Many athletes have had a role model that has pushed them to do better and to achieve goals that seemed impossible at first. Professional athletes, those who have already broken records and set the bar of success higher, are often the people that fill this spot. 

     For Bethany Grzymala, a junior, someone she has looked up to is Teddy Forance. “Teddy is a professional contemporary dancer that I have had the incredible opportunity to work with at dance conventions and a more intimate setting for choreography last year!” Grzymala excitedly described her role model.

     He has influenced her intentions behind her movements as a dancer, “with the artistry and strength that he brings.” Her admiration for the professional dancer showed when she described how “his positivity in the dance studio is like no other. As the owner of CLI Studios (an online dance platform) he has brought positivity to my training even during quarantine.” Forance not only affected her life in the dance studio but who she is outside of it, as the aspiring dancer now tries “spreading positivity to others.” 

      “Being an athlete has helped me overall be more conscious about my health and keeps me in a competitive and focused state of mind,” Grzymala stated. Her proudest moment in the sport is when she decided to change studios.

     “It took a lot of time and thought for me to realize what I needed to do to be able to further my dance education and make myself accountable for my success.” From this tough decision, she was “able to identify the opportunity and the ability to grow at my new home.” 

     Jassete Umbel is an athlete who made her dreams come true as a professional surfer on the United States Women’s Juniors surf team. Umbel explained how “I was 11-years-old when I saw a surf contest out front of my house and I begged my parents to sign me up but they were “anti-contest”, so I walked over and signed myself up and I ended up winning the event, and I was hooked ever since.” 

      An athlete that gave her the determination and motivation to never give up through adversity is pro surfer Bethany Hamilton. From the work ethic Umbel gained from Hamilton, she described how “surfing became the sport that means everything to me, it’s in my eyes, the most beautiful sport there is, and I feel so blessed and lucky I’ve been able to make it my career for so long.” 

     From her success in the waves, Umbel “met so many wonderful people.” These people “pushed me to the best of my ability and it is something I’ll always cherish as it was a fundamental stepping stone to who and where I am today!” 

     Another role model in the pro surfer’s career was her Dad. She explained how it was, “my dad who taught me when I was little if you ever get held under just think of something happy, think of me and your mother and take a deep breath. I also pray a lot when I feel pressure, or if something is weighing heavy on me, and that helps a lot!” 

     Umbel’s proudest moment in surfing is, “when I made it on the USA surf team and got contacted by O’Neill, that was huge for me! I surf because it’s fun, therapeutic, and so healthy for you!”

     For football player Tristan Mcgregor, a pro athlete that has inspired him is John Randle. Mcgregor explained that John Randle has “affected my work ethic because he was never seen as a future pro athlete in a longshot, undrafted, and still got into the hall of fame. It just showed me that no matter what people think of you, you can change their opinions with actions.”

     He explained that “being an athlete has influenced me to do better with my schoolwork so I can have a future in sports.” Mcgregor also revealed that the way he keeps calm under pressure is “by not focusing on what has happened, but rather what’s going to happen.” 

     “When North Harford beat Patterson Mill at homecoming last year,” was the proudest moment in his football career so far. 

     Brian Stoehr is another athlete that was able to make their childhood dream of becoming a professional athlete come true. Stoehr is a professional bodyboarder who won the U.S. tour for bodyboarding twice. 

     Growing up he always looked up to a professional bodyboarder, Jay Reale. Stoehr also looked up to Kelly Slater and Tiger Woods’ ability to go “so much further beyond anyone else in their respective sports in a certain time.” In Stoehr’s opinion, “all three of these guys were the best at what they did. They are as professional as professional athletes can become.”  

     The professional bodyboarder explained how, “if I look back throughout my whole career, I could summarize my greatest achievement as simply living out my childhood dream. It is something that I am still doing to this day.” He was also, “a professionally paid athlete in the sport of bodyboarding for 20 years.”