Musketeers Xtra | Six-year-old girl signs with Xavier's women's basketball team

Six-year-old Joslyn Wassler came bounding into the Cintas Center media room on Wednesday.

She was accompanied by her siblings, Carter and Preston, their mom and dad, and the Xavier University women's basketball team.

Joslyn explored the room while her brothers tested the microphones at the podium before Joslyn grabbed the middle seat with her name on it, a smile beaming in front of a room full of people there to see her.

"It's an exciting day for our program," Xavier women's basketball coach Melanie Moore began. "We signed a new member to our women's basketball team.

"This new player is strong, energetic, courageous, and we are thrilled to add her to our roster."

Pen in hand, Joslyn signed her letter of intent and Moore presented her with a little No. 10 jersey that she proudly put on.

"Are you excited?" Moore asked her newest player.

"Yeah," Joslyn said, her head nodding up and down for added effect.

"We want you to know, Joslyn, that now you have 14 sisters who are gonna be there for you. Because this is what Xavier women's basketball is about. It's about family and a sisterhood. So those are all your sisters," said Moore, pointing to her players.

Moore opened the press conference up to questions and the first came from Shai Beeler, a senior guard for the Musketeers.

"What does it feel like to finally be a part of Xavier's women's basketball team? Is it exciting?" Beeler asked.

Joslyn's smile reappeared as she offered one word: "Happy."

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The reason Joslyn is joining the Musketeers is through the Team Impact program. It's an organization that pairs children facing serious illnesses and disabilities with college sports teams to create a long-term, life-changing experience.

Moore heard about the idea from Xavier's soccer program which is also involved with Team Impact.

"I talked to the team at our retreat and they all, without hesitation, said absolutely. And we got in touch with the leader of Impact and they said they have a good match for us who loves basketball, loves Xavier and it was a perfect win-win situation for both of us," said Moore.

Joslyn got to meet the team. She came to trick-or-treat night at Cintas Center. She made the team a video that Moore played for them before their season opener.

"We talk about being warriors and this little one is a warrior," said Moore. "We hope to make her proud with how hard we play on the court."

Joslyn will attend practices, she'll sit near the team bench at home games, and she'll be involved as much as she can.

"Joslyn, she's got a lot of medical stuff," her mom, Lauren, said. "That's why we're involved in this. She's got a lot of appointments and therapy and surgery.

"Her last surgery was her 49th and the team made a video for her to watch right before she went into surgery. So it's just a little something to help kind of lift her spirits and help her be brave."

Since birth, Joslyn's had to deal with a number of health problems. She has esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula, a condition that affects her esophagus, stomach, and lungs, and she also battles eosinophilic esophagitis, an allergic condition that affects her esophagus. She has tracheomalacia, which can cause her airway to collapse when she exhales, coughs, or cries.

Joslyn was born with cloacal malformation, a very rare birth defect in females, and a tethered spinal cord that required surgery when she was two and a half years old. She needed surgery to repair hip dysplasia and lives with extreme reflux that can cause her to vomit if she coughs too much, cries or laughs too hard, or if she runs and jumps too much without a break.

Despite what she's dealt with and continues to deal with, Joslyn's spirit has been a welcome addition to Xavier's team. It's a relationship that already means a lot to the Musketeers, and to Joslyn.

"There's stuff that we have to do daily with her medically, and like today it was easy," Lauren said. "It was like, 'Hey, we gotta get this done because you get to go see your basketball friends today.'"

Joslyn was there on Saturday to watch her team beat Old Dominion and improve to 4-0 this season.