Alison Coopersmith '12 Recruiting Profile

Hi! My name is Ali Coopersmith and I am currently a junior at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California. I have played and started on varsity water polo all three years and have swam on the varsity team for all three years, as well. Outside of playing water polo at Tam, I have played year-round for 4 years on the Marin Water Polo club team. Our Marin club team won 1st place in the Gold Bracket of the National Junior Olympics in 2009, and advanced to the Platinum Bracket in 2010. This year at Tam I scored 93 goals, which ranks me as Tam's 4th highest single-season goal scorer - a record I plan to break next year. I am mainly a utility player, and with my speed, strength and leadership in the pool, I think I can really help my team. I am 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh 145 pounds - i like to consider it all muscle. This season I made 1st team all-league, and 2nd team NCS (which is our section or conference). I was also honored to be Marin County's Preparatory Athlete of the Week. I consistently swim a high 25 second or low 26 second leg of the 200 free relay and a sub-minute time in the 400 free relay. On the Tam swim team I am one of our longer distance swimmers; I normally swim the 500 free (placed 5th in our county last year) and the 200 free (placed 8th in our county last year). If I had to choose between water polo and swimming, water polo would win by a landslide; that's why I play it year round and take it so seriously. At Tam, I am one of the more experienced players, so I always try to teach and help the other, less-experienced players during practices and games. I help lead the team by communicating with my teammates, running plays, and helping my teammates out in situations they haven't seen or played in before. (That's actually one reason I love playing club polo so much - it gives me a chance to learn from my other teammates on both my U16 and U18 teams, so I can get better and improve.) I tend to take on leadership roles out of the pool, too, at school and in my daily life. I am a Link Crew Leader, a national mentoring program for new students. I also started an organization called "Beat the Heat," which is dedicated to educating the community and other kids about how they can combat global warming. In the summer I have been a camp counselor, and plan to teach swimming and water polo to young kids this coming summer. In college I hope to continue with water polo, however I do realize that I cannot go to a school simply for the water polo - I have to pick a school with excellent academics as well. As far as size or location goes, I don't really have a preference - I like all types of weather and as long as the school is bigger than 2,000 people, I'm set! Academically, I would consider myself to be successful, with a 4.19 GPA overall, a 4.22 10th-12th grade GPA, and a 4.29 GPA for this year. I am currently enrolled in 3 AP classes (AP Biology, AP English Composition, and AP Spanish Language), and next year am planning on taking 4 AP classes. My strongest courses are science and math, which fit in perfectly with my desired majors. I either want to major in business or a science that will set me up to attend medical school. This summer I will also be interning at Marin General Hospital to get a feel of what being a doctor is really like. Honestly, with all the pressures of school, I don't know how I would have been able to get through it without water polo. It's a great outlet, has helped me make some of my closest friendships, and gives me a chance to relax and do something I love.