From navy blue to red, Mustang to Chieftain, junior transfer Amelia (Millie) Dieckman is making her mark on the activities at Yutan.

At the end of last school year, Dieckman decided it would be best to transfer due to administrative concerns that did not benefit herself when it came to sports.

“There were some issues with the administration of sports at Concordia. That just kind of left a bad taste in our mouth,” Dieckman said. “I guess we just decided that a change would be for the best.”

Along with administrative changes, Dieckman was also hoping to find stronger teams to be a part of.

“Concordia sports were always really fun, but they were just never very competitive. We just didn’t have as much talent in that area as Yutan does,” Dieckman said. 

When her family started looking for a new house, they realized they had other connections to the Yutan area.

“When we came to look at this area, everything just started to fall in line,” Dieckman said. “My grandma used to teach here back in the day, and the head coach for volleyball had recently coached me over the summer for club, so one thing led to another.”

Even though she was a new student this year, Dieckman wanted to add her personal drive and commitment to the teams she’s part of.

“My personal goal is probably just to contribute to the teams as much as possible,” Dieckman said.

Dieckman participated in volleyball during the past fall season. She felt like she has improved a lot since last year and contributed to the team in a blocking and hitting standpoint.

“Obviously being six feet tall helps a lot, but I feel like through my improvements, I helped improve the team as well,” Dieckman said.

Senior Bella Tederman, a defensive player on the 2023 volleyball team said she has been a very important part of the team during the past season.

“As a defensive player, she played a crucial part in the front row through her blocking. Playing defense is a lot easier when you don’t have to play off of hits the whole time,” Tederman said.

Now that volleyball is over, Dieckman is bringing her talents to the basketball team.

Head girls basketball coach Clay Carlton is already noticing that she has something positive to add to this season’s basketball team.

“Amelia is an awesome teammate, hard worker, willing to out of her comfort zone and a talented kid,” Carlton said.

It’s not just her personal qualities that will be beneficial, however, as she also adds height to the teams she’s involved in.

“Amelia adds some height the Lady Chieftains have lacked in years past,” Carlton said.

During this upcoming basketball season, Dieckman hopes to help in whatever area she can, whether that be from a role model perspective, height wise or on the court.

“I just hope to help in any way coaches need me to,” Dieckman said.

Even though she’s only been here for half of a year, Dieckman is enjoying her experience at Yutan.

“I’m definitely getting to be part of a good environment and having good team chemistry throughout all of the seasons,” Dieckman said.