Allison Ramaley- One of the Hardest Working Student/Athletes at Hopewell High School

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Ever since she was a little girl growing up in Hopewell Township, Allison Ramaley has been active in playing sports.

That trend continued in junior high school and remains the same now as she’s completing her junior at Hopewell High School.

I think it’s safe to say that there’s not a MORE active and busier female athlete at Hopewell High School than Allison Ramaley, who’s a member of the Vikings softball, basketball and soccer programs, she plays travel softball over the summer, is involved in school clubs, the National Honor Society,  all while holding a job.

How and why does she do it? Well, Vikings Sports Now was able to get a few minutes of her free time and had the pleasure of sitting down and talking to Ramaley.

“I’ve been playing softball and soccer since I was 3 or 4 years old,” said Ramaley. “I really enjoyed soccer, and I thought that was going to end up being my favorite sport and then as I’ve grown older, it’s been softball. As far as basketball, I started playing when I was in 3rd game and continued just to play for the love of the sport and for the enjoyment of playing with my teammates.”

As far as why she continues to be involved in so many sports, Ramaley tells me that she just loves to be active along with loving sports in general. At home, she enjoys watching college softball games on television and YouTube.

“I’ve always just been an active person, particularly in sports,” says Ramaley. “Growing up, my older sisters (Megan and Katelyn) were always involved in sports, so I grew up watching them. My dad (Scott) is a sports guy, always played sports and has sports on television. I think it rubbed off on me and I grew into it.”

With basketball season just wrapped up, Ramaley is currently in softball mode for the Lady Vikings Softball team, who are currently 1-1. In the field, Allison plays third and first base but is going to be counted on to be a key member of Hopewell’s pitching rotation.

“Compared to a year ago, I think that I’ve gotten better and progressed in some of the pitches that I throw. My curveball has gotten more consistent, so has my drop ball, which has been really good lately. Overall, I believe that I’ve added 2 or 3 MPH which really helps.”

Out of all the things she does in competitive sports, Ramaley admits that pitching to a live batter is the most difficult thing she does.

“It’s definitely hard. You have to locate your pitch, if you’re throwing a curveball or drop ball, you have to have a certain spin and a certain way of gripping the ball. It’s very precise and definitely harder than anything else I do.”

Things takes a lot of practice and despite being so active, Ramaley finds time to work on getting better. During basketball, she still finds time to attend the open gym sessions with the team, along with working on her own in spare time with a catcher or her dad. Allison also gets work in during the summer with her travel team (Pittsburgh Power), where she gets a lot of work in.

Ramaley has the proper mindset that she knows in order for her to improve that she needs to find the time to put the work in. She believes that playing in the travel league is beneficial because of the increased competition she’s able to face.

“The competition level in travel is definitely harder,” said Ramaley. “These teams are put together with really good players from all over Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virgina, New York. The competition we play from all over is very good.”

Ramaley and her Hopewell Vikings teammates are off to a good start with a non-conference win over Sto-Rox and a close extra innings loss to Blackhawk. She says that their defense is very strong, the top of the rotation is solid and if they can be consistent offensively that they can be a very competitive team in 2025.

Allison started out this 2024-25 school year playing soccer, where she is the team’s starting goaltender.

Vikings Sports Now was able to watch Ramaley and her soccer teammates this year and without question, she was one of the highlights of the season as she made save after save to do her best to keep her team in the game.

Unfortunately, the Vikings didn’t win as much as they wanted to which weighed on Allison but fortunately, she had an older sister that also played goaltender to help her keep things in perspective. She calls her sister her most important role models and credits Katelyn for giving her tips with playing net.

“My older sister was a goalie, and I think that influenced my decision to play there. I used to play in the field, but I became more focused on playing goalkeeper.”

“Sometimes playing that position can be frustrating and mentally hard but at the end of the day, playing soccer is fun. A lot of times, I felt like the entire game relied on what I did in net because one shot or one goal can be the change of an entire game. So, it’s definitely hard both mentally and physically but it’s a challenge that I enjoy.”

Ramaley is very competitive and wants to win but as she’s gotten older and matured, she’s come to realize that sports are fun and that playing these different sports with friends are times and memories that she’ll have for the rest of her life. You only have four years to do it, so why not take advantage of it.

“I just love being involved in everything and being in different environments as switching from soccer is completely different than basketball and basketball is completely different than softball,” said Ramaley.

“It’s all very different but it’s all fun and rewarding to be involved in so many things, a lot of it is for my team and my friends.”

My final question is with so much going on athletically, academically and socially, how does she do it with only 24 hours in a day? Despite being so busy, Ramaley currently holds a 3.9 GPA.

“It’s not easy. Time management is key as I try to focus on my academics, athletics and my family. When and if I have free time, I’ll hang out with my friends or my boyfriend or spend time with my sisters. I work on the weekends on Saturday and Sunday nights.”

What’s the plan for after high school? Allison says that she’d like to get into the field of radiology or nuclear medicine.

If you think that’s all she wants to do, you don’t know Allision. She also wants to try and continue to play softball in college.

With her work ethic and determination, I wouldn’t be betting against her.