South Fayette’s Daniella Neve Talks Work Ethic, Competitiveness, and Focus
Class of 2030 Infielder Daniella Neve
Daniella Neve is a class of 2030 infielder from South Fayette High School in the Pittsburgh area of McDonald, Pennsylvania. Neve is already a standout athlete, and as an eighth grader she plays on the Unity Attard/Johnson 16u team.
Neve spoke with me after I had the chance to catch them in Dalton, Georgia last weekend. As you can imagine, she is a hard worker that is always focused on getting better.
“Every time I train and step on to the field, my main focus is to compete against myself, be better than I was yesterday and execute what I practiced. I love training and like Kobe Bryant said, Prove them wrong” said Daniella.
To start, I would be remiss if I did not mention the people that make it all possible for Daniella Neve, her parents. When I asked how the support and buy in to her process has been, she credited them for being all in.
“My family support is so amazing. They simply match my energy for this sport. When it comes to practice, training and education, they support every opportunity for me to succeed,” she said.
What about her student athlete life at South Fayette. The focus and determination is there for hard work as well, probably even more than on the field. Neve carries a 4.0 GPA in an academically rigorous path. Her coach, Olet Stasko, also expects the best out of her players on and off the field.
“Since Kindergarten, I have had a relationship with my high school coach, Olet Stasko. It starts at the top in her program of what she expects from her student athletes and the results she gets on the field. We are a 5A school, competing in one of the most competitive divisions,” she said.
“The culture is amazing. Academically, my school is very rigorous and ranked among some of the top schools in the country. I have a 4.0 GPA and when graduating from my high school, you are prepared for college.”
Neve makes the second softball player that I have spoken to this week who looks up to a certain player. It shows that they put out more than just great softball players in the Oklahoma program. They are great as people as well.
“When I was very young and growing my social media platform, Jayda Coleman would watch my videos and reach out and give me great mentoring advice,” Neve said. “She always told me to play the game at a fast pace and I never forgot that. Her advice is one of the reasons that I push myself to play older than my class.”
That is powerful and makes you feel good as a person to know such a high level player like Olympian Jayda Coleman takes time to help out the younger generation.
Back to Unity Attard/Johnson, as I have heard from other players and seen, it is a great program to be a part of and Daniella echoed that with much gratitude.
“Playing for Unity Attard/Johnson 16u has been such a positive and rewarding experience. As an eighth grader playing with sophomores, I have been welcomed onto the team and treated just like every other player in the 2028 class. Playing with the older class, I am learning so much about the small details of the game,” said Neve.
“The culture and environment that Coach Josh and Coach Adam have made has been beyond my expectations. I am smiling a lot while I am playing. We are going head to head with the best competition in the 2027 and 2028 class in every tournament.”
Those are great words from Daniella Neve’s experiences. As one of the top class of 2030 players in the country, the future is as bright as can be for her.
