Crystal Cruz has enjoyed sports all of her life, and the sport she enjoys most is basketball.

"Every day when I was little, my dad used to take me outside to play," she said.

Crystal's hoops team eventually was coached by her father, Herbert Cruz, who had played high school ball.

And her father didn't just teach her to shoot; he also taught her to appreciate play at both ends of the floor.

"I like tough defense because it makes me feel better when I make the shot," she said. "When I first walk on the court for a game, I'm anxious for the challenge to begin."

Another sport Crystal enjoyed playing was volleyball. She played both basketball and volleyball through middle school. She decided to concentrate on basketball when he got to high school.

"I played volleyball from fifth grade to eighth grade," she said. "Then I stopped when I entered high school because my love lies in basketball, and I knew I would have to balance both school work and sports. I didn't believe I could balance everything, so I stayed with the game I love."

But then it all ended.

As a freshman at Bishop Noll High School in Hammond, Ind., Crystal sustained serious injuries in an automobile accident. Because of the back injury, she had to trade her sneakers in for a reporter's notepad.

"I sprained my back," Cruz said, "so I ended up missing the entire season."

Eventually, it was determined that she had to quit the sport that her father taught her to love.

It meant a new course for her life. Her dream of college ball had to be discarded.

But while her playing days may be over, but she intends to return to the basketball court as a journalist. Because she was a player, she knows her knowledge of the game will help her in the competitive sports journalism job market.

To achieve that goal, she first plans to go to college.

"I plan to attend Indiana State University, and I plan to major in journalism with a minor in music arts," she said. "After graduation, I want to work for a newspaper as a sports reporter."