Eve Erceg '22 Recruiting Profile

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better than your best.” 

— Tim Duncan (American 19-year Professional Basketball Player/Coach for the San Antonio Spurs) 

I chose this quote because it exemplifies my resilient nature, and how I never give up until my good is better than my ultimate best. 

I was born in Houston, Texas and moved to the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of 4, where I lived until 2018 when my family moved to San Diego, CA. I attended a small private Christian School called Saint John’s Academy of San Francisco. At this time, I got my start in water polo and serious competitive swimming (9 years as a recreational swim athlete) as a Junior Member at the Olympic Club of San Francisco CA (www.olyclub.com), where I played for a year and was selected as team captain. Thanks to my coach, I really fell in love with the sport and found my passion beyond swimming. I admired her incredible work ethic and her endless patience in mentoring me in and out of the pool. Overall, this first year of playing water polo truly shaped the player that I am today. 

Being a consistent person inside and outside of the pool is an important foundation of my personality. When I earned my first sports leadership position at the Olympic Club, I really strived to create team unity, support new pre-teen athletes and grow the sport at our club. I felt the responsibility of being a role model for them and the need to inspire them as I had been in the near past. I volunteered my time throughout my eighth-grade year to be an assistant coach for the 10U co-ed team and helped to establish a group of loving and strong-willed team spirited kids who showed bright futures in the sport. However, by the end of summer that year 2018, my family decided to relocate to San Diego in Southern California. I took this as an amazing opportunity to dedicate myself and become the best player and student I could be. Looking back on my Freshman year at Del Norte High School in San Diego, I can truly say I pushed myself to the ultimate maximum, and definitely lived by Tim Duncan’s quote above. All my hard work paid off when I succeeded as the only Freshman member of the Varsity water-polo team at my high school! On my high school team, I made my best effort to be proactive and make sure everyone had the courage to conquer the world. I carry the mentality that even if my team is losing 0-20 or winning 20-0, I am still playing my best, cheering the loudest, and supporting my teammates to do the same. And with that, I think the biggest attribute that stands out about me as a player is that I lead by example. Inspiration is infectious.