Playing basketball for a total of 12 years, senior Nick Canfield has a history of being  a star player off and on the court. “Nick has always been ‘team first’ since the beginning,” boys basketball coach Jason Geyer said. “He brings energy and enthusiasm in everything he does. Whether he is having a good day or bad day, whether he is playing well or not playing well, or whether he’s on the court or on the bench, he always brings energy and enthusiasm.”

Canfield has been confident that his contribution to the team has had a positive effect on the team’s confidence. “In a sports sense, I think that I’m able to make everyone’s jobs a little bit easier,” Canfield said. “I’m not the type of person to go out and score 20 points a game, but we have Mekhi [Motilewa] and Basit [Quadri] who do that. But at the same time, they are playing 32 minutes, 3 games a week, and I think I do a really good job taking [extra pressure] off their shoulders.”

Fellow teammate junior Kyle Desai agrees that Canfield is a leader to the team. “He’s very vocal and gets everybody involved. Whenever we’re down, we can always rely on Nick to bring us back together,” Desai said.

For Canfield, basketball has taught him all sorts of lessons. “You learn how to communicate through various people and all sorts of different circumstances,” Canfield said.  “Effort pays off. It might not show or come through the first couple of times you do it, but eventually it will pay off and it’ll come through.” He also gives similar advice to younger players on the court, insisting that communication is key to having a successful game. “It might not seem like it helps out, but if everyone on the team is talking and communicating, it creates a great atmosphere and great energy on the court,” Canfield said.