Buchanan High School . Sophomore. football and track. CB/WR. 3.3 GPA.
Buchanan Student-Athlete Ben Samrech is proud of the work he has done for his community off the field and proud to represent one of the top schools in the nation.
1. When did you start playing sports and what were the sports you first played?
I first started playing sports in elementary school — third grade. I played football, basketball and ran track.
2. What are some of your proudest moments in track or football?
Man, there are a lot of moments that I’ve made that I’m proud of such as running fast times in the 100-meter and making big plays on the field. Such as one of my deflections against Clovis High my freshman year, which really made me think that I’m really doing this and I can make something out of football as a corner back.
3. What are some things you have done off the field that you’re proud of?
Some of the things I’ve done off the field was, give back to our community by helping our environment stay clean so we can have a clean Earth. And also being able to help kids get better and give them lessons as they go on in life. These moments make me proud of myself as I know I am doing great for my community.
4. What are the most important lessons you learned from sports?
Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned from sports were to stay committed, patient and work hard, as great things don’t come easy in life. Thanks to all of my coaches, family and close friends I’ve learned a lot with sports.
5. What do you think are your strengths on the football field? Any preferred position?
My strengths on the football field are my speed, athleticism, agility and ability to be coachable as an athlete. As a specific position, I play corner back. But I also can play both sides of the ball, at slot receiver.
6. How does it feel to be a student-athlete at Buchanan, one of the top programs in the nation?
As being a student athlete at Buchanan High School, they are hard on their student-athletes about grades. Our football program saying is, “a 3.0 or higher”, so I’m always trying to better my academics as I’m standing with a 3.3 GPA as of right now. They really want their athletes to succeed in the world as life goes on.
7. Why do you think Buchanan has been so successful in sports?
Buchanan has been a great program for a while for many reasons. Every sport has great coaches and these coaches don’t only just teach us standards on the field/court, they also teach us life lessons and things we would use in the real world. While we implement our hard work and dedication into the sports we play, these students are also eager to succeed in their sport and their future.
8. What are your long term goals with sports? Are you leaning to focusing more on football or track in the future?
My long term goals with sports is to eventually take it to the big leagues no matter what it takes and to give back to youth and teach them the lessons that I was taught as being an athlete. As of right now, I’ve been focusing on football since COVID is making our seasons start at the same time. But I’ve been training for both sports at the same time, 2-3 times, six days a week, trying to be the best athlete I can be by speed and weight training.
9. What goals do you have outside of sports?
Yes, I have many goals outside of sports, I want to graduate college and eventually have my own business and give back to my community as much as I can by becoming a successful person, through hard work and consistency.
10. Who are some of your favorite professional athletes and what do you like about them?
I have many professional athletes I look up to. The athlete I looked up to as a kid growing up was always Kobe. Watching him embedded things like his dedication and hard work into my brain since I always looked up to him. Another athlete I really look up to right now is Kenny Moore Jr. The reason I look up to him is because he reminds me of my self as I’ve been compared to him. He may not be the biggest on the field, but he makes it up by hard work and being very skilled at what he does. One more athlete I look up to is Jeremy Lin as he paved a path for Asian American kids playing sports knowing that they can also go to the big leagues.
Cover photo contributed by Ben Samrech.
