Naiomi Stavast

The Room to Grow

A first-year player brings a big scoring memory and an appetite for a harder challenge.

Naiomi Stavast scored 55 points at provincials and made the all-star team. Her Grade 11 season had already brought a zone championship and qualification for that stage.

At the end of it, the work felt worth it.

It’s an impressive memory to bring into college basketball. Naiomi’s advice, though, is to keep finding environments where being impressive doesn’t let you stop improving.

“Never be the best in the room,” she says.

For her, the point is to seek a challenge. Play with people who make you stretch. Give yourself another level to learn.

Her own development changed in Grade 8, when a former university player began training her. That investment offered instruction and inspiration together: someone who knew the next level was putting time into helping her approach it.

The training gave the sport a more definite direction. She had someone willing to put effort into her progress, and an example of the level that progress could eventually reach. The later zone title, provincial all-star selection, and 55-point performance were achievements she could recognize as the work taking shape.

Those memories provide confidence entering St. Mary’s, but Naiomi does not want confidence to become comfort. Her advice about the strongest player in the room is an invitation to keep seeking instruction and competition that require more. She wants a setting that gives her reasons to improve rather than one where she can be satisfied with what she has already done.

Now entering her first year of eligibility with the Lightning, Naiomi wants to become stronger and more consistent, and make a reliable contribution. Her ambitions include academic success alongside high-level basketball.

Family, personal goals, and the desire to improve keep her motivated. She imagines success as growth she can feel proud of, goals reached, and opportunities used well.

Softball has also been part of her life since childhood. Away from team competition, she often resets through time alone—a run or a workout that gives her space to settle without the noise of a busy day.

The scoring record is one part of her game. The legacy she wants is broader: a strong, consistent teammate who brings positive energy to the group.

Consistency is central to the goal. A spectacular performance is memorable; reliability has to be established over repeated practices and games. Naiomi wants teammates to feel they can expect effort and support from her, alongside whatever contribution the basketball needs that day.

Her academic ambitions belong beside that athletic work. She wants to succeed in college while continuing to compete at a high level, making good use of the opportunity as a whole. The goals are connected by the way she describes success: growth she can be proud of, and the sense that she did something with the chances she received.

Naiomi knows what it feels like to have the preparation come together on a big stage. University basketball offers a new room, new people to learn from, and another reason to keep working after the numbers are recorded.