Young stars on varsity

Most student athletes at Samo aspire to earn their varsity uniforms, but many never reach their goals. For a school of 4,000 people with dozens of students competing for a limited number of spots on varsity, it is often a very hard task to accomplish even as juniors or seniors. However, every year a few students show their incredible athletic ability and solidify their spots on varsity as underclassmen. Aaron Akhavan (’20) is one such student, being the lone freshman to make it on varsity boy’s water polo last year. Akhavan plays goalie, an imperative position for the team’s success. Before joining Samo’s team, he played for Westside Aquatics, a club run by the head aquatics coach Matthew Flanders. As the only freshman on the team, Akhavan loved varsity’s energy and becoming a part of the family.“Being with the older crowd was great. They all seemed to have a lot of fun, and meeting new people was super cool,” Akhavan said.Akhavan has already made an outstanding statement simply by being selected to be on varsity as an underclassman, but he has even greater goals for the future.“Going to college and getting a scholarship for water polo is cool, but I have high hopes to go to the Olympics. I would definitely work really hard for that,” Akhavan said.Though this is certainly an ambitious goal, Akhavan has already shown his remarkable talent and was chosen from a highly competitive group to participate in the Olympic Development Program (ODP) as a goalie last September. He hopes his hard work and dedication to the sport will pay off and lead to extraordinary achievements in the future.On land, Dylan Leight (’20) has shown her exceptional volleyball skills, and last year earned a spot on girl’s varsity volleyball as a freshman—one of only two freshmen selected. Leight picked up the sport in fourth grade (following in her sister’s footsteps), but never started playing competitively until 8th grade when she joined Sunshine Volleyball Club. Upon her arrival, the team went to the Junior Olympics and with her help got 19th place, making her part of a nationally ranked team. Not only did Leight get on varsity her first year, but she excelled on the team and was a starting player. She loved the dynamic of the team and their intense work ethic.“To be honest, I loved the attention I got and I loved playing with people that were better than me. I got so inspired to do whatever I could to help the team win when I was a freshman,” Leight said.Although Leight has already achieved great things here at Samo, she wants to continue the sport at the collegiate level. “I would love to play volleyball in college and be on a team. I always watch college volleyball, and my dream is that one day I can play for USC,” Leight said. Being just a sophomore, Leight has plenty of time to refine her game and work towards her goal. College coaches are always at Leight’s club games scouting for talent, and she has proven herself to be a standout competitor. Tsering Wolfe (’21) is yet another underclassmen with incredible talent who made it on the varsity girl’s basketball team this year. Wolfe plays the shooting guard for Samo, a prime spot for scoring points.Wolfe was not born as the varsity player she is today. Wolfe put countless hours into practicing overs the years, and has devoted most of her life to basketball. It all started in kindergarden when she joined a recreational league with her cousins. Wolfe fell in love with the sport and stayed devoted to it. Wolfe decided to get serious about basketball in 5th grade by joining a club team. Being a part of the club team made basketball her main focus, and she was constantly working hard to improve. “After that I stopped playing other sports because I knew I loved basketball and that's all I wanted to do and focus on,” Wolfe said.  Today Wolfe continues to play basketball, now as a part of Samo’s team. The many years of hard work and dedication she put in payed off, as she now gets to play on a team filled with skillful and hardworking players just like Wolfe who love the game. Although Wolfe’s grateful about her place in the program, she knows she needs to continue to improve.“Being the only freshman on varsity makes me feel kind of special, but at the same time I know I’m not the best and I just need to work to be as good as everyone else. I can’t just cruise on varsity, I have to work harder for my spot,” Wolfe said.Wolfe has high hopes for the future pertaining to her basketball career in high school and college.“My future goals for basketball is to win a CIF championship and hopefully play in a D1 or D2 college,” Wolfe said.With a program filled with devoted and adept basketball players led by the talented coach Doug Kim, Wolfe might be exactly what Samo’s team needs to drive to the top. You can find Simba Makawa (’21) this spring playing on the varsity boy’s lacrosse team. Given there’s only two teams to make as a lacrosse player, making varsity is a difficult task. Makawa had to compete against returning upperclassmen and show true talent to get where he is on Samo’s team. As the midfield position on the team, Makawa plays an essential role in how the team functions. Makawa making varsity had much to do with his devotion to lacrosse in the past. Macawa first picked up the sport in third grade when he joined the Santa Monica Dragons, a local club lacrosse team. The team exposed Macawa to players of a higher skill level that led him to improve his game as his lacrosse career advanced. Macawa also loved that the team gave him opportunities to travel to places like Denver, Philadelphia, Delaware and Utah.Makawa fit in perfectly with the dynamic of the varsity team. Big and talented players didn’t phase him since he spent previous years playing against teams with diverse skill levels and sizes. “In terms of playing on varsity lacrosse it feels great I definitely feel like I belong there since I've been playing against bigger players for a long time,” Makawa said.Makawa’s future plans go beyond wearing a Samo jersey. Makawa hopes to continue his lacrosse career during college at a D1 school. With three more years of high school ahead of him, Makawa has plenty of time to further improve his game and get recruited by the college of his choice.