Ten toes down. It’s a euphemism for commitment, for being grounded. Being rooted enough to be reachable, touchable.

That describes Sophia Doromal. Ten toes down.

Premier athletes, and she is one, are perennially in search of the best situation to succeed. For girls basketball in Arizona, that doesn’t mean Cesar Chavez High. The good ones tend to be better off at Desert Vista or Mountain Pointe.

That just wasn’t an option for Doromal, the 5-foot-2 freshman point guard. She was loyal to her soil.

“A lot of the families go outside of the community,” Doromal’s mother, Lisa, said. “They go to other schools. They don’t want to stay here in our community. And Chavez was not really ‘it’ for girls’ basketball, it wasn’t a premier program.”

The dividends are already evident. Doromal’s presence has already positively changed Chavez. 

The Champions had their best season to date, finishing 23-5 overall and going 16-2 in the 6A Metro Conference. They made school history with their first-ever postseason win, beating Boulder Creek earlier this month. Doromal scored 15 in the 45-38 victory at Cesar Chavez. But COVID-19 forced Doromal to miss the next game. 

“I got Covid Tuesday, (before the game), so I had to miss out on the playoff game,” Doromal said with a deep breath. “Honestly, I was really sad and mad in the moment. I realize I have three years left but it would've been nice to be there with my team because we've never gotten this far.”

They ended up losing to Westwood 62-48 in the first round of the AIA Girls Basketball State Championships. But now they are positioned well for next season. Doromal finished the year knowing her plan for Chavez is working. Not only will she be heading into her sophomore season, but she’s got some talent around her. Fellow sophomore guard Dalaiha Madden blossomed alongside Doromal. She had 16 points against Westwood, filling in as the top scorer with Doromal out. Deshay Turner, who will be entering her senior season, gives the Champions a potent guard trio. Combined, they averaged 27.6 points and 10.3 steals. And they should be even better next season.

The Champions figure to be favorites to win Metro again. They are expected to make the playoffs again. Could they win state? 

There is hope in Laveen.

“You could tell that when she walked in and started working,” coach Joe Lee said of Doromal, “and showed how hard she was working, she actually raised the level of the girls that were in the gym from day one. Sophia and her parent’s commitment to building the Chavez program has been huge for our success this year.”

Basketball isn’t a selfish endeavor for the Doromals. Never has been. Her parents, Michael and Lisa, made it about community from the time she began playing.

When they saw she had an aptitude for the game, and wanted to teach her more, Doromal’s mother started a club team for her and her friends. They were called the Rockets. They learned the basics of basketball from her mother, a former player, and they got so good they joined a league with all boys.

Doromal’s love of the game, her competitive fire, was birthed in her community. It was nurtured and guided by the people in her life, at the parks and gyms that were most familiar. So when it came time for high school, going over the mountain wasn’t part of the purpose.

The Doromals wanted to build up the community. They wanted to put Laveen girls’ basketball on the map. They stayed home. As a result, they’ve helped provide Chavez with what it needed most: a culture changer.

Ten toes down.

“All of these little girls were super athletic and super competitive,” Lisa said. “And we mainly played against all boys. And you just saw the competitiveness of teams full of boys and families just not wanting to lose to girls.”

“They did not like us, none of the boys,” Doromal said. “Because we would beat them”

Doromal took to it like a moth to a flame. All those bonding moments, the competitive battles, the challenges of skill development — it all was so captivating. She fell in love.

She received training from anywhere she could. She became a student of the game. One of her favorite teachers is Stephen Curry.

She connected with his story. How he was considered too small. How he faced all the doubts about his potential. How he made his way from a small school of no hoop reputation. Doromal is familiar with that story.

And she attacks those narratives with a vigor that would make Curry proud.

She studies him closely. Everybody knows Curry is the greatest shooter ever. But it’s the minor details she pays close attention to and incorporates into her game.

“How much he moves around without the ball with people constantly chasing him not trying to let him shoot,” said Doromal, who averages 12.4 points per game to, like Curry, lead her team in scoring. “And the way he runs around just to get open and gets a three and makes it. That’s what's good to me.”

The parallels go deeper. Curry’s done what Doromal is trying to do. Through his leadership and his play, he lifted a historically bad franchise into prominence and changed their fortunes. The Warriors went from laughing stock to a dynasty. Doromal’s aim is to do the same for Chavez. With her parents’ vision, and her quiet leadership and example of hard work, they are lifting Laveen.

Since day one, Doromal has taken the challenge of trying to uplift her home, her school and her team to new heights. She is the leader they have been waiting for.

Lee sees it, 

“I think it's going to be really big going forward because people are going to see that Chavez is a place that has talent, and develops talent,” Lee said. “And I think Sophia is going to draw more girls in and she’s a building block we’re going to use to propel us to the next level.”

When she first got to Chavez, her dad declared the future. One day, he told her, “Chavez is going to be your team.” That time is here. Chavez is hers.

She probably doesn’t fully comprehend what she’s doing. For Doromal, it’s just following her purpose. She is doing what comes natural, what makes sense in her heart.

But the impact is tangible. Her community is better for her decision to remain ten toes down.

“She’s just had a journey with basketball,” her father said. “Most of it was hard. But the difficult journey she had, helped her bear the weight of responsibility well.”