The parents of Rebecca Andrews probably can't wait until the 16-year-old gets her driver's license. The sophomore at Los Altos logs a lot of mileage as a two-sport athlete during the winter season, requiring constant shuttles to practices and games.

And that responsibility often involves mom and dad.

"They're basically just the greatest," Andrews said. "Sometimes they have to come home from work or something, and pick me up from soccer and drive me to basketball. And I have two brothers, so it's not like it's just me. They have to take care of everyone in the family, too."

Her first "doubleheader" was Friday. That meant a 3:30 p.m. kickoff for supremacy in the upper realm of the Santa Clara Athletic League -- the De Anza Division.

Last year's champion in the SCVAL was undefeated until Friday, when the upstart Eagles toppled Los Gatos 1-0 to take sole possession of first place. The celebration lasted long enough to catch a ride from Los Altos to Cupertino, where the girls basketball team had a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.

"That was the first time, and I was pretty tired afterwards," Andrews said. "I slept in pretty late on Saturday."

The Eagles have yet to lose on the hardwood in the El Camino, the lower tier of the SCVAL. It was a division Mountain View was expected to dominate, but instead rival Los Altos provided a rude awakening Jan. 9 with a 41-37 triumph.


That was the second game back on the basketball court for Andrews, who missed December recovering from a torn MCL -- an injury that kept her out a bit longer in soccer because an errant slide tackle was more likely to aggravate the knee injury.

Everyone involved is concerned about the physical toll. But Andrews had a good understanding of what she was getting herself into.

"It's not just time management, but sometimes you have to give up fun things, like hanging out with your friends," Andrews said. "So if you don't love being there, you're going to have a hard time. Because that's basically like your free time -- the other practice, the other game.

"If someone else wanted to do it, they'd have to think about how much they really want to be there."

Soccer is the priority. Kevin Lee knew this, but after Andrews spent the summer playing with the Eagles, the girls basketball coach at Los Altos was prepared to accept her in a limited role.

"A lot of the girls came from Egan, so they know each other back from middle school," Lee said. "So they all know her and appreciated her."

The juggling act starts with help from mom, who along with Andrews looks at the schedule to plan the itinerary for each week. Then an email is sent to Lee, who gets the slashing guard for roughly 50 percent of the time compared to the rest of the roster.

"All the players know I'm not missing it for fun," said Andrews, who attends basketball practices on the weekend plus the occasional day off from soccer and plans to wear her uniform every Friday night.

"When she comes into the game, she takes our defense, gives it a spike and we go to the next level," said Lee, who praised her court awareness and basketball IQ. "Then, on the offensive end, she's a threat to shoot the ball any given moment. ... She's very talented, very gifted and very athletic. And she has a lot of endurance."

Whenever there's a conflict, the 5-foot-5 bundle of energy belongs to Armando Luna, the girls soccer coach at Los Altos.

"For soccer, at least it's nice that the games are before and the practices are earlier," said Andrews, who roams the midfield. "So at least for him I look like I'm at 100 percent most of the time."

After Friday's doubleheader, Saturday was spent recharging the batteries and Sunday was spent catching up on homework. Andrews doesn't know if she will continue this little experiment beyond sophomore year, when her academic agenda will intensify.

"The hardest thing is you get so tired," Andrews said. "You just kind of want to take a nap, but you have to play the game. And you want to be there, it's just you're tired."

"I think we're waiting for that time when we don't see that energy from her," Lee said. "We want her to slow down because she plays with so much energy."

Winning provides the necessary fuel, and Los Altos finds itself atop the basketball and soccer standings at the midway point of both league campaigns. And with the Central Coast Section playoffs less than a month away, each victory gets the Eagles closer to the postseason.

"Every time that we win a close game or something, it makes it worth it," Andrews said. "I mean, I'm tired at the end of the day. But right before the game ends and we're winning and right when the whistle blows, I just feel so happy that I'm there."

The time to rest was over by Monday, when morning was spent at basketball practice while a two-hour soccer practice began at noon.

Driving duties belonged to dad, while mom looked after her younger brothers.

"One of them is 10, so you just can't leave him at home," Andrews said.

At least there are plenty of games for him to watch.

Email Vytas Mazeika at; follow him at

Rebecca Andrews

Los Altos soccer and basketball

Favorite food: Shrimp

Favorite TV show: Psych

Favorite movie: Matilda

Favorite music artist: Imagine Dragons

Favorite soccer team: Stanford women

Favorite basketball team: Boston Celtics

Favorite leisure time activity: Hanging out with friends

Favorite class: English