Cate Aggouras, a senior at Lexington High School, committed to play basketball for Babson College. 

Aggouras currently plays basketball year-round both for the LHS Girls Varsity Basketball Team and the Mass Huskies, a local competitive basketball program for young women.

Aggouras first started playing basketball recreationally at Hayden Recreation Centre in first grade, where she participated in camps and clinics before joining the town’s recreation center team the following year. Aggouras recalled the exact moment she wanted to play basketball.

“I was in gym class and I had never shot a basketball before, but I made the first shot I took, and I literally said to my mom in the car, ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life,’ ” Aggouras said. 

However, Aggouras has encountered numerous obstacles during her basketball journey. In high school, she experienced many injuries, including three broken ankles and two concussions. Despite initial complications, Aggouras said she looks at these temporary setbacks as opportunities to return stronger than before. 

“As long as you just put in the work and don’t let them distract you, the injuries don’t stop the journey, they just make it a little bit harder, but you’ll get back,” Aggouras said. 

Like most aspiring student athletes, Aggouras said the recruitment process was tough for her, especially with her sophomore season being cancelled during the pandemic. 

“There are a lot of ups and downs during recruitment. Sophomore year, the season got canceled, all recruiting pretty much stopped. Then junior year picked up again, and so since we were just coming off a year where we didn’t play at all, it got super intense, and you really just had to focus on what you were going to do,” Aggouras said. 

Aggouras highlighted her parents, coaches, and teammates for being her support system.

“My parents…  drive me to practice, and they give me the pep talks, after the game, before the game, during the game on the sidelines too. Coach Laura and Coach Martha were some of my first female coaches. Their encouragement really stuck with me and really inspired me to continue,” Aggouras said.

Reflecting on her own growth in basketball, Aggouras advised other prospective recruits to take every opportunity to focus and work on their own skills, rather than comparing themselves to others. 

“Don’t focus too much on what others are doing because on social media all you see are the highlight videos, but you got to just focus on what you’re doing. It can get really hard, but it’s all worth it in the end,” Aggouras said.