Volleyball team captain
“Helena’s strength and confidence set the bar high for our team, and she is an example of what hard work and being coachable can achieve.  Helena left us all cheering and inspired.  Her killer serve built fear into the hearts of our opponents.  Helena is a great leader because she is a great listener and a kind Team Captain who helped to build a sense of team spirit.  Helena took her role as Team Captain to heart and shared that heart with us more than I could have ever imagined.  Helena, thank you for being such a great leader, a great Team Captain, and for being our inspiration this year.  I couldn’t be prouder.”
— Nancy Brookhart Cherin, University of Illinois three-time Volleyball All-American and 2018 Hall of Fame inductee, Helena’s Middle School Volleyball Coach
“Excellence is a habit we choose to make in life. Thanks for always showing your Blackbelt excellence in class.” — Po1 Team
Years of lessons at Deep Blue have made me a great swimmer. I’ve participated in track-and-field and volleyball on my school teams. I’m strongly committed to the Martial Arts and continue to practice karate at the Power of One, where I recently earned my Blue Belt. I’ve competed in a number of tournaments and even earned medals as you can see in the pictures. I’ve also been a proud member of the prestigious Black Belt Club at my dojo which means that I’m also trained in weapons!
I come from an athletic family.  My Papa was a rower in college and my Daddy is a 20-year-veteran lifeguard.  My 86-year-old Grandma still runs races and has more trophies than any of us!  I have tried several sports to see which one I will like and commit to for life.  After doing soccer, track-and-field, volleyball, and karate I have decided that the ones for me are volleyball and karate!
(Above) My first year in volleyball was a success!  I learned a lot and I am back for my second year and am a starter!  (Below) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a family affair for the Donato-Sapp family!  We are serious about our karate and take classes seven times a week!
I think my love of dance has something to do with my love of karate.  Learning dance moves and karate techniques are really a lot alike!  Even though I am a 2nd-degree Purple Belt now, when I was a brand new White Belt I did karate as my performance for the school talent show.  I didn’t know it then, but I was doing pretty advanced moves for someone who had only been in karate a few weeks!  I attribute that to my ability to learn dance steps.  I did my moves to Sia’s song Titanium because I like songs about being empowered.  Watch the performance below!
