Ryan Galbraith
Tough Competition
by Andrew Aragon, Salt Lake Tribune
Waterford players face difficult classroom work while trying to excel on the court as well.
Norman Su would be happy if playing on Waterford's boys' basketball team was his top priority.
But for Su and other Raven athletes, sports will always take a backseat to academics.
Take Su, for example.
He has a demanding classload that comes with attending the pricey private school. It includes advanced placement physics, AP calculus and AP chemistry. He also has a narrative forms class, along with teammate Jeff Etcheverry, in which they are currently reading the novel "The Sound and the Fury."
To keep up, Su does what Raven athletes have to do - he sacrifices the majority of his free time to study. He studies before practice, at lunch and on bus rides so he doesn't fall behind. His commitment to his studies has been admirable - he has a 3.95 GPA.
"I got lot of homework to do," Su said. "I just have to find time to do it."
Etcheverry, a senior, is well-accustomed to the challenging workload. He has attended Waterford since kindergarten. At his school, there's no such thing as "senioritis" or loading up on weightlifting or arts and crafts classes in a senior year. Etcheverry is taking British literature and Japanese history, to go along with an AP class.
"You get tired pretty quickly, but it's worth it," Etcheverry said. "I think [the classload] gets you to buckle down. You don't go home and waste time watching TV.
Don't feel bad for them. As tough as their schedules are, Su and Etcheverry say they wouldn't change anything about their schooling. They say they are lucky to be experiencing a top-notch education.
"You walk the halls and you see people applying to Yale, Columbia and Notre Dame," Etcheverry said. "It's fun to be in that type of atmosphere."
Coach Reid Monson continues to be amazed at the type of commitment his players make to their academic schedules. He said their workload resembles that of a college experience, and he tries to make his basketball practices reflect and respect their studies. The team has short practices, with various drills divided into short increments. There is no time for wasted time.
"The term student-athlete always gets mixed up," Monson said. "I don't think it accurately reflects what goes on at a lot of places. My players are student-athletes in every sense of the word. They've got to be on top [of their classwork] or they will suffer."
Through the years, the Ravens' academic commitments have not hurt their play on the basketball court. Waterford won a Class 1-A championship in 2002 and was competitive in its first season in Class 2-A last year. The team is taking some lumps this year, but there are young players who should help it challenge for a spot in the state tournament.
Waterford's commitment to academics has always been a hot topic among opposing players and crowds. They are called nerds, geeks and bookworms. Monson plays along with the insults by wearing a bow-tie on the sidelines.
"They still want to be known as athletes and they work their butts off," Monson said. "They love the game of basketball as much as any 4-A or 5-A player I've ever seen. They don't want to be known as geeks."
aaragon@sltrib.com