WSN: Welcome back to “In The Huddle,” a podcast by the Washington Square News. I’m Kiran, deputy sports editor at WSN, and with me today is Aila Kaibara, first-year on the women’s basketball team from Phoenix, Arizona. She’s started in every single one of the Violet’s first seven games this season and is averaging 10.7 points per game. Happy to have you here, Aila.
Kaibara: Super excited to be here.
WSN: So, how have you been finding NYU so far?
Kaibara: Absolutely amazing. Honestly, I cannot imagine going anywhere else. I have to say, my view’s probably swayed because of the basketball team and how much I love being part of the team, but the city itself is so awesome.
WSN: Speaking of the basketball team, talk me through your decision process. Were you looking at other schools or was NYU your number one?
Kaibara: NYU was my number one.
WSN: Awesome.
Kaibara: Since they started recruiting me, I’ve known I wanted to come here.
WSN: You have had a very successful season so far. You started your first seven games. What has that been like, and how have you been transitioning from high school to the college scene?
Kaibara: I think, honestly, I can’t even think about the games as the biggest challenge. I think that playing against our competition in practice is way more challenging and makes me a better player than playing in these games. I’m obviously super happy that I’m able to star and play this much as a freshman, I’m super grateful, but I think that I’m more grateful for how much I’ve been learning about the game defensive wise, offensively, just playing with such great players and learning about myself, and there’s so much I wanna get better at.
WSN: I’m glad. This team has been called a sisterhood over and over again, and it really reflects both on the court and off the court. How have you been finding the environment, from the coaching staff all the way down to the girls next to you?
Kaibara: I was just so pleasantly surprised to actually feel it and be a part of it when I came here. Honestly, I can’t describe how much these girls are so special to me, and I haven’t been here for so long, but I truly think I could go up to anyone and be like ‘I’m dealing with something,’ or ‘Do you wanna go do this?’ You know, it is like a built-in sisterhood. I don’t think that anything can get in between our bonds, so yeah, it’s really special to be a part of.
WSN: That’s incredible. I’ve also heard that you have a company, called ‘Dime Time,’ that helps produce shorts for women’s basketball players. Tell me more about that.
Kaibara: Yeah, so I created, like, I had the idea my sophomore year [of high school] and it just kinda was in the back of my mind, because all my teammates were like, ‘Oh, these shorts are so baggy, I have to roll them up five times,’ or ‘The mesh material is so unbreathable.’ And I was just always like, oh, this kind of sucks. I’m just gonna think about this. I wish someone created some sort of brand for women, you know? I said something to my mom, I was like, ‘Wouldn’t that be awesome if someone did that?’ And she was like, “Why don’t you do that?” I was like, ‘You’re right, like I should do that.’
And so there’s like a program in my high school where you can create your own course and you can get funding for it. So I created an independent study about this and there’s a really awesome company called FABRIC Incubator in Tempe, Arizona. They help you design any pattern for garments and they also help you with fabric sourcing. Something else I’m also very passionate about is the environment and sustainability, and I didn’t wanna create more waste, so they helped me find fabric that was made from recycled plastics and is sustainably sourced. And then they produce everything in Tempe, so it’s all ethically produced.
Since being here, I kind of realized, especially being in New York, fashion and women’s basketball is just like a lot more prominent than it was back home. I think companies are starting to catch on, like, ‘oh, girls can hoop.’
WSN: Exactly.
Kaibara: They need resources, too. And so the hole that I’m trying to fill is closing, which I’m so grateful for and I’m happy that I could have been part of that. So I’m starting to redirect what my goal is. Maybe it’s gonna be more fashion forward, but since being here, I’ve had so many different ideas. So yeah, hopefully I can work on that this summer more.
WSN: That’s really neat. I’ll be happy to see that grow in the future. Now, as I’m sure you’re aware, this team has been nothing short of dominant over the past few years. In fact, they haven’t lost a game in over 1,000 days. Was it intimidating to join a team with so much riding on every game?
Kaibara: So I was recruited my sophomore year, summer, so this was the summer before they won their first national championship. So it wasn’t really in the back of my mind when I chose to go to NYU, because I’ve always wanted to. Even though I committed in the summer of my senior year, I was so excited to go even when I was a sophomore.
But when I saw they kept winning, it just made me feel more confident. Like, wow, these people bet on me, that I could play on this team and compete with them. And so since being here, I think I’ve had that in the back of my mind. Obviously, I don’t wanna lose this streak. I really wanna win another national championship, but I feel it as more motivation than pressure.
WSN: That’s good to hear. And you are no stranger to success. At Phoenix Country Day School, you were a three-time state champion, 1,800 point scorer and three-time conference offensive player of the year. You also set the single game scoring record with 43 points. How did you bring those skills to NYU’s team?
Kaibara: You really did your research. I think in high school, I knew I loved this game, and so I built good habits of my work ethic. Coming in here, I think that’s helped me the most. No matter if we’re playing really — in my high school, we played some pretty bad teams — and sometimes people were unmotivated to play these bad teams, but for me, I get a chance to lace up my shoes and play someone, you know? And I think of it like, I’m still gonna put everything out there. And I think it’s the same here.
It’s even better now because every practice is way better than any game I had in high school, and I feel so fortunate to play against them and be around such powerful women especially.
WSN: That’s incredible, I’m really happy for you. So you have some really tough competition coming up with the UAA. How have you been preparing for that, with the team and also personally?
Kaibara: Well, actually today we had an inter-squad scrimmage, so we played against each other. That was super competitive and I think we learned so much. Me personally, I’ve kinda been having this in the back of my mind, even though I’ve never experienced it. I’ve been told by the coaches and my teammates how competitive the UAA is, so I’ve put in a lot of time outside of practice.
One of the things I really wanna work on is mental toughness, you know? The UAA environment is so loud, and everyone wants to win so bad. And I don’t think, even being here, I haven’t been part of a group that is so motivated individually, every single person. I find myself after practice just exhausted because I’ve never worked so hard before. And so I think that every practice, I have that in mind.
WSN: Well, I think that’s everything I have for you. Is there anything else you wanna add before we go?
Kaibara: No, thank you so much for this opportunity.
WSN: And what are you looking forward to for the rest of the season?
Kaibara: Oh my gosh. The thing is, I feel like if you asked me that in the beginning, I couldn’t even predict what has happened, and what beautiful things have happened to me. I guess I’m most looking forward to continuing as a team to improve. I think it’ll be super interesting as we start playing with each other more and learning each other more.
WSN: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me.
Kaibara: Thank you.
Contact Kiran Komanduri at [email protected].