Every year, a select group of Bridgewater-Raritan High School students verbally announce their commitments to a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division 1 sport.
Junior Giada Catanzaro recently announced that she will be playing lacrosse collegiately at Virginia Tech, starting in 2026.
In order for her to be able to make such a strenuous commitment, she prides herself in a healthy and productive lifestyle. When shadowing her on a typical day, her dedication showed.
Catanzaro starts her day at 6:30 a.m. and follows through with her basic routine: getting dressed, brushing her teeth and making her bed. For breakfast, she makes a hearty smoothie with rich nutrients such as bananas, protein power and her secret ingredient: “half a cup of Greek yogurt because it is full of antioxidants to satisfy you for the rest of the day.”
When attending school, Catanzaro maintains high grades in four of her Advanced Placement classes, earning a cumulative grade point average of 4.3.
“I take my academics very seriously,” Catanzaro states. “As a student athlete, it is important to be able to balance out schooling with sports.” During school, she strives to finish her homework to clear up her busy afternoon.
After a lengthy school day, Catanzaro is off to practice. Throughout the full year, she has at least one practice per day, whether it be high school or club field hockey and lacrosse. Giada has been a starting player since freshman year, playing attack and contributing to the offensive success. After practice, she has a light snack of apples and nuts to remain energized.
Despite her day already being action packed, Catanzaro takes her physical training very seriously. She attends the gym on a daily basis to remain in shape for the upcoming season.
“When I am out of season I lift as strong as I can to be ready for in season,” she said. Upon her workout, she puts two scoops of protein powder in her water to gain muscle.
When Giada gets home around eight o’clock, she then finishes all of her school assignments and prepares for the next day. Once a week, she prepares for her meal plans, which include “lots of protein such as chicken, rice for carbs, and of course fruits and vegetables.”
When discussing the commitment process with Catanzaro, she notes the hardest part of the ordeal is staying confident.
“It can be hard when you have a good plan such as getting into a good school with a high division,” she said. “However, one thing I have learned is that you can’t compare yourself to others as it just distracts you from creating the best version of yourself.”
At Virginia Tech, Catanzaro plans on majoring in data analytics, corresponding to her current computer science classes at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
She is looking forward to the atmosphere of the university, mentioning that: “When looking at schools, I thought about whether or not I could see myself there with or without playing lacrosse.”
To any underclassmen looking to commit, Catanzaro wants to emphasize that, “Everything happens for a reason. How and wherever you end up is where you are meant to be.”
She thanks all of her coaches and teachers who got her to this point of her athletic career, and holds the mindset of “not comparing yourself to others as we all have our own paths in life.”
