Like many kids, Alli Lindsay’s early childhood started out with playing a lot of sports. From the early age of three, Lindsay’s parents had her already involved in three of them. Although there is nothing particularly special about that, at the age of seven, Lindsay would find out something that would change her life forever.

“When I first got told that I had Type-1-Diabetes, I honestly had no idea what it was and I guess I’m still understanding what that really means to this day. I am always finding out new information about it and learning new stuff along the way. It’s definitely a set back for me,” Lindsay explained.

From a young age, Lindsay would always play multiple sports at one time: she would play Upward Basketball, TYA Soccer, and TYA Softball– but a lot of uncertainty arose after getting diagnosed with diabetes.

“I did not know if I was going to be able to continue on playing sports or not. And I would always attend these camps as a kid and I’d meet other diabetics and they would always tell me that I can’t just let this get in my way because this is something that I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life,” Lindsay said.

But any uncertainty about her ability to participate in athletics seemed to dwindle at around the age of eight when Lindsay had an opportunity to compete in a national skills competition hosted by the NBA Cares foundation called “Dribble, Dish, and Swish.” It was also at this time where Lindsay would forge a lifelong mentorship bond with the founder of CAL Sports Academy.

“Alli has developed some distinguishing traits in her young career. She has pushed herself into a phenomenal athlete with an inner desire to succeed. I’m super proud to be called ‘Coach Corey,’ it warms my heart to have witnessed her growth from four years old to this very moment. One moment that I will never forget was in 2012 when she won the Dribble, Dish, and Swish competition hosted by the NBA/WNBA, the preparation and hard work to advance at each level of the competition to winning the final round was daunting. Allison Lindsay, I’m beyond proud of you!,” CAL Sports Academy founder, coach Corey Lord said.

“You’d take layups, dribble in between cones, pass into a tire, and go in between cones again to the free-throw line to shoot a foul shot and you had to complete all of those steps as quickly as you could because it was timed,” Lindsay explained.

“I started at the local competition where I was the only one there that was my age. Then I went to the regional one which was held at the 76ers’ practice fieldhouse which is somewhere in Philly. Then after winning that, my family was grateful enough to be flown to Orlando Florida and we went to all of the NBA All-Star festivities,” Lindsay explained furthermore.

In the final, Lindsay would face off against another girl her age, and to no surprise– she came back home with the trophy. But before she returned home, she got to meet and get her picture take with future NBA hall-of-Famer, Dwayne Wade.

“That experience definitely helped with my self-esteem because so many people congratulated me. I remember my entire elementary school, General Nash, cheered me on. There were posters on the walls and it was just amazing. And after I came back I felt as if everybody knew who I was so it definitely boosted my confidence,” Lindsay added on.

Up until this point, it may seem like being a diabetic does not affect Lindsay– but that would simply be a lie.

“There have been many instances where my blood sugar has caused me to miss practice. There have been times where I had to sit out or not attend because my blood sugar was too low or too high to the point where something could happen to me,” Lindsay explained.

During Lindsay’s freshman year, her sugar levels kept fluctuating between high and low to the point where she had to show up late to a game because she literally could not get out of bed. And at the very start of her sophomore campaign, in an opener against Perkiomen Valley, Lindsay suffered a Hypoglycemic Seizure when she woke up– which is a cause of severe low blood sugar that causes you to become unconscious. As a result, she wasn’t able to play because she had to get a whole bunch of testing done and had to stay in the hospital.

“So it has affected me so many times but I am still playing and I still feel like it is the best thing for me. If I sit down and just constantly concentrate on the fact that I am a diabetic then that does no good for me or the ones around me so I just try to keep going,” Lindsay added on.

“Mentally, it’s definitely a struggle. At any moment my blood sugar can fall too low or too high. There have been many times where I have broken down because it feels like I am alone– it feels like no one truly understands what I am going through even though I obviously know that’s not true,” Lindsay explained furthermore.

Despite domestic thoughts, Lindsay is surrounded by overwhelming support from friends, family, and coaches.

“Rob Carangi is also diabetic and his mom is my coach so she understands what I am going through. She always makes sure if I am okay and she always checks up on me. If I don’t look like I am not doing well, she knows that it has something to do with my diabetes because she knows the signs– which is really nice to have,” Lindsay said.

“As far as her diabetes, if you didn’t know Alli was diabetic, you would have no idea watching her compete. As the mom of a diabetic, I pay particular attention to her blood sugar, but she is seamless in her handling of it. Occasionally, she’ll tell me her blood sugar is low, so she’ll step off the court for a few plays, but once she gets it back to normal levels, she jumps right back in,” coach Carangi added on.

Lindsay’s relentlessness and persevering attitude resulted in a high school career that started earlier than most, starting varsity as a freshman. Lindsay recalls many fond memories and even not so fond memories.

“Whether that be by making jokes during practice, pasta party’s, or even banter with one another on what happened during games, it was just the best. Obviously this year much of that was put on hold but we just try to make the best of the circumstances we were given,” Lindsay explained.

But with ups, there come many downs.

“Last year when we lost in our state playoff run. It was the saddest moment I’ve experienced in the locker room. Because I’ve been playing with some of those girls for my entire life and it was over. It was hard to come to terms with the idea that I’d never play in an organized game with them ever again in my life. We can always play pick-up but that’s not the same. So Me, Carley, Katie, and Alaina were the last ones out of the locker room because we just couldn’t stop crying,” Lindsay said.

Tough losses instill great leadership experience for an underclassman like Lindsay. Those situations really helped her understand what it meant to be a true leader on a team. Lindsay was able to seek knowledge from senior leadership on the court rather than during practice alone or on the bench and her leadership skills do not go unnoticed.

“Alli has been a tremendous leader for us during her 4 years in the program. A two-year captain, Alli is our only returning playing with significant experience this year, and she has been great with our younger players. We are starting 2 freshmen and Alli has been instrumental in helping them get better every game,” North Penn girls basketball coach, Jennifer Carangi.

Lindsay also makes sure to get herself involved in other sports as well and not just basketball.

“As I got older I started to realize that playing other sports would help me with basketball in the long run. With soccer I would increase my stamina and footwork, playing softball helped me with passing and seeing plays before they happened, and with Lacrosse, I feel like it’s so much similar to basketball– you set screens, run plays, etc,” Lindsay said.

In her junior year, Lindsay decided to stop playing soccer for the school because she wanted to attend the open gyms for the basketball team because she, and her teammates, felt like that year was going to be a big year and that they were going to be really good. And Lindsay wanted to focus on school– and playing three sports while trying to get a high SAT and taking AP courses was going to be a little too much. But Lindsay decided to return to the Knight’s Girls soccer team for her senior year.

“But I definitely did miss it nonetheless. I missed meeting new girls and having fun so I decided that I had to go back to soccer my senior year. And even though we didn’t have the best record, I was still able to go back and play with some of the girls who I’ve been playing soccer with since such a young age and that meant a lot to me,” Lindsay said.

Outside of sports Lindsay is involved in the National Honors Society, Key Club, and did Link Crew and Class Cabinet her junior year. A big factor in her involvement in school outside of sports is her mom.

“She always expressed to me the importance of being well-rounded in everything. She takes charge a lot, she’s a big help with the snack stands at our games and she overall is really good at coordinating everything. So I definitely think I got my urge to be involved from her,” Lindsay explained.

For future college and career plans, Lindsay has one general career path in mind.

“Ever since I was diagnosed, I knew that I wanted to help other diabetics. I’ve been through a lot of stuff with my diabetes so I could definitely help others. But I just don’t know exactly what I want to do at the moment like many kids my age. But I have narrowed my colleges down to Penn State, Jefferson, or King’s College,” Lindsay concluded.