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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Kinsley Martin put ink to paper on Jan. 27 and signed her letter of intent to play college volleyball at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette. Martin was a three-year varsity player at Jemison High School and had her best season in her senior year tallying 98 aces, 311 kills, 190 assists and 420 digs. Martin’s performance earned her the 2022 The Clanton Advertiser Player of the Year. She was a multi-time Advertiser All-County team and Chilton County All-Tournament team honoree in her three years as a Panther.

Martin was one of 32 players selected to the 2022 AHSAA North-South All-Star volleyball game on July 22, 2022.

“It feels good (to sign) after all the stress I went through trying to get recruited, trying to pick out the right college I wanted to go to,” Martin said. “It feels good to know that is all behind me, and I am really happy and looking forward to going to college right now.”

Martin was a do-it-all type of player for Jemison in her three years playing multiple positions. That versatility is essential at the college level, and Martin already has a head start on that.

“She is a great kid who always stayed in the gym and always worked hard,” Jemison coach Melissa Baswell said. “The first year I coached her on varsity, she was just hitting for me. We had to change some things around, and she started setting for us, playing the middle and she was just a very versatile player for us.”

Martin said she learned a lot of things in her time at Jemison that she plans to take to Coastal at the college level. Being a better teammate and just having fun are the two biggest things Martin said she learned at JHS.

“Growing as a person too, and having fun,” Martin said. “You have to have fun and that is the main thing I want to do. If you make a mistake, laugh it off. Do not get in your head about it, just laugh it off and move on.”

Martin pinpointed the beach trips the Panthers took as the best memories she has had at Jemison. The trips were “a whole other level of fun.”

“Anytime I think of them, I can never think of a negative thing,” Martin said. “When you think about the beach trips, you do not think about the games you played, but the times staying in the house, the times we had fun and all the memories you make there.”

Martin is excited to see the level of competition rise at the college level and is ready to meet her new teammates and get to know the coaches at Coastal better. She said her goal is to transfer to a four-year school after her two years at Coastal, and hopefully a division one school.

“That is everyone’s dream,” Martin said. “I am definitely going to work hard and get better at every position that I can because you never know what you can go for. Just keep training, keep working hard, and hopefully, it will pay off in the end.”

Baswell said once Martin gets to Coastal she needs to remember “her reason why.”

“Continue to push herself and that hard work that got her to college and knowing to never let someone in front of her stop her,” Baswell said. “If she can continue with the work ethic that she had in high school, she will get there. Just continuing to outwork the person beside her and being a good teammate.”

Martin signed her letter of intent with the Jemison volleyball team, friends and family in attendance.