Junior Tyler Schmidt Shows Strength in Both Athletics and Academics

By ​Alexa Neal

    For some athletes on campus, sports are not the only thing keeping them occupied day-to-day. Many work hard to keep their grades up, are in clubs that involve time outside of school, and still manage to balance this with athletics. With a 4.4 Grade Point Average (GPA), two Advanced Placement (AP) classes, as well as being a member of the Associated Student Body (ASB), Junior Tyler Schmidt still finds time to be a part of both Varsity Boys Basketball and Volleyball.

    Balancing his busy schedule has become natural to Schmidt. He will take practices off when he needs to focus on his schoolwork “because [his] mom always raised [him] as a student first and reminded [him] sports are a privilege.” Schmidt is always “worrying about [his] grades” and will focus extensively on them during the season. He also tries to attend every practice that he can before having free time with his friends, “so many weekends were spent doing work after practice or catching up on sleep.”

On the Varsity Boys Basketball team, Junior Tyler Schmidt plays the position of small forward and guard Photo Credit: Tyler Schmidt

    Schmidt has been playing basketball since he was in fifth grade. “I would play [basketball] in my backyard all the time. . .I ended up liking it so much that I stopped playing football in [eighth] grade to continue playing basketball for a travel team,” he explained. He now plays as the small forward and guard. If sports are resumed in the next school year, Schmidt would like to see his team win in league as well as California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). “This season, we were so close to making it to the playoffs so next year I want to do even better,” said Schmidt.

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    As for volleyball, Schmidt did not start playing for the school as the outside and right hitter until this year. He decided to join once the volleyball coach had confronted him, asking Schmidt to try out for the team. Unfortunately, Schmidt feels that it is hard to really set any goals for himself in this sport, as the season had just barely started before social distancing was enforced. “If anything, I would want to beat all our league opponents because that's always a good way to guarantee playoffs,” Schmidt explained. However, he had fun in the short season the team had, and plans to return next year if sports start up again.

    In the future, Schmidt said that playing either basketball or volleyball beyond high school “all comes down to [his] senior year and if [he] receive[s] any offers.” He plans to attend college to major in aerospace engineering.

    Even with social distancing, Schmidt continues to show his commitment to his sports. He plays basketball every day when possible, and follows a workout schedule to keep his body in shape. Clearly, Schmidt is a student who is dedicated both to academics and athletics.