Baileigh Sinaman-Daniel could have taken her ball and gone home when she was cut from her high school team. Born without a right arm, Baileigh isn’t like that. She bounces back.
Baileigh on the Jennifer Hudson Show
Baileigh got into basketball because she had a crush on LeBron James; that led to her actually taking up the sport.
“I’m very stubborn,” says Baileigh, so when her high school coach cut her from the team, “I had to prove this man wrong.” She applied to college athletics herself, putting herself on recruitment pages. “I don’t need a thousand yeses,” she recalls. “I just need one.” She got one, and went on to play for Warren Wilson College. Then she was ready to step up again, and threw herself into the transfer portal. She didn’t expect much, until Lesley University came calling with another yes. Lesley University seemed a good fit with its motto of I Would Have Perished Had I Not Persisted.
Baileigh had scored two free throws at Warren Wilson College, but in December, Baileigh did something that Lesley University Athletics believes made sports history.
On December 4 vs Fitchburg State, Bailey was passed the ball by Ahidali DeHuelbes, and made the basket. After much research, Lesley University believes Baileigh made a historic shot, and is the first woman with her kind of disability to make a basket in play.
The Lynx asked Baileigh if she realized what she did at the time. She did not. She didn’t realize it until she saw the look on the face of Coach Martin Rather, and he called time. She says her achievement is her coach’s, because Rather boosted her confidence as a player and person, and let her achieve this height.
Baileigh says “It didn’t click in my head, that I just made history. Coach Rather texted me after the game. He said, ‘I hope you know you just made history tonight.' That’s when I realized, this is probably a really big deal!”
Oh, Baileigh plays Lynx Volleyball, too.