The following is an alumni article from the 2023-2024 Soar Magazine. Read the entire magazine here.
IN HER TIME AT SHERWOOD, JOY EARNED:
• Senior Eagle Award
• A Honor Roll
• Honor Graduate
• National Honor Society
• ACSI Distinguished Christian HS Student
• Homecoming Queen
• Senior Athlete Award
A small cross plaque adorned the wall of Joy Kendrick’s childhood bedroom. Gifted by her grandmother, the cross was etched with the words from Philippians 4:12-13, reminding Joy of her life Scripture verses.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13, NKJV).
“I would quote this verse while I was racing and out of breath, especially during my cross country days,” said the SCA ’22 graduate and talented athlete.
In the summer of 2022, that dainty plaque was packed away and traveled to Kentucky as Joy settled into college life and her first year of collegiate basketball at the University of the Cumberlands, where she was awarded a full athletic scholarship in September 2021.
In her first year of collegiate basketball, Joy played as a true freshman and excelled, and her team made it to the NAIA Sweet 16. But in her sophomore year, the UC Lady Patriots had their best season in the university’s history by winning 26 games and making it to the Final Four. During her two seasons so far at the University of the Cumberlands, Joy has played in 65 games — scoring 196 points, 90 assists, 37 steals, 14 blocks, and 80 rebounds.
During her nine years at SCA, Joy competed in cross country, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and track. She was a three-time individual state champion in cross country, and she earned team state championships in cross country, track, and middle school girls basketball. She was named All-State player and Most Valuable in multiple sports, and her impressive athletic résumé spans two pages. But when asked, Joy says her favorite sport is basketball.
Joy describes herself as “competitive, Christian, and laid back or chill,” and basketball is the place where she shines bright as a player and a leader. Early in her high school career, Joy set goals for herself, including 1,000 career points. She achieved that incredible feat and surpassed it — hitting 1,725 career points by the end of her senior season!
SCA Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Gary Oxendine coached Joy for four years. He said of her high school career, “The most impressive thing about Joy’s career point totals is the fact that she has been averaging around doubledigit assists for the last two years as well. So she is accounting for about 20 additional points per game.”
Joy’s basketball career at SCA was extensive and full of achievements and awards, but one of the biggest accomplishments she earned was building her leadership skills. As senior team captain and the oldest player of the 202122 basketball season, Joy stepped up. She had the entire team to think about, not just what she could achieve as an individual player.
The leadership role gave Joy the push to be more vocal with her opinions and encourage and instruct her teammates.
“Being a leader was important because there were no other seniors. Earning the team’s trust and their respect and wanting them to hear what I had to say was important, whether on the court or off the court,” Joy said.
This led to Joy’s senior basketball experience becoming one of her favorite seasons, and the girls varsity team felt like a family with its comradery and unity. Teammates spurred each other on and had each other’s backs.
“The way we spoke to and treated each other off the court reflected our unity on the court,” she said. “We looked out for each other.”
“It helped with chemistry, and we played well together. It was refreshing to be on a team where everyone got along and was unified.”
Not only did the varsity team feel like family, but Joy had the unique opportunity to play alongside her younger sister Julia, rising sophomore at SCA and an athlete to watch in the years to come.
“Playing with Julia was one of my favorite memories,” Joy said. “Some of the best times on the court were when we made plays together. It was awesome to play with her and watch her score.”
Another time Joy warmly remembers is playing on teams with her older siblings, specifically with her sister Anna (’19) during Joy’s freshman year.
“Playing with my older sister was amazing for me. I loved being able to talk with her about sports. It felt like she was so much older and wiser.”
Joy watched her sister Anna rally and encourage the Lady Eagles to be the best they could be during their games. Playing with Anna pressed Joy to do more as an athlete and leader.
There was an intense basketball game Joy’s freshman year with Anna that got down to the wire and ended up being a nail-biter.
Joy told the story, “We were playing at home and were down at halftime by more than 20 points. In the fourth quarter, two of my teammates ran into each other, and one broke her ankle. We were worried for her and said, ‘We’ve got to do this for Nat, and we can’t lose this game!’ We came back and tied them to go into overtime. It was an exciting moment! We came back and won the game!”
Joy’s teams made it to state both her freshman and senior years, and the Eagles won runnerup at both. That didn’t diminish the effort and time she put into those seasons and the special moments she spent with her basketball family and sisters.
Joy considered it a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to play with her siblings during her high school career. Having older siblings who thrived in athletics pressed her harder in her own career. Joy’s oldest sibling, Joshua (’17), played basketball in college. Joy played SCA soccer with older sister Catherine (’20), who received a collegiate soccer scholarship. Joy and her younger brother Caleb, upcoming SCA senior, practiced together at home and helped each other improve their basketball skills.
“I am so glad to be in a big family. There’s pros and cons to being a middle child, but it’s definitely a pro being able to compete with older siblings,” Joy said.
Participating in sports at SCA has been a family experience since Joy started cross country in middle school. There was a season when the Kendrick family turned cross country meets into mini family road trips and cheered on all six children during Saturday competitions. It’s a memory they look back on fondly.
Her parents, Alex and Christina, are Joy’s biggest cheerleaders. Alex filmed Joy’s games for their family so she could rewatch them for highlights and mistakes. Cheering on Joy, Julia, and Caleb in her senior basketball season “was definitely some of my parents favorite moments of that year,” Joy said.
SCA athletics has been a big part of Joy’s life and has given her an opportunity to cultivate relationships with her peers and be encouraged by her coaches.
“Sports has grown me in a lot of ways that I’m thankful for because it’s pushed me mentally, physically, and spiritually. I’ve had coaches and teachers pour into me,” Joy said.
“Coach Ox[endine] would always say, ‘Whether you win or lose, do it all to the glory of God.’ He would rather us keep our witness and lose every game than to win a game but lose our witness.” Joy remembers him stating this truth before every game.
Joy is currently double majoring in coaching and exercise/sports science at the University of the Cumberlands. She landed at the private Christian university through a series of Godordained events stemming from her summers playing competitive basketball with the Amateur Athletic Union.
Acknowledging that only God knows her future, Joy commented about how special it would be “if I go off to college, finish in four years, and end up back in Albany” and possibly help coach her sister Julia during her senior year of high school.
“I wasn’t able to beat the three-point record, but Julia might be able to!” Joy exclaimed.
There’s no doubt that Joy is championing the younger generation as well as her teammates in Kentucky as she continues to seek to glorify God and rely on Him for strength. Joy has already made an impact in SCA’s basketball athletes over the past two years since she graduated. She invested time with young Eagles at Kenny Roberts’ Lil Eagles Basketball Camp as well as at a summer basketball camp that several of our middle school students attended last summer.
Joy’s advice to high school athletes: “Make sure your relationships are strong with your teammates first. You’re not playing for yourself, but for the Lord. All glory to God! Push yourself in every single area: sports, life, and school. Manage time wisely. Make a lot of memories with your team — on and off the field. Make the most of your time, because it flew by so fast.”
