By: Hunter Ferguson

Hollis High School sophomore athlete Ryan DeLeon spoke with VYPE recently about his athletic pursuits. Devoting the majority of his time to his sporting endeavors leaves little time for club and other extra curricular involvement as he is consistently putting in work whether it be on the field or in the gym. He shared that he participates in basketball, football and track explaining that his position “for football is running back, for basketball I’m a point guard”.

DeLeon spoke of his dedication to athletics by saying “I’m motivated to work harder and harder everyday on being the best teammate and to be the best athlete possible”. He accomplishes this by “Just getting up everyday wanting to be better and taking the time to do the work”.

Something DeLeon has in common with Lincoln Bronn expressing “The whole team works and gives good effort but Lincoln Bronn guards me most of the time and he pushes me more and more everyday”. This drives DeLeon in his convictions, although he wanted to make it known that he thinks his whole team is “appreciated and everyone has a special place” on it and brings qualities to the group that nobody else could. Which means everyone on the team has the unique ability to influence each other by just being who they are.

Not only have DeLeon’s teammates left an impression on him, but so have a few other major players in his life. Including Mrs. Willis as “one of the teachers that impacted my life because she told me not to get distracted and stay out of trouble once we got into highschool”. He also went on to say “My mom is one of my biggest influences on me because she wakes up every day and goes to work to make a better life for me and my siblings”.

DeLeon takes what he learns from those arround him and converts it into passion. Passion to play better, to live better, and to be better. It’s seldom that you find a young person who sees the magic around them and even rarer to see them be able to tap in to it. In closing DeLeon said “It means a lot to represent my school. I came back for a reason and I’m here to get it done”.