Sophomore Sophia Brodsky earned the title of Athlete of the Week for her outstanding performance on the varsity girls water polo team. At a tournament on April 18, Sophia scored an incredible season high of nine goals in one game against Lockport High School, helping to secure both a win for her team and a fifth-place rank overall at the tournament.

A lifelong swimmer, Sophia began playing water polo in seventh grade when she joined Latin’s Middle School team. “I fell in love with it,” Sophia said.

The fast-paced nature of water polo offered a competitive aspect that she was missing in swimming. “There’s a ball that you get to shoot into a [net] instead of just swimming laps, and that was really fun,” she said.

Beyond the excitement that water polo offers, Sophia enjoys the tight-knit team culture she has found at Latin. “Because it's a smaller team, we’re all very close,” she said. “Our season is so short that we have, like, three games a week, and we’re just tired together, but we push through, and it's a great dynamic.”

Driven by their perseverance, Sophia attributes her recent success at April’s tournament to the support of her team. “I relied on my teammates and everyone made great passes. It was a high-scoring game, so I got a lot of goals, and some of my teammates also got a lot of really awesome goals,” she said.

While the team spirit is strong, Sophia’s success also stems from the individual work she has put in this season to improve her performance. “My shot accuracy has gone up. I’m able to make some really hard shots pretty accurately and consistently, which is really helpful for my team,” she said.

Beyond her personal achievements, Sophia has also seen significant improvement within the water polo team as a whole. “A lot of seniors left last year, so being able to reform our team and continue to have that great team dynamic has been amazing,” she said.

With the help of her personal and team-wide success, Sophia aims to finish the season strong. “I hope we end on a high note and that we feel happy with what we did in the season,” she said, “and that we are able to push through in the next few weeks with a smile on our faces.”