According to junior Caleb Fries and senior Patryck Webster, having a supportive coach is important to succeed. Fries has played a variety of sports throughout his life, but one sport in particular stuck with him. 

“I played soccer when I was little. I played baseball. I played hockey. I played basketball. Now, I’ve played volleyball from freshman year on. Volleyball was definitely my favorite. It’s certainly the sport for my height and body type. I’ve really fallen in love with the sport because it’s so much fun to play,” Fries said. 

Webster has played baseball, soccer, wrestling, track and cross country, but the sport that stuck with him was swimming.

“Swimming is definitely my favorite sport. That’s the one I’m the best at. It’s a safe place for me, and I enjoy it,” Webster said. 

According to Fries, Coach John Saboe has the biggest impact on his life on and off the court, as well as a former teammate Joe Ball. 

“He’s taught me that there’s no substitute for hard work, and you always have to go after what you want with 100 percent no matter what the score is, no matter what the other team on the opposing side of the net is doing. He’s really helped me both mentally and physically,” Fries said. “Joe was the first person to take me under his wing whenever I first started playing volleyball. He was the first one I really made friends with. He was in a difficult situation during his senior year, but he still never lost his competitive drive. He never lost hope. He was always on the bench cheering for us, and I’ve always respected that.”

Saboe has been playing volleyball since he was 18 years old. The once player is now also a coach.  Coach Lee Baranik, Karan Price and Erick Kozak had the biggest influence on Saboe’s life. 

“Coach Baranik is just an absolutely incredible man. He’s a fantastic leader, and he was a great coach. All three of those individuals, they’ve all taught me something a little bit different. I was able to take away aspects from all three of those individuals, and those aspects have helped to make me what I am as a coach,” Saboe said. 

Coach Nanette Cummings not only pushes Webster to be a better athlete, but she takes time to create a schedule for the athletes to follow, even if, sometimes, the athletes may not understand the reasoning. 

“She always makes us do challenging workouts even when we don’t think we should be doing them, but it always ends up benefiting us because she has the experience we need,” Webster said. 

Fries is appreciative of Saboe and Ball for impacting his life. 

“I would like to say thank you because you don’t think you have a tremendous impact on people when, in fact, you do. Everything you say, everything you teach, your actions, your thoughts, it all really has a tremendous effect on a person. They really helped me grow into the person I am today,” Fries said.

Webster wants to pass on the support he received from Cummings as well. 

“Although we did not always trust her judgment, it always ended up being the most beneficial, and it made me a better swimmer in the end. Thank you for pushing us. I’m looking forward to passing that onto people that I have talked to or helped out,” Webster said.