Devon Burki (10), a member of the West High Boys Water Polo team, has always been athletics-oriented.  Since the age of eight, he has spiked, set, and bumped on various volleyball teams.  This year is only his second year playing water polo; however, he has found the sport to be quite enjoyable.

A determined and hardworking player, Burki’s favorite position in water polo is “set because it is one of the most important positions and the main [one] for scoring.”  Clearly, Burki has no objection to being right in the middle of all the action of a match.  Though a natural athlete, Burki explained that “the hardest part about water polo is swimming back and forth when the ball is turned over”; a logical statement seeing as water polo is a sport which requires a high level of stamina and concentration.  On the contrary, he claims that “the easiest part is playing defense because you do not have to swim very much” and it is mainly treading water in front of the goal and attempting to block the opposite team from reaching it.

Burki is not only a dedicated player in the pool.  In his free time he can be found diligently doing homework.  Only once he completes his assignments does he “try to hang out with [his] friends as much as possible.” Amazingly, it appears Burki has found the delicate balance between juggling sports, school, and his social life.

Differing from the responses of some of his previously featured teammates such as Evan Bryant (11) and Eric Nguyen (11), Burki has indeed considered pursuing water polo and volleyball in college, though his only worry is that “it is very competitive.”

As for a reflection on himself and his performance in the pool and on the court, Burki stated that “[his] personal goals are only to get better as a player and have fun while [he is] doing it!” Hopefully Burki can continue to work hard to achieve his goals.