Alumni continue to thrive in D1 athletics

The athletic programs at West Essex reflect the talented student body and encouraging staff of our district. Some students are even continuing their athletic success beyond high school and have performed well enough to pursue their athletic careers in college, even at the Division I level.

Although less than 2 percent of high school athletes across the country even reach Division I (per Athletic Scholarship Stats), West Essex has trained several that went on to play at this prestigious level. The jump from high school to the D1 level can be very tough in terms of work ethic and competition, but these alumni have mastered the techniques to remain on top.

“You are a full time athlete-student and you really have to buy into it from 9 to 5,” said Tommy Drago, Class of ’20, currently playing men’s lacrosse at Syracuse University.

“The best way I’ve had it described to me is the best player on every high school team is at the D1 level,” said Bardyhl Gashi, Class of ’20, currently playing football at Colgate University. 

For such a demanding career, it takes proper preparation from high school to make it. Princeton football player Will Perez, Class of ’19, said West Essex did a firm job of handling their team’s tough challenges.

“We played pretty decent competition,” Perez said.“It’s not the best, but I think there is something to be said for kids who go to schools like Bergen Catholic or Don Bosco Prep where they’re playing against really high level competition.”

Not only have these athletes’ lives been taken much more seriously since they began playing at a higher level, but they pose another challenge of being able to balance athletics, academics and  social life. Being in college allows these athletes to thrive on their own while learning to balance their responsibilities. All four alumni we spoke to agreed: time-management is a struggle.

“There’s three types of life: Your social life, academic life and lacrosse life,” Drago said. “I try to make my workload per week high on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so that way my social life is on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.”

“You have to really set a schedule for yourself and be stubborn and diligent with yourself to stay on top of everything,” said Cameron Kinsella, Class of ’20, now playing field hockey at Brown University. “I think it can definitely take a mental toll on you.”

This skill is one that many of these players have continued to improve on as their time has gone on in college. The sense of responsibility and strength they have developed has been rooted from old coaches at West Essex. Their preparation has greatly added to the students’ successes.

Numerous West Essex coaches have assisted these students to get them to the next level. For the coaches, it’s their second job, but for the players, they propelled their careers.

“Markey with wrestling was a big help for my recruitment because West Essex is a smaller school in the grand scheme of things, so a lot of my wrestling success translated to my football success,” Gashi said.

“Coach Cosse was one of the best coaches I’ve had,” Kinsella said. “Field hockey aside, I think she really did make me a hard worker.”

These athletes are reaching the apexes of their careers, but it took diligent effort to get to this point. Without their determination and hard work throughout high school, the place they are at now would have never been possible.

“It’s tough to bet against the guy who shows up every single day,” Perez said. “If you show up every single day, you’re gonna be almost impossible to beat, because the amount of people who show up every single day is few to none.”