Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Muhammad Ali
Favorite team: Liverpool F.C.
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was winning our first 17U AAU championship during my junior season.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My most embarrassing sports moment was when I attempted to throw a headlock on a state champion wrestler during a dual meet and got thrown to my back in front of a packed gym.
Music on playlist: I love to listen to Tame Impala, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, and Bob Marley
Future plans: I plan to attend Villanova Honors College for an undergraduate degree before going to law school.
Words to live by: “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
One goal before turning 30: I hope to be able to run in a full marathon before I turn 30.
One thing people don’t know about me:. I’m a huge fan of all things nature and love to be outdoors, whether it’s hiking a forest or surfing in LBI.
By GORDON GLANTZ
A self-professed surfer dude with an affinity for The Beach Boys and Bob Marley, Pennridge senior Brady Fish has learned to make surfing a metaphor for life and how to live it.
“I’m a huge fan of the beach,” he said. “I’ve probably gone surfing like 10 times (at Long Beach Island) these last few summers and I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
“I’m a pretty big surfer dude. That’s what a lot of people describe me as.”
Motivated a lot by the words of Muhammad Ali, Fish rides the waves as they come, never getting too up or down about too much.
His favorite saying is to not let yesterday take up too much of today, and he has used it in his athletic career and in his academic pursuits.
Naturally, it came from the movie Surf’s Up, a favorite movie.
“While it was a joke in the movie, it means to not let events, like a bad play you made in the past, affect how you play now,” said Fish, who also enjoys hiking. “Don’t let one bad situation define how you go about the rest of your day. Don’t let the past ruin your current decisions because it’s just going to ruin your life.
“Even when I got rejected from a college, I was sad that day but then I just moved on to the next one the next day. When a bad thing happens in my life, I try not to focus on it too much. There is far too much goodness to let that one thing ruin how I view the world.”
When he failed to secure a starting spot on the powerful Rams volleyball team, Fish didn’t waste time feeling sorry for himself.
Playing a role that equates to a sixth man in basketball, Fish is supportive of his teammates.
“I’m a kind of a backup for every hitting position right now,” said Fish. “If someone gets hurt, I’m the first one to go in.
“Most people would be disappointed, but our team is great, and I understand that. On most teams, I would start, but I’m cool with not being a starter. I have started a few games, and we did well, so I know that I’m capable of starting.”
His role also includes entertaining the crowd by having a special handshake with each starter when they are announced.
“Whenever they announce a starter’s name, I have a personal handshake with each and every one of them,” Fish said. “It’s like a personal sendoff before they go onto the court. The crowd loves it, and I love doing it. A lot of people find enjoyment in it, and it’s just a fun thing to do with my teammates.”
Although he ranks fourth in his senior class of around 500 – and serves as class president, vice president of National Honor Society and treasurer of Key Club – Fish did not make the final cut at all the colleges he considered attending.
So, he focused on the ones that did want the aspiring lawyer – Villanova, South Carolina and Fordham – and has, more or less, decided on the Villanova honors program.
“It will most likely be Villanova,” said Fish, who has a GPA in the 4.8 range. “It’s closer, and it’s better for my major. I like it better than South Carolina, too.
“They don’t have a guys’ volleyball team, but I will play intermural or club. I really want to keep on playing the sport.”
Fish is also looking at becoming a marathon runner, like his dad, Dan.
“That’s a pretty good athletic goal,” he said. “I don’t know how much sports I’ll have in my life. I definitely want to be able to do that. It’s one of my main goals. My dad, back when I was younger, ran in a lot of marathons. We have all these T-shirts. I definitely want to accomplish that goal. It seems like an extreme thing to do – that is doable.”
However, this the cart before the horse. Academics remain a priority.
“School is my main strength,” he said. “When middle school started, that’s when I really started to work hard at school. I knew that’s when it was really going to start to matter, and I’ve been on this path ever since.”
Providing Depth
As far as coach Dave Childs is concerned, Fish is a valued member of a squad with high aspirations for the season.
“He’s a really solid player,” said the coach. “He would start on pretty much any other team. While he is a backup for us, he is a really good player that we rely on. He is just a good kid to have on your team.”
Fish not only supplies depth but also character for the Rams.
“He put in a lot of time in the offseason, just like all the other guys,” said Childs. “He’s just another member of the group. It’s a tight group that has played together for a while, and he is a fun to have as part of that group.
“He gets along with everyone. He’s always positive and providing encouragement to everyone on the team. He is someone who has leadership ability. While he knows when the joke around, he knows when to be serious. Having that kind of a person around at practice is important. He can also play at a high level and push his teammates that way, too.”
Said Fish: “I’m definitely one of the loudest people on the bench. I’m a super loud person. I have no problem screaming whenever a teammate gets a good point.”
And, when his number is called, the surfer dude is ready to ride the next wave.
“I’ll go in whenever he needs me to,” said Fish. “I stretch all the time. I’m pretty loose. I’m always ready.”
Fish Out of Water
Fish grew up playing a variety of sports as a kid, and gave up track after the COVID pandemic, leaving just wrestling and volleyball on the table.
“Because of wrestling season, I missed the first day of volleyball tryouts,” said Fish. “I figured, ‘Why not go out?’ I have been playing ever since.”
While he has stayed with wrestling, too, Fish has been consumed with volleyball. He plays in the fall for an AAU team and then in the spring with the same AAU teammates.
“I started wrestling later than everyone else,” said Fish, who wrestled in the 158-160 area this past season. “I wasn’t as good at wrestling. With volleyball, I just got the hang of it immediately. I enjoy volleyball more than wrestling, but I still love both sports.”
He credits his coach, Childs, for igniting his passion for the sport.
“I truly have our head coach and our assistant coach to really thank for that,” said Fish. “None of us had ever really played before high school. Our head coach was able to turn a bunch of dudes that never played before into a district team last year, and we are currently ranked No. 2 in the district this year. He was able to make us into a really good team. We have him to thank for that.”
For his part, Childs has seen a steady improvement in the level of play of Fish as he moved through the program.
“After his sophomore year, when we really look to make them varsity players by their junior year, I really wasn’t sure how well he would do,” said the coach. “We switched him into the middle position because we didn’t really have a position for him, and he really worked hard and took to it and made himself into a real solid player. That was a real turning point for him.”
Fish also targets that point in his development as a key step.
“Freshman and sophomore year, I was always one of the more athletic people on the team, but I didn’t always get the sport,” he said. “I didn’t really get what I was supposed to do as much. On JV, I played all the time because I was athletic, but I didn’t really get the sport as much.”
He thanked a lot of people for their ongoing support. That list includes his mother (Maria), his dad, Dan, the aforementioned marathoner), older brother, Danny (a Division 1 football player at Davidson) and all the loyal fans in the stands.
But Fish credits Childs for helping him develop.
“He pointed out exactly what I needed to do, and it helped so much,” said Fish. “I improved on the little things. The little errors I made, I fixed, and it went a long way to me being able to make varsity and play a lot and contribute to the team’s wins.”
