A Letter to the Next Generation

Dear Gatorade Player of the Year Class of 2026, 

Do you remember when people used to actually call each other on the phone? Or are you too young for that? 

And I don’t mean FaceTime. I mean a boring old phone call. Just out of the blue, your friend used to call you on the flip phone with that little antenna that you could pop up. Half the time, they wouldn’t even have anything special to say. 

“What’s up? What are you doing right now?”

“I’m at the grocery store.” 

“Cool. What are you getting?”

“Cereal.” 

“Cool ……….. cool.”

That was my life in ’07, when I won this award. It’s hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago.  

Let’s just say I came up in a different era. The world was a little simpler. But at the same time, human nature never changes. Everything that was going on inside of me when I was 16? All those emotions and uncertainties and questions? It was just the same. 

I was you.

The pressure to look like I had it all figured out. 

The daily stress of so many people watching with their opinions. 

I felt that, too. 

I’ll never forget, when I was going through my recruiting process, I couldn’t get over the fact that all these legendary coaches were calling to talk to me. And you know exactly how it is…. They’re promising you all your dreams, right? 

I felt like I was on The Bachelorette. 

“Mom, this is hard, all these schools are so great!”

I was 16 years old, and when you're young and you're getting national attention, that can be a dangerous thing for the ego. (Shoot, when you're grown and you're getting a lot of attention it can be dangerous too!)

One of the hardest parts about growing up is learning what it takes to really make a commitment. It’s even more slippery these days. 

You know why commitment can be so challenging? Because it costs us. 

To say yes to something, you have to say no to so many other things … and that’s HARD to learn. But it’s something that we know more about than we realize. 

You know the cost it has taken to become the player you are. The time, the sweat, the energy, the sacrifice away from other activities. But you said no to all those other things because you wanted something better.

You had the payoff in mind.

Thankfully, I had a mom who helped me process all of this as I navigated high school.

She said, “Maya, ask yourself … what’s the possible cost and payoff for each choice?”

And that is a very adult lesson: Every decision has a cost. Even the money has a cost.

If you have earned this prestigious award, then these schools are interested in you for a reason. They have expectations that can come with a lot of pressure to perform (part of the cost).

Navigating that pressure can be a hard and lonely road. When those hard times come (and trust me, they’ll come), you better be sure that you have quality humans around you that see you for more than your talent.

When you’re crying in your dorm room, that NIL money isn’t going to be the answer you need.

What you need is a proven community that is committed to shaping the type of person you are becoming through the tough times. 

So if you still have your recruiting visits ahead, enjoy it as much as you can! But also pay attention to this very important question, too…

“What type of human beings does this school’s culture seem to shape?”

Those people need to become your people. Because those bonds are what will sustain you when you get hurt and you feel like your whole identity gets taken away, or when you’re going through a cold stretch and you’re getting mean tweets blowing up your phone, or when your playing days are just a memory.

That’s why I ended up choosing UConn. I wish I could tell you that I had some magic formula, or that Geno gave me this incredible speech, but it was just an energy that I picked up on. When I was in the gym with them, I just had this intuition, like, “These women really seem like they care a lot about what they’re doing, and about each other.”

After I made my decision, I remember my first thought was, “Oh, Lord. Now I’m going to have to call up Pat Summitt and tell her that I’m not coming to Tennessee.” 

The uncommitted days were over, but I wanted to finish the way I started and honor these coaches and teams that had pursued me for years. So I called Pat and all the other coaches in my top four and thanked them personally. 

I felt so adult. I thought I was on my way to being the most mature 16-year-old in the world. 

Then one day somebody told me, “Hey, I left you a voicemail, but I’m not sure it went through.”

My voicemail..........

“Oh my Gosh, my voicemail!!!!!!”

See, back in the day, when people used to actually CALL EACH OTHER, everybody used to record their voicemail greeting. You might play it straight, or you might have a song playing in the background, or you might have your best friend record it with you. 

Basically, in a world before Facebook, this was our way of being unique. 

So me being the goofiest person in the world, I had recorded this message that was me answering the phone pretending that I was there. 

Then I would pause to wait for you to say something, and I’d act like I could hear you. 

“Hey, it’s Maya.”

“............”

“Hey, it’s Maya, who is this?”

“...........”

“Hello? You’re breaking up.”

“...........”

“Sorry what? I can’t hear you!”

It went on like this way longer than it should have. 

I probably recorded it when I was like 14, right when I got my phone. Then all of a sudden I’m 16, and I’m realizing....

Oh my gosh, Pat Summitt is calling me leaving voicemails. 

Geno is calling me.....

Oh my GOSH. 

I could have dug a hole and crawled in it for a month.

I was so embarrassed. There is no sting quite like being young and thinking you’re the wisest person who ever lived, and then getting that reminder that nope — you’re just a goofy kid. 

But if you remember one thing from this letter, remember this: Keep being that goofy kid. 

Don’t let this industry steal your soul. 

And yes, it is an industry. When you’re young and you’re doing it for the pure love of it, it’s a game. But as our American culture has changed, the business side of things has creeped in younger and younger, and I want you to have your eyes open as this wave continues.

Take it from somebody who walked away from the game at 29 years old: the higher the dollar sign they’re waving in front of you, the more it’s going to cost you.

Always remember that you’re a human being before everything else. If you can find people in this industry who remember that too, then good things will happen. 

It’s funny, people ask me all the time, “How in the world did y’all go undefeated back-to-back?” 

(And yes, for those of you who were too young to remember, we really went two-and-a-half years without losing a game.)

Any time someone asks me about that stretch, I remember how hard and stressful it was. I’ve reflected on it for years, and the best answer I can give you is that we deeply cared about each other as teammates. 

If that sounds “squishy” to you, then you just haven’t gone through the battles yet. 

In order to overcome and live in that greatness day after day, you have to find something outside of yourself as motivation. 

Everybody wants it for themselves. But do you want it for the next person? Do you want it just as bad for the person sitting next to you on the bench? 

That is what we had at UConn.

It was real. And when it’s real, that’s when it’s the best.

Of all the memories I have from college, you know one of the ones that sticks out the most to me? The one that I have so much nostalgia for now, as a 37-year-old mom.... Gosh, it’s such a simple memory. 

It’s junior year at UConn, and we’re in our team apartment living room. It’s me, Kaili, Tiffany, with Tina popping in and out like she always would. It’s a fall Saturday, and we’ve got an off day, so we’re just sitting around watching football and eating sugary weekend food. 

During the commercials, nobody is really looking at their phones so I would start drumming with this empty orange soda bottle on the coffee table, just making a beat. We’d go around the room making up stupid raps, remixing nursery rhymes, remixing the car insurance commercial, just being so bored and goofy and young. 

It was the best.

We did that for hours, just sitting around and cutting up. We used to be able to just look at each other and not even say anything and we’d all start laughing. 

It wasn’t anything to be filmed or captured or commoditized. We were sitting around in our sweatpants, present in the moment. Just cozy in the boredom. 

It was a moment that was just for us. 

And that’s my prayer for you all, in this crazy world.

As you go off on this big adventure, remember to have more moments that are just for us.

Because 20 years from now, when this is all just a memory, those will be the moments that you wish you could go back and re-live.

You will want to go back to when you were sweaty and tired and sore and you had put in all that hard work, and you were just sitting around with your teammates, being bored together.

The games fade. That’s what you learn as you get older. 

The scores? You can’t even remember. 

The experiences are what will nourish you forever. 

So any time that you’re feeling overwhelmed, or not good enough, or lost, just remember this: 

This sport is not your purpose.

It’s good to feel your feelings and be present in the moment. But remember, these are games that people made up a long time ago. You’ll be putting balls in a bucket or running around a track for a season of your life.

Your purpose is more connected to who you’re becoming, and thankfully, our sports experience can help us think through these deeper questions….

What kind of teammate am I when the chips are down?

How do I respond when I feel like quitting?

Who really cares about me?

How do I handle failure?

Who am I when this is all over?

You are at the beginning of a beautiful and difficult journey. 

The path is stretched out in front of you. I remember it so well……..

I was nervous. I was excited. I was young. 

Where does this journey take you? 

That’s the mystery. That’s for you to discover.

You got this!!!

Sincerely,

Maya

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Maya Moore was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year and the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year in 2007. Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, recognizing the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community.

With an unmatched legacy that includes star alums like Maya Moore, the program celebrates young athletes who are defining the next generation of greatness through athletic excellence, academic achievement, and exemplary character, while helping propel their futures with ongoing, unmatched support and opportunities only Gatorade’s legacy in sport can provide.

To learn more about the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year program visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com and to meet the 2025-2026 Gatorade National Player of the Year winners, check out the exclusive Sports Illustrated Digital Cover feature on SI.com.