Narbonne High School senior Amber Hart has used strength and toughness to excel in basketball, she has used her intelligence (3.6 grade point average) to gain acceptance into Ohio State University and the University of Connecticut, and she has used her artistic abilities to learn how to play the piano. Now she has joined the track team, and she is quickly becoming a good shot putter.
Confidence is a reoccurring theme in Hart’s life. Standing at only 5’5”, she switches between small forward and power forward, which are positions typically reserved for taller players. Her strengths on the basketball court are defense and rebounding, where she has to use great strength and will power to compete with larger opponents.
“People think that height is everything,” Hart continued. “But if you’re small and you know what you’re doing, than you can outdo people who are way bigger than you. Your height doesn’t matter. If you play smart and with confidence, you don’t have to be tall. Just be good.”
Narbonne head coach Victoria Sanders has appreciated Hart’s efforts.
“She works really hard,” Sanders said. “Kind of reminds you, more so on the defensive end, of a Charles Barkley on the rebounding. That’s her forte, is getting in there and doing the dirty work.
The comparison to Barkley is fitting, as he was a good six to eight inches shorter than many of the power forwards that he played against in the NBA, but his toughness and willpower made him a great player.
With Hart’s physical strengths and mental toughness, she can at times be the team’s enforcer. A player who has to be physical with the opponent to set the proper tone for the game.
The toughness and confidence was instilled in Hart when she first started playing basketball at 11 years old. Her older brother was playing on a club team, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps. When she was asked by one of the coaches in the organization to play on a coed team, she jumped at the chance to play, even though most of the players on the team were boys.
“There was a good amount of time where I was the only girl playing against all-boys teams,” Hart said. “At first it was hard, because they were physically stronger than me. So my coach said that you’re either going to have to toughen up or find a different sport. I didn’t like that, but I did it. I toughened up, and then I started running boys over. And that’s how I became so strong.”
When Hart showed up at Narbonne as a freshman, coach Sanders immediately placed her on the varsity team. That year the team went on to win the Los Angeles City Section championship, and Hart was named most improved player after the season was over.
“Just getting that type of recognition from a coach like coach Vicky, it was amazing,” Hart said. “Because I know the players that she’s coached, what they’ve gone off to do, to know that she said that I’m most improved, that was amazing.”
Hart’s mother played volleyball when she was younger, and her father also played a few sports. Her father also influenced her musically, as he played in the band at Locke High School, learned how to play the drums, and now works for a drum company. That led to Hart taking up the piano, where she has taken lessons, and she also teaches herself.
Hart is not done with her athletic career at Narbonne, as she has just now taken up shot put.
“She didn’t realize how strong she was until I told her to go out for shot put,” Sanders said.
Academically, Hart has a simple way of achieving a 3.6 grade point average.
“I do my work,” Hart said. “I turn my work in on time. I never give my teachers a hard time. I don’t suck up, but I simply do what the teachers ask of me. I put my work first. If there is anything that my parents force me to do, it’s put my work first.
“I make sure that I’m secure academically just so that I can play sports,” Hart continued. “And in the career path that I want to pursue, I have to be strong academically. I just have a lot of motivations that’s making me stay on the right path.”
Hart is also interested in science, and wants to be a paramedic after she completes college.
