For starters, from the time she could walk, Cousins, like her brothers and sisters, grew up on a trampoline.
"It gives them great agility and strength," said Bob Cousins, Chantrelle's father. "It gives them a big advantage."
Cousins also grew up with three brothers and two sisters, so she grew up tough.
"She pretty much had to be a wrestler to survive," Bob Cousins said.
The family often got together for basketball games, so Cousins also learned the value of meshing with a team and passing the ball.
Bob and Judy Cousins also made sure they instilled a strong work ethic in their daughter.
"She built her own room," Judy said. "There was no ordering a four-bedroom, deluxe house and moving in."
That Cousins isn't a typical athlete became apparent in the first sport she went out for when she reached Homer High School football.
"Chantrelle is a go-getter," Homer athletic director Chris Perk said. "She has no fear. She's got three brothers."
Cousins said that she'd always wanted to play football. Because she had wrestled when she was younger, she felt comfortable going out for the sport.
After not seeing much playing time as a freshman on the C-team, Cousins played volleyball her sophomore year.
As a junior, Cousins returned to football, made the junior varsity and started at tight end and linebacker.
Kelly Blake, who was the junior varsity coach during Cousins' junior year, said he made it clear he would treat Cousins like any other player.
"She had a fantastic attitude," Blake said. "Her work ethic was impeccable.
"The guys treated her like one of the guys. She put out the same amount of effort, if not more effort, than most of the guys."
As a senior, Cousins went out for volleyball again because, after absorbing a hit from a starting varsity player during her junior year, she knew she would probably get hurt if she subjected her body to that type of pounding for a year.
She's does not regret playing football, though.
"I learned so much," Cousins said. "It's not worth giving up, even if you feel like dropping dead right there on the spot.
"You have to keep pushing yourself to do it, no matter what."
When Cousins decided not to play football as a senior, Homer volleyball coach Beth Trowbridge was glad to welcome Cousins back to the program.
Cousins stepped in and played outside hitter and all-around defense for the varsity as a senior. Trowbridge said that, despite missing her junior and freshmen years, Cousins was still an asset to the team because of her athleticism and sports sense.
The coach said Cousins is the rare combination of a good athlete and a good person.
"She's the kind of player that goes 110 percent," Trowbridge said. "She's really hard-working and very coachable. She gets along with the rest of the team.
"I can always count on her to do her best. Even if she can't get something, she'll just try harder."
After volleyball, Cousins moved right on to the basketball court. Both Cousins' mother and father played the sport in high school, so Chantrelle grew up with the game.
Homer basketball coach Mark Mahan coached Cousins on the varsity for three years. He said for those three years, he always put Cousins on the other team's top player because Cousins is such a good defender.
This year, Cousins also grew into a scorer and a leader. She averaged over 10 points per game and Mahan named her a team captain midway through the season.
She was named first-team all-Region III/4A as the Mariners defeated Palmer in the third-place game of the region tournament to advance to state.
"That was awesome," Cousins said of clinching the state berth. "We wanted it bad.
"It was neat because when I was in eighth grade we got first place in the borough. All those girls that were seventh- and eighth-graders helped us go to state."
Now, Cousins gets to finish her prep career with soccer, which is her favorite sport. Cousins has already been to state once with the Homer soccer team, and would love nothing more than to make another state trip before closing her career.
Cousins has done a little bit of everything for the Mariners in soccer, playing defense, midfield, forward and even goalie.
"We haven't figured out where she's going to go this year, and that says a lot for Chantrelle," said Wendy Todd, who helps coach Chantrelle in soccer. "She's really a versatile player and athlete. We feel really lucky to have a player like her."
Just like other coaches, Todd is impressed with Cousins' athleticism and leadership. She said one of Cousins' greatest assets, though, is her head.
"A lot of it is that she thinks," Todd said. "She uses her speed when she needs to and uses her strength when she needs to.
"Very few of the athletes that come through these programs know when to pass and when not to, and when to shoot. She has a good view of all of that."
Cousins also puts her head to good use in the classrooms of Homer High School. After what she calls a tough transition to high school, Cousins now has an overall grade-point average of 3.1 and also is the business manager for the yearbook.
Cousins will attend a junior college in California and would like to pursue a career in an outdoor-related field. She gets her love of outdoors from the way she was brought up. Cousins was born in Elfin Cove in Southeast Alaska. Cousins and her family traveled around the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico before settling in Homer when Cousins was in first grade.
"We've camped so much and been to so many different places that I've grown to love the outdoors," Cousins said.
Cousins also has learned to appreciate the outdoors by commercial fishing during her summers in high school. She has drifted for three years in Bristol Bay. This summer, she will seine in Prince William Sound.
While Cousins' father notes the job requires she lift thousands of pounds of red salmon with her thumb, Cousins does not mind the tough work.
"It's better than staying in a gift shop and getting minimum wage," Chantrelle said.
Jeff Helminiak is a Peninsula Clarion reporter.,/i>
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