by: Jordan Park and Isabella Langner

Website Manager and Center Editor

Athletic is an understatement when it comes to senior Hanna Behnami. A multi-sport competitor, Behnami has played club soccer for nearly a decade and is currently co-captain of the Los Gatos High School Girls’ Varsity Basketball Team, where she plays forward. Reflecting on the team’s season so far, Behnami notes its ups and downs, “but we’ve been back on the come up with league play starting again, and hopefully we get another league title.” 

Beyond competing, Behamni is involved in a multitude of leadership and mentorship roles connected to athletics. She is co-president of the LGHS Women in Sports Club, which is in partnership with the local nonprofit, Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI). “We basically want to help promote and increase awareness of women in sports,” Behnami explains. “We do that through volunteering with BAWSI, and then also just advocating for women in sports in general, and educating the people at our school.” Through the club, members regularly volunteer with BAWSI, helping out with sports clinics. Behnami describes the events: “It’s mainly basketball, and they’re just two-hour sessions where we go to a college campus. Then we run about four drills in rotating sets, and then once that’s done, we take [the girls] to a women’s college basketball game, and they get to cheer on the players and see basketball at a different level.”

Behnami also coaches flag football. Since she started, the league has grown from five to eight teams, as the sport gains popularity in the Bay Area. Behnami shares, “It’s quite fun. I have a lot of returning players from my team last year, and then a couple of new additions…I think it’s just really great to be able to give back to the sport that I did play before, and see kids enjoy such a new sport.” Whether it’s coaching, volunteering, or leading, Behnami values the impact she makes, adding, “I get a sense of, not accomplishment, but it’s rewarding to be able to give back to these girls.” 

She also dedicates her time to serving her community, volunteering at O’Connor Hospital for the past two years. Her job consisted of managing the front desk and overseeing patient admissions and discharges. Behnami reflects, “It gave me more insight as to how a hospital runs, the whole layout of it, and how precise you need to be.” Additionally, she has interned at the Los Gatos Orthopedic Sports Therapy Clinic. These experiences have helped her explore her passion for medicine, as she plans to major in Kinesiology or Human Biology, hoping to receive a Doctorate of Physical Therapy and eventually open her own sports therapy clinic.

Aside from her focus on sports and extracurricular activities, Behnami also prioritizes her academics, taking all AP classes this year. “I definitely think whoever said senior year was the easiest lied,” Behnami shares. She also harbors a talent for music and has played violin and piano for over a decade. With strong leadership skills, years of volunteer experience, and impressive athletic abilities, Behnami is certain to see success in her future, in any path she chooses to follow.