Pratt: Self-Disciplined and Focused

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Sharde Pratt doesn’t have the typical schedule of a teenager, but most around the Kaiser High School athletic program will tell you that she isn’t your typical teenager either.

“I wake up 10 minutes before school starts (at 7:30) and I don’t really get home until 9 at night,” said Pratt.

After a full day of classes at Kaiser, she heads to track practice at 3 p.m. She is throwing the discus this spring, her first attempt at the sport, and has proven an instant success, having taken second at the recent Honolulu Marathon Association Track and Field Meet. From the track, she heads to the school gymnasium for basketball practice. Returning home at 6:30 only long enough to eat a quick dinner, she is back at Kaiser by 7 p.m. for hula.

“Then I do my homework and go to bed,” said Pratt, who competed on the Kaiser volleyball and softball teams as well.

These days, Pratt’s emphasis is mainly on basketball. She is winding down a great high school career in which she started all four of her years at Kaiser en route to establishing herself as one of the state’s top players. In her sophomore and junior seasons, she helped Kaiser finish third and second, respectively, in the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s post season, while earning a trip to the state tournament both of those years. She was also a member of the Hawaii Select traveling all-star team that captured the Vision Sports Youth National Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas last July under Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado, where she was remembered as much for her ability as for being the ideal teammate.

“Sharde has an infectious smile - she lights up the team when she’s smiling and having fun playing,” said Furtado. “On the court, she’s a combination of strength and athleticism. She can do a lot of damage, offensively.”

This week, the Cougars begin OIA Tournament play with a first round game set for Tuesday. Pairings for the tournament were to be announced over the weekend. The four semifinalists from the OIA earn automatic berths in the upcoming Hawaiian Airlines Division I Girls State Basketball Tournament. An additional berth goes to the fifth-place team by way of a play-in game. A third straight appearance in the state tournament would be a fitting ending for Pratt, who was the lone returning starter from last season.

“This has been the best time of my life,” she said of Kaiser. “I’ve learned a lot from all my coaches - past (Lisa Mann) and present (Glenn Higuchi) and all of my teammates.”

Although a youthful supporting cast has surrounded Pratt this year, the season has not been without its memorable moments, highlighted by Kaiser’s 53-49 win at Kahuku April 4, the first for the Cougars over the Lady Red Raiders in Pratt’s career.

Pratt credits her competitiveness in part to the time she spent with older brother, Steven, in the family driveway.

“Every day, I used to be out there with him playing basketball or throwing the football back and forth so he could get in his repetitions,” she said of her brother, a former Kaiser quarterback.“I try to beat him every time in basketball, although I don’t do it very often,” she laughed.

The Pratt family remains very close and is rich in local history. Pratt was raised by her grandmother Leolani, who is descended from the Kamehameha line. Pratt’s grandfather, the late Vernal Pratt, was a descendent of the missionary Gerrit Judd.

It was her father, Steven Sr., through whom she found her love of basketball.

“I used to watch basketball with my dad all the time,” she said. “I watched his games and my broth-er’s games because I wanted to be with him. My dad is my inspiration in everything I do.”