Introducing our WXXV Student Athlete of the Week: St. Martin’s Promise Parlett!

This week’s WXXV Student Athlete of the Week truly isn’t like any other. She’s a female wrestler who’s undefeated on Mississippi soil with two state championships to her name, but that’s not even the most impressive thing about her. Instead of letting a disability hold her back, it elevates her and is her superpower. Prepare to be inspired by St. Martin’s very own, Promise Parlett!

“Wrestling has just brought out so much happiness in me!” Parlett said. “It’s made me feel a lot more confident and made me feel like no matter what I do, I can do it well if I just have some belief in myself.

That was Promise Parlett, a strong, inspiring senior at St. Martin high school who has been on a wrestling mat since she was in the first grade. To Parlett, wrestling isn’t just a sport, but a way to express herself.

“My mom thought it would be appropriate since I have autism, and a lot of what happens with autism is you have a lot of bottled up emotions, and I used to bottle up all the emotions and I have a lot of aggression, so my mom thought it would help me out,” Parlett explained. “There’s a lot of contact in wrestling, so what I do is I always have to keep headphones on and warm up by myself and I take a lot of deep breaths, and that really helps, so having people understand that really makes it so beautiful.”

Instead of autism being thought of as a disorder, her coach says it’s her superpower.

“She has the ability to zero in on the target, and the only thing that matters in that moment is the objective and achieving the objective,” said her Head Coach, Chris Hodgson. “After that, it all just goes away. It’s absolutely a super power because with all the noise and the craziness and yelling and emotions of wrestling, she handles it better than anyone we’ve ever coached.”

“Wrestling has really been just the quiet silence for me because around the world it’s very loud to me and I have overwhelming sense of hearing and my mind always runs too fast, but when I wrestle it’s just kind of quiet for second and I really get to focus on me and the other person and just taking them down I guess,” laughed Parlett.

She laughs, but that’s exactly what she does. Parlett is undefeated on Mississippi soil and has an overall record of 65-1.. She’s also a two-time state champion, but if you’re around her, you’d never know it.

“When I think about promise, the first thing I think of is in scripture, Matthew 23:12, ‘Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who are humble will be exalted.’ Promise doesn’t talk about Promise. She goes out there, she smashes, then she smiles and shakes hands and she’s the nicest kid in the world, but everyone knows who Promise is,” said Hodgson.

Not only do they know the phenomenal athlete that Promise is, but they know her team as well. The Yellowjackets are the reigning girls state champions, and they have the opportunity to add dual state champions to their resume’s on Saturday.

“I’m so proud of my team,” Parlett said. “They’ve done so much and have grown as people and they’ve helped me grow as a person, too. I’m glad to have been their captain and I’m glad that we’re continuing to win. The teamwork is just impeccable.”

Whether Promise adds a new ring to her hand or comes up just shy, she’ll always be a winner and an example to many.

“To see that not just the kids that she wrestles with, but even my six-year-old daughter, she’s inspiring to become this brave, audacious, strong woman without limitations,” Hodgson said. “When the whole world wants to put so many limitations on us, she is a person that has completely defied the odds and taken the limitations away, and that’s exactly how I want my daughter to grow up.”

“Even though I have some nerves, and a lot of that is autism or it’s also just anxiety, when I’m able to overcome it, it makes me feel so beautiful, so I really hope people with autism too can also strive to work as hard as they can and I know they’ll achieve whatever they want,” said Parlett.