Alumni Spotlight: Aja Parham '06

The 2000s were a special time for Boston College women's basketball. The program made seven national tournaments over an eight-year span and transformed into one of the sport's most elite contenders. It became a beacon of the Big East, which was the country's best basketball conference, and reached a zenith in 2004 when the Eagles won the conference tournament crown.

The exploits transformed BC into a national powerhouse, and back-to-back berths in the Sweet Sixteen gave the program a road paved directly into the ACC. That's where it all continued, with two more national tournaments and a third Sweet Sixteen in 2006. The records turned the players into legends that continue to litter the record book with long professional careers both domestic and abroad.

Aja Parham remembers that era vividly. The defensive wizard helped lead BC to the Sweet Sixteen in 2004 and 2005 and served as a co-captain in each of her last two seasons. Her class helped plant the spire of BC's build to the top, holding the distinction as the first graduates of the ACC era.
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More than a decade later, Parham is still playing professionally, having moved to Australia after enjoying European success in Germany, Portugal, Spain and France. But while this year represents the winding down of her on-court exploits, her off-court success is only just beginning as the founder and lead trainer for SportsMindset, a fitness and training company based Down Under.

"(Sports training and conditioning) was always something that I was interested in, but it wasn't something that I thought about through my career," Parham said. "I was undrafted out of college, but I always wanted to play (professionally). I didn't reach my peak individual performance until later in my career. I was blessed to keep building up my basketball repertoire, so I was always growing each year. That developed my game well after college, but I was always still competing. So within my confidence in the game and playing in other countries developed SportsMindset. It was all from my experience."

SportsMindset takes a completely-rounded approach to developing its athletes. It targets both a combination of mental and physical aspects to maximize potential. It involves physical fitness, but it goes beyond that to assist athletes with awareness and confidence. It's an evolution and revolution formed from Parham's personal experiences.

"I was really thin and weak during my freshman year, so the strength component was a big part of my college experience," Parham said. "(After college), I interned with UCLA and earned all of my certifications, but it was always a concept of building a well-rounded holistic approach to training with a mental component. I worked a lot with George Mumford when I was at BC, and he was really active with a mindset about sports."

It's something that continued to blossom when she began traveling the world for her professional career. Parham's basketball travels took her from Germany to Portugal and France before she settled into an extended stint in Spain. Each location left its distinct imprint on her and became part of the larger experience of how she started training athletes, forming the basis for the SportsMindset experience.

"There's an accumulation of life experience to get (where you are), and until you sit and reflect, it's really hard to grasp," she said. "It's amazing that I've traveled the world because it helped me discover who I am and who I wanted to be as an athlete and a person. In France, for example, I was the only import on my team and didn't speak the language. So I was alone, and that isolation helped me do some self-discovery and growth. Without that, I wouldn't have been able to have the self-confidence or awareness that I pride myself on."

SportsMindset then became the outlet for how she wanted to change the sports world. It originally began as a company in Los Angeles, but Parham admitted that it became difficult to train and work with athletes while maintaining her playing career. It was a stark contrast since playing required dedication and travel that took her away from clients needing that personalized touch. All of that changed, though, when she signed in Australia.

"We ran a camp in Australia, and I was asked to play on a team during my (standard) offseason," she said. "They offered me a contract with housing and a car, and the club association I was playing with offered me their clientele. So when I came to play in Australia, it made basketball the entire base."

That allowed her to finally diverge the two interests. She played in both the WNBL and the State League, and SportsMindset was able to enjoy explosive growth. It began working with the NBL's Brisbane Bullets, assisting with speed and agility. It branched into college pathways and linked up with Global Squad in Philadelphia, exposing Australian athletes to potential college suitors. And it extended into the Aboriginal community to provide sports and recreation services.

"Everything took on a life on its own," she said. "We just kept adding where were asked to build avenues. I became a resident after a year of playing in Australia. I didn't necessarily come here for the money from playing basketball because it was during the European, but it became the avenue for everything else that has been able to transpire."

SportsMindset now enjoys an athlete community ranging from young children to professionals in their 20s. It's trained coaches and referees, but it never strays from its mission. Everyone trains like a professional athlete, which for Parham was always something she wanted to remain. It's a success story, and this past season brought everything full circle when she traveled from Australia to Chestnut Hill for the first time since leaving.

It was the program's Alumnae Day, which last year honored the memory of Parham's former BC teammate, Clare Droesch. Droesch graduated in 2005 and was inducted in the BC Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2016, but she passed away in 2018 after a long battle with cancer.

"It's crazy how long ago it all has been," she said. "It seemed like it was yesterday, but we all went through the pain and success. That was the perfect time to see everyone, to see those classes that I never had the chance to meet because I was playing overseas. Those always seemed like dead years because I was gone and never went back, so it was great to get back and see everyone for the first time in 10 years."

For Parham, it brought everything full circle. The blue-collar, defensive wizard once stymied the all-time Big East greats while helping BC defeat UConn, and she helped hoist the 2004 Big East championship. After wearing different colors and different flags for a decade, she's ready to settle into her post-playing career, still cloaked in Maroon and Gold.

"We never went into a game unprepared," she said. "The culture that I came into had started becoming really good during my freshman year. The team started progressively getting better and better from there. We made the NCAA Tournament and made the Sweet Sixteen, and the needle of success was set. That culture was really challenging and kept pushing me to get to a higher level. It just kept growing through the years, and the memories that I have, with those seniors, set the bar at a level."

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