At George Mason High School, our principal, Mr. Matt Hills, set a standard in the school for all students to excel in mind, body, and character. In this series, The Lasso looks for students who excel in these different yet equally valuable areas. This week, The Lasso digs deeper with sophomore, Ryan Fry, and how he excels in body with playing water polo, which is a gruesome and tough sport while also swimming for the George Mason High School swim team.
As years go by, it has become very popular to indulge in sports that stray from the everyday sports on ESPN. Students at Mason are seen playing sports that are not involved in the athletic program, and often originate in foreign countries. Sophomore Ryan Fry is a prime example of this through his excellence in playing water polo.
Fry started playing water polo at nine years old when the average swim meets and practices became boring for him, he craved something more.
“It was just a lot of up and down the pool and the coaches were trying to push the swimmers way too hard and I sort of got tired of it,” Fry said.
Another reason Fry switched to water polo was his father’s past experience with the sport at the University of Notre Dame.
“My [influence] was actually my parents, my dad played in college and he thought it was a lot of fun and that I should try it out.”
Of the many reasons Fry loves playing water polo, the team aspect is certainly the biggest one and is something that differs from the solo sport of swimming. However, he still gets to enjoy swimming while playing water polo.
“I really love the water, it was just my thing growing up and then implementing that with other people and a ball sport [was] just a lot of fun,” Fry said.
Although playing a sport is fun, there are always setbacks. The biggest hardship for Fry with playing water polo is the time commitment that requires him to develop time management skills and do homework as soon as he gets home.
“It’s increasingly getting a lot harder to manage sports with school, with extracurricular activities. It is a very time demanding sport. Every weekend you’re up at a tournament and having to play,” Fry said.
Fry’s best memory of water polo is going to the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics every year. It takes place every July in California for a week and consists of three games each day.
“It’s just a great experience,” Fry said. “It’s just a lot of fun getting to travel with your team.”
It can be hard to balance school and sports, especially one outside of school with a lot of travel and long practices, but Fry has persevered through it all and continues to contribute to a wonderful community in which he can learn, play sports, and have fun.
