Balance is the key to Sonya Curry's harried life.
She owns and operates her own Montessori school for 150 students in Charlotte, North Carolina, sometimes playing hooky from her office duties to teach a class when her staff needs a break. She's also the mother of three young children, shuttling her two sons and daughter to their various activities at home or flying with them to Toronto on her days off so they can watch dad, Dell Curry, launch his long-range rockets for the Raptors.
A hectic life, yes. But a full one.
"It's been a blessing for me to be able to do this and that's my calling, I believe," says Sonya Curry.
"Running our home, being a mother to our children, running the school and being a wife - it's busy, yes, but it's really just a matter of learning how to balance everything. And with my faith, I believe God helps me find that balance."
That ability to juggle many tasks was also likely aided by her career as a varsity athlete at Virginia Tech, where she was a star setter on the volleyball team. While competing, Sonya carried a full load of courses en route to graduating with a degree in elementary education and a minor in family studies. Good athletes often make good students, since they learn at an early age, as Sonya Curry did, to budget their time wisely.
It was at Virginia Tech where Sonya met her husband, who was making headlines of his own on the basketball court. The volleyball and basketball seasons overlapped, as did Sonya and Dell's trips to the waterfountain on breaks from their respective practice gyms. Eventually they were introduced and quickly became a couple.
She traveled with Dell when his career took him to Utah and Cleveland. Eventually, they settled in Charlotte when her husband's career bound them there for a decade. Dell spent the 1999 lockout season in Milwaukee before being signed as a free agent by Toronto last summer.
The more recent moves in her husband's NBA career were tempered by the stability Sonya Curry had anchored in her Montessori school which she began five years ago.
"It's more work than I first thought, but it's also far more rewarding than I anticipated," says Curry, who last summer took a specialized nine-week Montessori training course to boost her classroom work.
"One of the most appealing aspects of the school is that our own children attend it, so we know who is teaching them and having an influence on their lives on a daily basis besides us. But as it turns out, sometimes I don't see them as much as I'd like because I'm so busy running the school."
One of her favorite breaks from work are her trips to Toronto. The Currys' two sons, Stefan, 11, and Seth, nine, love it because they can attend practices and shootarounds with dad (and impress dad's Raptor teammates with their ball-handling and shooting skills). That father-son rapport also allows Sonya some one-on-one time with five-year-old Sydell.
And while Dell Curry's NBA career has allowed his family to enjoy privileges like jetting off to Toronto for a weekend, Sonya Curry says it's not a lifestyle the Currys take for granted.
"We feel we're truly blessed, but we have always tried to keep everything in perspective," Sonya says. "Even when our friends and family members say how lucky we are, we don't really get caught up in that. We feel it's great to have both feet planted firmly on the ground when you are experiencing something special." Call it a matter of balance.