Aj Sexton '24 Recruiting Profile

I’m AJ Sexton VI and I believe I would be a great fit on any team due to my work ethic, strength through adversity, and overall mindset. I plan to attend a college or university and study criminology. I've been playing water polo for about 4 years now and I will be a senior in high school this fall. I play for Beckman High School and Patriot Aquatics 16U and 18U. I am different from any other candidate you will see as I have gone through tremendous amounts of pain and struggle to reach the goal of simply playing water polo again. 

In February of 2022, I tore my ACL in a fluke bicycle accident. I’ve been put through adversity before, but this was on a whole new level. I had reconstructive surgery in March and was absolutely crushed when the doctor said the recovery time was NINE MONTHS! That meant I would miss the Junior Olympics and my entire water polo season of my Junior year.

The surgery was a success and I began physical therapy the day after to kickstart my recovery. I began to ask my physical therapist a bunch of what-if questions. What if I did more reps than prescribed? What if I did PT twice per day? What if I started aqua therapy early? What if I started doing light workouts at the gym as well? Within a few weeks I was  practically rehabbing all day every day. Long story short I surprised everyone (including myself) and played in Junior Olympics Quals less than four months after my surgery, then played in JO.s and my entire high school season making it to CIF-SS Quarter Finals! I also received the Coaches Award due to my comeback.

To me, water polo is more than just a hobby, or a means to get into college, its the place where I give 100% of my effort, 100% of the time. No matter how difficult a practice may be, I give it my all, because over time, I've been able to see that hard work payoff in the games. Dedicated, Persistent, Committed, Strong Work Ethic, Responsible, Supportive, Competitive are all words that any of my Coaches and Teammates would use to describe me. I have been told by many coaches that my top strengths in the water are (1.), my ability to think several plays ahead, (2.), my ability to see the entire tank and make the right decisions for my team, and (3.), my overall water polo IQ.

Thanks for your consideration Coaches, I hope to hear from you soon!