, I just know that I want to keep playing.”
