By: Dan Kidder
Growing up in a family full of athletic talent isn’t always
easy for someone who loves to compete.
In a world that reveres the greats of the game and easily
forgets their not-quite-as-good siblings—just ask Dan McGwire, Ozzie Canseco or
Chris Gwynn—the pressure to meet and exceed the standards set by those closest
to you can be overwhelming.
But the Reilly family doesn’t work that way.
Sidney Reilly grew up with two older sisters, two younger
brothers and five cousins who are all athletically gifted. Her sisters, Paige
and Regan, both ran track for VCHS, and her little brothers, Rhett and Trent,
are both multi-sport athletes that are getting ready for their freshman year of
high school. And her cousins all excelled in sports at VCHS—most notably in
football—and the ones who have graduated thus far have gone on to play sports
in college as well.
The competitive nature of the family—“We’re always competing
at something when we get everybody together,” Sidney says, “even if it’s just a
contest to see who can throw a rock and hit something over there, we’re always
competing.”—which could be detrimental to some athletes has actually helped
Sidney in her growth as an athlete.
“I knew I had to keep up the family name,” she says with a
laugh. “Everyone in the family is such a great all-around athlete, and we’re
all pretty competitive, but we’re all super close. I always roughed around with
them growing up, and I think it toughened me up.”
Wearing the Reilly name on your jersey at Valley Center High
School carries a lot of history, and in her four years as a Jaguar, Sidney
filled a chapter of the family sports almanac with a story all her own.
“I played everything growing up,” she says. “The first team
I was on was probably in soccer. I always loved playing all the different
sports, so it was hard when I got to high school and had to pick the three that
I would play. I love volleyball, basketball and track, but I would have liked
to play soccer, lacrosse, and maybe some others.”
She says she played volleyball and basketball for fun, and
she loved the experience, but that her heart was always with the track team.
“I’m definitely a runner, I’ve always been quick,” she says.
“I’ve always loved track, and I love how you can work hard and see the results
really clearly. It’s a more individual sport, but you still score points toward
a team goal.”
Sidney’s sister Regan ran the hurdles for the Lady Jaguars
until she graduated in 2010. Sidney started running the hurdles in her junior
season, one year after Regan graduated, and this year, she beat her big
sister’s best times.
“I actually beat her times this year,” Sidney says with a
mixture of pride and surprise. “When I talked to her and told her about that, I
wasn’t sure what she would say, but of course she was super encouraging. She
was really excited for me.”
Sidney’s senior season on the track will go down as one of
the best in VCHS history, even amid a host of stellar performances this year
alone.
She won four individual league championships this season,
taking the title in the 100 hurdles, the 300 hurdles, the long jump and as part
of the 400 relay team. She then went on to the CIF meet, where she finished
second in both the hurdles races, third in the long jump and fifth in the 400
relay.
Along the way, Reilly set new school records in the two
hurdles races and was named the Valley League Track Athlete of the Year for the
second consecutive year.
She has an impressive collection of medals and awards from
her high school career, but true to her character, had never bothered to count
up the total until she brought them out for the photo shoot to accompany this
interview. After a minute or so of counting, she found out she has 63 medals
and awards.
“Yeah, I guess that’s pretty good,” she says with a shrug of
her shoulders, as if every high school girl has 63 medals hanging on her
bedroom walls.
Competing for a team that broke record after record
throughout the season, Reilly stood out all the more for her versatility and
hard work.
“Sidney has always been driven,” track and field coach Mike
Cummings says. “She is a perfectionist. She was always willing to out-work
anyone, and she was a natural team leader who led by example. Sidney was a team
player. While she had her individual goals, she wanted to help VC win team
titles. She was also a great sport. While I could tell that she may be
disappointed by a certain performance, she didn't want the rest of the world to
know. Conversely, when she did excel, a fist pump was what you got. She
was humble in victory and gracious in defeat.
“I believe that the best is yet to come for Sid,” he adds.
“Her best track and field days are ahead of her. I know that we are going to
miss her at VC.”
“I worked a lot on my technique [for the hurdles events]
because I knew that, since it was only my second year running them, I had to
work even harder to get where I needed to be,” Reilly says. “During the other
sports seasons, I would go after school to work with Coach [Rob] Gilster on
getting over the hurdles, then I would go to volleyball or basketball practice
after that.”
Even with such a busy sports schedule, Reilly still finds
time to pursue her other interests. After taking a video production class in
her freshman year, she found a new outlet for her creativity. After
volunteering to do the videography for a wedding, she started Sidney Shanelle
Studios, which can be found online at www.sidneyshanellestudios.com/
“I started my own business filming weddings,” she says. “I
took a video production class with Mr. Goodman and it sparked a passion for
filming and editing.”
Sidney also plays the guitar and the drums, and rides just
about every kind of board that she can get her feet on, from surfboards to
wakeboards to snowboards to skateboards. She is also involved as a mentor at
the high school and participates in a number of service activities through the
LDS church here in Valley Center.
She says that pursuing so many different sports and
activities has helped her become a more well rounded athlete in whichever
competition she finds herself.
“Because I do so many different things, I think it helps
with sports because I’m able to take what the coaches are saying and adjust,”
she says.
Reilly is especially grateful to Coach Gilster for his help
as her ASB teacher, an assistant coach with the varsity girls basketball team,
and as her hurdles coach on the track. She says she is also thankful for Coach
Cummings for his hard work with the track team, as well as Coach Alan Dale in
volleyball and Coach Tony Casillas in basketball.
The work ethic she learned from her coaches at VCHS is
something that Reilly says she would want to teach younger athletes as a coach
herself. As a senior and a team captain, she worked with the underclassmen on
the track team to instill the lessons she learned in her experiences.
“Work hard, always work hard,” she says. “If you do that,
the results will come. And I try to build confidence too, not put them down or
anything like that. I think that, when you’re confident, you’re going to do well
at whatever you’re doing.”
Sidney knows the confidence of learning from some of the
best, especially when it came to the annual Powderpuff football game this
spring. Reilly was chosen to play quarterback for the class of 2012, and in the
days leading up to the game, she says that the coaching input she got from her
family—advice from a defensive end, a safety and a quarterback, no less—was in
ample supply.
“The Sunday before the game, we were all at our grandma’s
house, and the boys were working with me on all the little things about playing
the quarterback position,” she says. “They were telling me where to step when I
make the pitch [back to the running back], and when I fake a handoff to get my
head around to look at the linebackers, we worked on everything.”
Growing up in a family full of athletic talent isn’t always
easy.
But the way the Reilly family does it, when you see the
results, it’s easy to see why they’re all so talented.
Sidney Reilly is 17 years old and is the daughter of Keith
& Tori Reilly of Valley Center. She graduated from VCHS this year and will
attend BYU this fall.
“I just decided this week,” she says. “I got offered a
scholarship to run track at Utah, but both my sisters went to BYU, and two of
my cousins are there. It’s my dream school, and I love that I have my family so
close by.”
