Sports and drama have always sat on opposite sides of the spectrum. The act of performing on stage is seen more as a creative outlet while team sports evokes images of competitive sweatiness. While the combo may seem like polar opposites, one student is boldly merging the two.

Sophomore Matthew Ho is part of both JV Tennis and Intermediate Theater. Ho became deeply invested in each, proving time management to be a testing skill. Ho picked up acting unassumingly and did not expect it to stick with him till high school.

“My mother had signed me and my sister up for theater during summer camp and after that… I was hooked,” Ho explained.

Similarly, tennis made its way into his life when he was around 10-years-old, and like for most elementary age kids, it was mostly for fun.

“It was more like a pastime activity, never too serious or stressful,” Ho said about his early days in tennis. “But when I got into high school, competition started to toughen up.”

Coming out of the pandemic, Ho faced difficulties catching up to other players after months without serious practice. He said he had intense training sessions everyday in the months leading up to tennis team tryouts.

Ho was both shocked and elated to find out that “when they announced the teams, there [he] was on the list.”

Now, over a month since being accepted, Ho has discovered it takes more than skill to be on the tennis team; it also requires sacrifice. Both the tennis team and theater have after school practice most days and, though he deeply values both of his extracurriculars, Ho had to inevitably prioritize one.

“Honestly it was one of the most difficult things I had to overcome this year,” he said. “Although I enjoyed them both equally, in the end, I had to decide on one or the other because I couldn’t keep splitting my time unequally.”

For Ho, this has meant cutting down his agenda and opting out of major plays and after school theater events. However, this small setback hasn’t deterred him from finding ways to integrate creativity and athletics into his everyday life.

“It’s been a great start to the season, and with our first game a few weeks away, I’m excited to see what everyone can do!”

Photo courtesy of Matthew Ho