Amy Atkinson was a four-year varsity basketball starter at Napa High School and a three-year starter in volleyball and softball, with a little bit of track and swimming to round out her senior year. She is the granddaughter of Ernie Sander, who was inducted into the N.H.S. Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. Atkinson never played on a JV team, and according to one Napa Register sports writer, had more varsity “starts” than any athlete in Napa County history. Her 12 varsity letters may also be a Napa High record. In volleyball, Atkinson was All-County and All-MEL for the 1982-83 champions and repeated as All-County and All-MEL as a senior. She was also captain and MVP of the 1983-84 team. Atkinson started 100 games of basketball for Napa High. The team won 78 games, including 39 of 48 MEL games. Napa won two championships and tied for a third with a three-year league record of 32-4 for the championship years. Among her basketball honors at Napa High are: captain 1982-83 and 1983-84, 1983 All-Tournament Team at the Wine Valley Invitational, 1983 MVP of the Fairfield Invitational Tournament, All-MEL three times, and MEL MVP in 1983. Other athletic awards in high school include 1984 Athlete of the Year and 1984 Vallejo Times Herald Athlete of the Year. Atkinson was president of her senior class at Napa High. At Napa College, she was All-Conference and MVP of the volleyball team for two years and team MVP, All-Conference, league MVP of the basketball team for two years, and All-State one year. She then went on to Loyola Marymount on a basketball scholarship where she was captain and fourth in the nation in rebounding.
