Ayden Miller '22 Recruiting Profile

    I have always loved the water, starting at a very young age. My parents couldn't keep me out of the pool or ocean even in November on the East coast! I started swimming competitively at age 7 and by age 10, I was starting to feel bored and unfulfilled with swimming. I prefer to be a part of a team oriented sport instead of being part of a sport that is more focused on the individual athlete. I was just reaching the point of relays and more of the team-based swim when a water polo coach came to a swim practice offering a water polo clinic. I was intrigued and had no idea that the first clinic would change my athletic goals and passions immediately. I had found exactly what I was looking for, a team sport involving swimming that included strength, endurance, aggressive challenge, and strategic game play. I was bitten by the water polo bug 6 years ago and haven't stopped since.

    Water polo has helped me learn so much about myself that I wouldn't have been able to learn playing a sport considered "normal" sport on the East coast. I have had to overcome several challenges due to where I live and the lack of water polo being a popular or common sport in my area. Some of my challenges include, difficulty of a lot of practice time each week, closest tournaments are 6 hours away, naysayers discouraging me that I can't do anything with such an odd sport, and in the beginning being a part of a new team getting established. Through these challenges, I have learned that if I set my mind to something, I will figure out a way to make it happen. Also, I learned I have a parental and coach support system that is behind me all the way as long as I continue to have the drive to keep and work hard.  Another thing I learned about myself is that I am resilient and self-confident. Being called demeaning and vulgar names related to water polo from peers at my school, I have never let those words define who I am or change my goals. I talked to my coach about it and he said to invite them to a practice to try it out and they would see what type of sport water polo is. I did and am still waiting on them to show up!

    Academically, I have always been a good student. Water polo is driving me to be academically great. Middle school is when I first started telling my coach how far I wanted to go with water polo. He has been a mentor for me in and out of the water making sure I  know what is required to go to college and play water polo. Our club team, N.C. Select, has grown exponentially and has allowed us to be able to travel to states such as Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. I also tried out for and was accepted on a water polo team in Texas, Zilla water polo, to allow me to travel with them to increase my tournament time. I have traveled to Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona with them and joined a blended Junior Olympic team with Rocky Mountain water polo in 2018. Our N.C. Select team went to Junior Olympics this year, 2019, as the first N.C. high school water polo team in the history of the state. Since N.C. does not have high school water polo, traveling to other states and with other teams is a way I have found to help prepare me for collegiate water polo. Playing water polo in college would be the ultimate childhood dream accomplished. Achieving that for myself as well as my coach and my parents would be indescribable. My ability to anticipate and visualize outcomes, my resilience, perseverance, creative and artistic ability, and strong work ethic, I believe my dream will come true.