Successors and the pressure to succeed

Chelsea BrandweinSports EditorTennis champion Serena Williams once said of her rivalry with her equally athletic sister Venus Williams: “Hopefully we can build a rivalry, make a legacy, then retire champions.” While current Samo athletes have a long way to go before retirement, sibling rivalry and the pressure to succeed both on and off the court is omnipresent. This is especially true for younger athletes, who after the graduation of their older sibling, must carry on the family legacy. The Samohi spoke with three Samo athletes who, with only two years of high school left, are under pressure to uphold the family name.Last year, current junior Spencer Cramer shared the court with his brother, Jack Cramer (’11), as the varsity volleyball team became CIF champions.Spencer Cramer made the team in his sophomore year, and, as soon as the season started, he and Jack Cramer took to the court to practice. This is where the competition between the brothers started. According to Spencer Cramer, he was always trying to “one-up” his brother. But, while many siblings would have seen this rivalry as a threat, Spencer has made it clear that it was healthy competition that only made him want to improve.“We practiced together every day during the season, which was really fun and made me more competitive because I was always trying to outperform him at practice, which wasn’t easy to do at all,” Spencer Cramer said.Spencer Cramer acknowledges that it was because of their co-existence on the court that he was able to experience different sides of his brother that he had never known before.“Sharing the court with my brother was hard to get used to at first. For so many years of our lives we had grown up just watching each other play sports,” Spencer Cramer said. “Playing with him was fun and I got to know him better through practices and the amount of time we spent together at tournaments and games.”Volleyball coach Liane Sato believes there is something to be said about sibling rivalry as a mode of motivation, for she and her two brothers played on the U.S. Olympic volleyball team.“The competition between siblings is always a great motivator,” Sato said. “[Jack and Spencer] are both very supportive and push each other when necessary. Cramer Nation is a great family.”Junior Quinton Foshag comes from a long line of Samo basketball players; Emily, Natalie, and Holden Foshag (’11).“It all started with my oldest sister, Emily. She started playing basketball and we all followed,” Quinton Foshag said.Emily Foshag (’07) played on Samo’s varsity girls’ basketball team for all four years of her high school career and went on to play in college. As a senior, Holden Foshag was chosen as a member for the All-League Second Team.Now that all his siblings except for one, freshman Amanda Foshag who is  a member of Coach Marty Verdugo’s JV basketball team have graduated from Samo, Quinton Foshag has a legacy to uphold.“All the Foshags exhibit tremendous work ethic,” Boys’ basketball coach James Hecht said. “I think what stands out the most is their dedication and love for Santa Monica High School. All of them are very involved in many aspects of student life be it athletics, activities, clubs. They really have taken advantage of what Samo has to offer.”While his siblings have found success on the basketball court, and Emily Foshag even went on to play college ball, Quinton Foshag is more concerned with emulating his siblings’ off-court accomplishments.“I feel much more pressure to live up to the things they have done off the court. Emily did go on to play college ball but I feel more pressured by the fact that she attended NYU and by what she does now working in New York,” Quinton Foshag said. “I strive to find success both athletically and academically.”Eleventh grader Jessica Walker is a varsity wrestler and a member of Songs. Just last year she was ranked second in the state for women’s wrestling. Her brother, Joshua Walker (’11), was a varsity basketball player for all four years of his high school career and since graduating from Samo last year has attended DePauw University. But for now he has put athletics to rest to focus on academics. While the siblings took part in different team sports, the two Walkers were always in competition. This competitive nature was instilled in  both of them by their father who was a varsity football player at Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina and who always had the two compete.“Never stop fighting until you make it to the top,” her father, Nigel Keith Walker used to say.Last year, when Jessica Walker competed in state and received second place, her father continued to bring this up after the fact to boost her determination to win first place this year.“I feel like he wants me to be the best, to be number one all the time,” Jessica Walker said. “Last year, I felt like I hadn’t trained as hard and that is why I deserved second place. But I am determined to get first this year.”For Jessica Walker, with only two years left of high school, the pressure is on. Not only is she determined to win first place in state in women’s wrestling, she must also live up to her brother and her father’s accomplishments in athletics as she carries on the family legacy.“My dad was always the ‘all-star athlete.’ So I feel like now he is living his dreams through me,” Jessica Walker said.cbrandwein@thesamohi.com