The Role of Family

 Let's start at the very beginning 

Family. That's where so many life choices originate. For me, the choice to begin playing water polo sprouted from the interest my older siblings showed in the sport. Their interest came both from their friends already on the team, as well as the knowledge of our grandfather's past participation in the sport.  Funnily enough, my grandfather played water polo back when the sport was still played in the nude! When I first started watching my brother, who is four years older than me, play in his high school games, I was transfixed by the complexity of the sport. Obviously, this meant I had to give it a go myself. 

I first began playing water polo in sixth grade after watching those first few games of my brother. It was certainly not love at first play, but it grew on me to the point of it being my absolute favorite pass time in 8th grade and onward. One of the elements of my life that I will be forever grateful for is the fact I grew up with brothers. One older and one younger, they created a competitive atmosphere that pushed me to be my absolute best in order to compete. In the world of water polo, this was an especially useful tool as I played with only boys throughout all of middle school. Transitioning into high school, it was clear that learning the sport by playing with the boys had given me a much greater edge compared to any of the girls on my high school team. This has continued all the way through to my D1 career at Mount St. Mary's University, seen through simple things like the guys team in high school being scared to match up against me because of how competitive and skilled I became thanks to being pushed by previous male teammates. 

I will never back down to competition, and even in college I am constantly challenging the men's water polo team to competitions of skill and water polo knowledge. Having a drive like this is crucial to grow and excel in sports, and it is something that can certainly be tracked back to my roots. Though it is obviously still possible to obtain this drive without the competition of brothers or siblings in general, in my personal experience it is certainly a large contributing factor to my success. There are many paths that can lead you to the sport that will transfix you, but for me, my family is what guided me to the perfect fit. 

Older brother (Jake) on the left, younger brother (Nate) on the right