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EMORY, Va. — Patrick Henry senior Avery Maiden is an all-state volleyball player, track standout and talented at basketball, a 4.0 student and is involved in numerous school and community activities. Yet, Crystal Miller, a counselor for Highlands Community Services, in addition to being the new volleyball coach for the Rebels, describes her in one word … kind.
“She is naturally gifted as a wonderful human being,” Miller said. “She is always kind to everybody. She is always smiling, she is always positive, she is always trying to be uplifting to someone else genuinely, and not for anything in return, it is unconditional. I think that makes her very, very unique.”
Maiden doesn’t feel like that makes her special. She is just following the Golden Rule.
“That is what I want to display because that is Jesus shining through me. Kind, that is like He is, that is what I want to be,” Maiden said. “I want people to be kind to me and I want to be kind to them. Like Matthew 7:12 says, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. I just think it makes you so many friends. I can’t just look at somebody and not be kind to them because I know they are a person and I am a person and I just love them.”
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It would be easy for Maiden to complain. She was born with an Autoimmune disease, which often left her feeling tired, fatigued, suffering from headaches and dealing with anxiety issues. Her mother, former Patrick Henry three-sport standout Billie (Hart) Maiden, found a diet composed of vegetables, meats and fruits that proven to be a life-changer for her middle daughter.
“It has been hard, especially before I started my diet, I would run down really easily,” said Maiden, whose sister, Ella, was the Pappy Thompson Award winner in 2021. “My freshman year in volleyball, I had to constantly be eating. Between sets I would be stuffing food in my mouth. Once I started my diet I had more energy, but I couldn’t do it without my mom because she makes all of my food.
“I can’t just run out and get something fast at the grocery store. She has to put it all together. It is like another little joke with my coaches, it is my little magic lunch box and it has a bunch of my little foods in it, even something they call Avery-aid. It is Gatorade, but it is for Avery. It is something my mom puts together so I carry it with me whenever I am at my meets and games.”
Maiden was homeschooled before deciding to join her sister, Ella, at Patrick Henry as a freshman. Perhaps her biggest challenge was simply following the footsteps of Ella, who led Patrick Henry to the state volleyball championship in 2018 and state track title in 2019. In addition, her mother was a legend with the Rebels, while her father, Steven, played baseball and wrestled.
“It definitely felt like I had pressure on me to be as amazing as them because I respected them and I have always been so proud of them,” Maiden said. “Obviously I didn’t see my mom play, but I have heard so much about her and obviously being so proud of my sister. I was like there was a lot of pressure for me to be as good as them, but I think over my time at Patrick Henry, I just realized I am different. I don’t have to be all of things they are, but I feel like I have been similar to them so I have been thankful for that.
“It is definitely large shoes to fill, but they are good shoes to fill. I have tried to walk my best in their paths.”
It’s safe to say Maiden has done just fine in many ways.
“Avery is a bright young lady. She has the personality to positively affect any situation that she is involved with,” Patrick Henry principal Andrew Hockett said. “Whether it is on the athletic field, in the classroom or in the community, Avery brings an infectious energy in all that she does that positively influences those around her.”
Maiden won her own state championship on the track, combining with Ella to help the Rebels win the crown in 2021. Ella competed in seven events in one day, while Avery did her part as well, with the duo combining for nearly 100 points.
“It was surreal because we had such a small team, only seven girls. It was so much fun because I was busy the whole day running back and forth to my events. Once I realized we had won it was amazing because it was also Ella’s senior year so it made it really special that she was going out winning it,” Maiden said. “It was also just fun knowing we had more to come, I had two more years left. I loved it because we had such a small knit little group of seven people and it was just fun. I loved it.”
That came one year after the Rebels couldn’t defend their title in 2020 due to COVID-19 canceling the season and she missed much of last season with a sports hernia. She is back for one more season, competing in the pole vault — an event she hated, but now loves — hurdles, relays and jumping events. All while serving as a leader and always working to help others develop their skills.
“She does anything we ask her to. I know there are probably a couple of events she doesn’t like, but she does them anyway,” Patrick Henry track coach Mark Love said. “She does a great job at it, she works hard and she is our main scorer and she is also the person that everybody looks up to. She is a motivator without having to say anything, you just watch her work. You can see how much she wants to win and do well. She has overcome a lot with the injuries she had last year which set her back, but she is slowly getting back to the form that she was at.”
She is more than an athlete.
Maiden is a member of the National Honor Society, Washington County Community Scholars Program, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is a Soar Scholar at Virginia Highlands Community College where she takes dual-enrollment courses and has also served as a tutor at Rhea Valley Elementary School. She is also part of the Student Council Association, raised nearly $2,000 for students in need as a member of the homecoming court last winter and is part of the Kickball Club, which benefits a local food bank.
“Avery is a person of great character and the highest integrity. She exudes positivity, humility and kindness in all that she pursues,” Patrick Henry athletic director Sarah Helton said. “Her academic and athletic résumé speaks to a list of extraordinary remarkable life accomplishments; and she is certainly worthy and deserving of such recognition. Because of her strong interpersonal qualities, she builds bridges amongst her teammates and friends; and through these leadership qualities, her disposition creates a level of accountability amongst her peers, often in a positive manner.”
There is more. Maiden performed for years in the Barter Youth Academy, has been on mission trips with Abingdon Bible Church and is also member of the Southwest Virginia Elite Volleyball Club.
“She is very musically and artistically talented. She can sing, she can act. There are academics and athletics and that is great, but there is this whole other area that unfortunately we don’t have a lot of opportunities here for our kids to get involved in that way,” Miller said. “There is just nothing she can’t do. She is just gifted in everything that she does. I think there is just a lot of natural ability that God has given her, but she is always working to refine it, always looking for self-improvement.
“Knowing her parents I know that is something they instilled in her and she is humble. She would rather talk about her teammates and her coaches or someone else because she is not about the glory. She comes to work every day and that is just Avery. She doesn’t want attention and she doesn’t see herself as special. We do, but she doesn’t necessarily see that.”
Her future is set. Maiden plans to join Ella on the volleyball team at Milligan University, while working toward a degree in the Health Sciences field.
“I used to want to be a vet when I was little, but then I really thought, ‘why would I be helping animals when I could be helping people.’ That is my main thing,” said Maiden, who cares for animals on the family farm. “I just want to be able to help people. Where I have struggles with health issues I feel like it would just be fitting for me to help others find their success in life, helping with their own health. That is just something I have always loved and just having compassion for other people. I love people and being around them so I just think that would fit me well.”
