Naptowns Notorious

It’s December 25th 1999, but this Christmas Day was a little different than most for me. On second thought, it was different for everyone, because in a few days the world would be experiencing and moving into a new millennium. Honestly, that was an after thought in my mind. The only present I wanted couldn’t fit under a tree. I had one thing and one thing only on my mind. Beating the Michigan State basketball team!! I physically couldn’t be still for anything leading up to th

Sweat dripping down my face. Bone-chilling weather. Packed stands. This was the atmosphere of our semi-state match last year against Homestead and one of my favorite memories from my high school tennis career. nWe were down 0-2 after losing both doubles and the pressure was on singles. Maurquis dropped the first set and Homestead was looking like the favorite to reach the state finals. I was able to play a solid match and come out with a win at 2 singles over a very strong op

I used to play basketball at the University of Maryland… And by play, I mean I was the kid at the end of the bench with no regard for life. After an 80 minute warm-up, some dunk attempts, a whole lot of trey balls and then sitting for 2 hours watching - it is tougher than you think to go in and play the last 4 minutes of the game. Right around the 12 minute mark in the second half, the “Put in Tuh-Rell” chants start up in the crowd (and it’s not Tuh-Rell by the way, people...

From heartbreaking, match point-missed opportunities against arch rivals, to ecstatic come-from-behind record-setting victories, there was no shortage of roller coaster emotions that accompanied growing up as a die-hard Roger Federer fan over the past couple decades. In the Kumar household, waking up at 3am for Australian Open finals was expected when Roger was competing, as was yelling at the TV when he shanked a seemingly short backhand on a big point. I’ll never forget the

June 2, 2018 The morning of what would be HSE’s first ever appearance in the Indiana High School Lacrosse State Championship. I was watching Scarface on my couch when I heard my phone ring from the bathroom. It was my Co-Captain Nick Riina, calling me to inform me that I was a half an hour late to the morning film session. I grabbed my bags, packed up my car, and headed over to the high school. I walked into the locker room to stares of disapproval from my teammates and coach

Growing up in Indianapolis was all I knew. From the age of 4 when I first picked up a basketball, sports became my canvas for expression with Indianapolis as my studio. How does a kid’s dream fit into the parameters that society has placed on you? His name is Jesus Christ. He was, is and always will be the conductor of my life. He is who I point to first because He comes before anything or anyone else. It was growing up in the church when I learned that my parents became stew

I grew up in a household where sports were played constantly. My siblings and I began to play sports as soon as we were able to run around. We all participated in The Catholic Youth Organization sports for our grade school, Immaculate Heart of Mary. My parents both played division I college tennis; my mom played at Miami of Ohio and my dad played at University of Texas and later on played professionally. I began to start taking tennis the most serious by the time I was in 5th

Throughout childhood, kids have the opportunity to play whatever sport they can dream of. Whether it be soccer, tennis, gymnastics, track, or anything else, the options were endless. For me, this was no different, I played soccer, ran the 1600-meter run in track, participated in cross country, and of course, played basketball. However, out of all the sports that I chose to participate in, none of them drew my interest quite like basketball did. The feeling of peace, excitemen