Saxton grows up in 2 sports at Rochelle Zell
By Bill McLean
The narrative is a familiar one. The youngest in the family goes up against older siblings in sports settings and has to prove they belong once, twice, sometimes dozens of times.
Score a goal in soccer.
Or make a shot in basketball.
Or catch a pass in football.
Or fracture a pitched Wiffle ball with a plastic, Fred Flintstone-like club.
Rochelle Zell junior Noa Saxton — little sis to Ariel, 21, and Ben, 20, now a pair of University of Illinois students — has been there, achieved all of the above.
But Saxton, for years, was also the youngest competitor in her Northbrook neighborhood in all kinds of pick-up games.
Battling to earn acceptance and respect from teen veterans was more than an in-house endeavor.
“I remember somebody told me, ‘Just run fast and catch the football,’ ” said the 5-foot-7 Saxton, a forward in soccer and and basketball hoops at Rochelle Zell. “The football games we played in our neighborhood weren’t really football games; they weren’t that organized. But I was always out there, running around and having fun when football was the sport we played.”
Her primary sports today at the small, private school in Deerfield: basketball and soccer, in that order. Saxton ran cross country at RZ last fall but intends to play volleyball this fall.
“Athletic, so athletic,” Rochelle Zell girls soccer coach David Martinez said of Saxton, an all-Chicago Prep Conference soccer player as a sophomore in 2019, when the Tigers (13-2-1) captured the CPC title and reached a Class A regional championship match. “Noa is quite an athlete. Her speed — you can’t miss that in soccer or in basketball. Every basketball game, it seemed, I’d watch her steal the ball at least once at one end of the court and sprint to other for a layup.”
Saxton’s breakaway speed in soccer wore out visiting Lycee Francais de Chicago in the second match of the 2019 season. Martinez’s crew struggled early before notching a 5-0 victory.
Saxton netted two of her season’s 19 goals in the rout, dribbling and weaving rapidly for some 50 yards before beating Lycee’s keeper each time.
“Those goals, in that game, made me realize Noa’s speed would be quite a weapon for us all season,” Martinez said.
“This spring, in the four outdoor practices we were able to hold,” he added, “I could tell Noa had added power and placement to her shot.”
Alas, the coronavirus pandemic proved too powerful a foe. It forced the cancellation of spring high school sports in Illinois.
The news saddened Saxton and her mates. But it didn’t stop her from putting together a moving video for Martinez. Saxton, the director, arranged for the footage to feature each sheltered-at-home Tiger “passing” a soccer ball to a teammate.
“I was looking forward to the season,” Saxton said. “We all were. We had a real good team. We had a good team dynamic going.”
Rochelle Zell’s 2019-20 girls basketball team never had to worry about Saxton’s work ethic. Saxton worked on her shot in the gym often -- three-free-periods-per-day often.
“Noa was always in there, taking jumpers, shooting free throws, doing all she could to improve her shooting,” said Martinez, also the school’s athletic director. “I’d walk by the gym and say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’”
He’d sometimes rebound for her, Saxton said; shoot around with her, too.
“He’d give me pointers, “ said Saxton, who averaged a team-high 20 points per game last winter. “He’s not bad at basketball.”
Saxton’s offseason workout partner in soccer is RZ junior midfielder and co-captain Noa Steinbach, who paced the Tigers in goals (21) last spring and landed all-CPC honors. The go-to spot to hone their games is a local park.
“I’d shoot at a net, from different spots,” Saxton said. “We’d dribble together, do other drills together. I wanted to strengthen my legs before my junior season. I’m motivated, in both basketball and soccer, because you don’t get better at something unless you work at it consistently. Repetition … it’s important.
“Freshman year, I was only seriously interested in basketball. I started enjoying soccer more between by freshman and sophomore years.
One of her dreams?
Suiting up for a college basketball program.
Among Saxton’s interests off the court and pitch is designing buildings on paper. No longer a doodler, Saxton draws purposefully these days.
A career in architecture is a possibility.
“I like math,” she said. “You have to enjoy math in a field like that.”
There’s also an artist in her, eager to create visually appealing structures.
“If you’re an architect, you have to have a good eye,” said Saxton, whose blueprint for success in sports stretched across a variety of venues in her Northbrook neighborhood.
Just like in football, Wiffle ball, basketball and soccer.
By Bill McLean
The narrative is a familiar one. The youngest in the family goes up against older siblings in sports settings and has to prove they belong once, twice, sometimes dozens of times.
Score a goal in soccer.
Or make a shot in basketball.
Or catch a pass in football.
Or fracture a pitched Wiffle ball with a plastic, Fred Flintstone-like club.
Rochelle Zell junior Noa Saxton — little sis to Ariel, 21, and Ben, 20, now a pair of University of Illinois students — has been there, achieved all of the above.
But Saxton, for years, was also the youngest competitor in her Northbrook neighborhood in all kinds of pick-up games.
Battling to earn acceptance and respect from teen veterans was more than an in-house endeavor.
“I remember somebody told me, ‘Just run fast and catch the football,’ ” said the 5-foot-7 Saxton, a forward in soccer and and basketball hoops at Rochelle Zell. “The football games we played in our neighborhood weren’t really football games; they weren’t that organized. But I was always out there, running around and having fun when football was the sport we played.”
Her primary sports today at the small, private school in Deerfield: basketball and soccer, in that order. Saxton ran cross country at RZ last fall but intends to play volleyball this fall.
“Athletic, so athletic,” Rochelle Zell girls soccer coach David Martinez said of Saxton, an all-Chicago Prep Conference soccer player as a sophomore in 2019, when the Tigers (13-2-1) captured the CPC title and reached a Class A regional championship match. “Noa is quite an athlete. Her speed — you can’t miss that in soccer or in basketball. Every basketball game, it seemed, I’d watch her steal the ball at least once at one end of the court and sprint to other for a layup.”
Saxton’s breakaway speed in soccer wore out visiting Lycee Francais de Chicago in the second match of the 2019 season. Martinez’s crew struggled early before notching a 5-0 victory.
Saxton netted two of her season’s 19 goals in the rout, dribbling and weaving rapidly for some 50 yards before beating Lycee’s keeper each time.
“Those goals, in that game, made me realize Noa’s speed would be quite a weapon for us all season,” Martinez said.
“This spring, in the four outdoor practices we were able to hold,” he added, “I could tell Noa had added power and placement to her shot.”
Alas, the coronavirus pandemic proved too powerful a foe. It forced the cancellation of spring high school sports in Illinois.
The news saddened Saxton and her mates. But it didn’t stop her from putting together a moving video for Martinez. Saxton, the director, arranged for the footage to feature each sheltered-at-home Tiger “passing” a soccer ball to a teammate.
“I was looking forward to the season,” Saxton said. “We all were. We had a real good team. We had a good team dynamic going.”
Rochelle Zell’s 2019-20 girls basketball team never had to worry about Saxton’s work ethic. Saxton worked on her shot in the gym often -- three-free-periods-per-day often.
“Noa was always in there, taking jumpers, shooting free throws, doing all she could to improve her shooting,” said Martinez, also the school’s athletic director. “I’d walk by the gym and say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’”
He’d sometimes rebound for her, Saxton said; shoot around with her, too.
“He’d give me pointers, “ said Saxton, who averaged a team-high 20 points per game last winter. “He’s not bad at basketball.”
Saxton’s offseason workout partner in soccer is RZ junior midfielder and co-captain Noa Steinbach, who paced the Tigers in goals (21) last spring and landed all-CPC honors. The go-to spot to hone their games is a local park.
“I’d shoot at a net, from different spots,” Saxton said. “We’d dribble together, do other drills together. I wanted to strengthen my legs before my junior season. I’m motivated, in both basketball and soccer, because you don’t get better at something unless you work at it consistently. Repetition … it’s important.
“Freshman year, I was only seriously interested in basketball. I started enjoying soccer more between by freshman and sophomore years.
One of her dreams?
Suiting up for a college basketball program.
Among Saxton’s interests off the court and pitch is designing buildings on paper. No longer a doodler, Saxton draws purposefully these days.
A career in architecture is a possibility.
“I like math,” she said. “You have to enjoy math in a field like that.”
There’s also an artist in her, eager to create visually appealing structures.
“If you’re an architect, you have to have a good eye,” said Saxton, whose blueprint for success in sports stretched across a variety of venues in her Northbrook neighborhood.
Just like in football, Wiffle ball, basketball and soccer.