Ian Rodriguez '17 Recruiting Profile

Goals, dreams, and aspirations will change over time, yet at this moment I am mostly focused on my education since I understand how valuable it will be in the future, while also giving a great deal of effort in the pool. I work as hard as possible so that I can be the best I can be both in the pool and in the classroom. I strive to get high grades in school and still be at practice on time and work hard consistently. As a goalie I understand the values of respect, teamwork, and always being prepared for that unexpected shot from outside five meters. I try to bring my understanding of these values into the class room since these are my main morale values that I live by both as an athlete and a student. I always try to give the younger kids on my team some tips, encouragement and advice on how they can improve as a player. Water polo is a team sport and putting all the blame on one player is something that you just can’t do. My team is my family and we support and look out for each other. I can appreciate that a bad game is not the end of the world, it’s a lesson learned, and it is a motivational starting point for me to analyze what went wrong or could have been done better and what I can work on in practice so that I can help my team perform better in the next game.  My coaches and my teachers teach me valuable lessons that will help me achieve my main goals in life that include being the best person I can be, happy and kind,  be a great son and brother to my baby sister, become successful in life and hopefully make it to Nationals, Worlds or the Olympics as an athlete. I find it very important to keep the two biggest parts of my life together, and swimming in college would be a great way to achieve my goals.