School: Cheltenham
Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Antonio Gates
Favorite team: San Diego Chargers
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Last year when we played against Abington and I had 10 blocks against their primary middle hitter.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “During my first season of volleyball, I was playing in one of my first varsity games. I forgot to go up for a block, and the power hitter slammed the ball right in my face.”
Music on iPod: “I listen to a wide variety, but lately, it’s only been Drake, J.Cole and Lupe Fiasco.”
Future plans: “I’m going to Syracuse University where I hope to continue playing volleyball for their club team, and after college, I plan on becoming a physical therapist.”
Words to live by: “It’s not what you do, but how well you do it.”
One goal before turning 30: “Learn how to cook ‘real food.’”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I never touched a volleyball until my first day of tryouts when I was a sophomore.”
At 6-6, Justin Smith was a natural to play basketball.
Or so it seemed.
But basketball never became the sport of choice for the Cheltenham senior, who opted to give it up after his ninth grade year.
“I just never had a passion for basketball,” he said.
The following year, he tried a new sport – volleyball. It turned out to be a perfect fit for everyone involved.
“He works very hard, and he has become someone we can’t take off the floor,” coach Chris Manser said of his middle hitter. “We rely on him to block, and in my opinion, he’s one of the better blockers sin the league.”
Smith has developed a passion for volleyball, although he admits he was anything but a natural in his early days on the court.
“It was harder than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “I thought it was going to be easy when I first went out.
“The toughest thing I had to learn was passing. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. It’s not as easy as it looks at all.”
According to Manser, things didn’t come naturally for Smith in those early days.
“He came out for the team, and at 6-6 in high school growing into a 6-6 frame – sometimes that does not work real well,” the Panthers’ coach said. “His coordination has picked up, and his work ethic is second to none.”
While Smith – as the result of his hard work and determination - has developed into a legitimate presence in the middle of the net for the Panthers, he has followed a similar path in the classroom.
As a freshman, Smith took all honors classes. He struggled in his honors bio class, which resulted in a substantial drop in his GPA. The following year – in an attempt to up his GPA – Smith found himself taking enrichment classes.
“He took that as an insult, and he worked his butt off the next year,” Manser said.
Smith reaped the dividends for his hard work.
As a junior, he was once again enrolled in all honors classes, and this time he was prepared. He excelled and now boasts a schedule that includes three AP classes.
“My parents made sure I always tried hard at school, always did my best,” he said. “They told me, ‘You can do sports for only so long, but if you get an education, you’ll always have something to fall back on.’”
In addition to holding two jobs – Smith works part-time at Acme and also Abercrombie and Fitch Kids, he is also completing a year-long internship at Moss Rehab in Jenkintown where he shadows a physical therapist every day.
“I enjoy dealing with the patients,” he said. “But I think instead of being in a clinical situation, I would like to be involved with a sports team.”
With that in mind, he will enroll in the pre-physical therapy track at Syracuse’s College of Education.
“I always want to be involved in sports,” he said. “I love watching sports, and for my career, I’d like to do something that will keep me in a sports environment. I thought physical therapy would be it.
“I can’t sit at a desk – I’d be bored. If I do physical therapy, I can help athletes and still be part of the sports process.”
Syracuse, it turns out, has always been his dream college.
“When I was younger, I looked at Syracuse as the college I would go to, but I never actually thought I would go there” Smith said with a laugh. “When you’re younger, you see colleges and you’re like, ‘Oh, that looks really good. They have good sports teams, and I want to go there.’
“I always followed all their teams, but I never thought I would end up there. When I got my acceptance letter - that was a crazy day.”
Things got even crazier when Smith found out he would receive a one-half academic scholarship.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Smith is planning to try out for the club team at Syracuse, an unexpected ending for someone who actually grew up playing football.
“I used to be a lot chubbier, so I played football more,” he said. “I played in a couple of leagues for basketball.”
Both football and basketball fell by the wayside after ninth grade with snowboarding replacing basketball in the winter.
As a sophomore, Smith – who never touched a volleyball before the first day of tryouts – went out for that brand new sport at the suggestion of his good friend, Brian Sloan, who was already a member of the team.
“I wanted to try something different,” he said.
That’s when Smith found out how hard volleyball could be for a newcomer in a league that includes teams that are perennial district powers.
“Oh my gosh, when I first started, it was really intimidating,” he said. “I used to hope the ball wouldn’t come to me, and I would have to play it.”
Those days were over rather quickly.
“Now I’m waiting for the ball,” Smith said. “I want the ball to come to me now because I want to do something with it. I want every ball.”
Smith has enjoyed being part of a program on the rise in a strong conference.
“It is tough because you have to work up to their level, but it’s also a challenge, and I look forward to challenges,” he said. “When you know your program isn’t really established and you know you’re not at the top of your game, you have to work your way there.
“It takes time, and it takes hard work, and it takes dedication.”
For the past two years, Smith served as manager of the girls’ team, a position that allowed him to work on volleyball in the offseason. He also played in a summer league, and he admits he can’t get enough of the sport.
“I love it,” he said. “I could never live without it. It’s part of my life now.”
Competing in sports, according to Smith, teaches important life lessons.
“I learned so many things about teamwork and cooperating with people,” he said. “I think volleyball has helped me the most just because it’s teamwork – you can’t do it yourself.
“You need to learn how to trust people and depend on people. That’s one of the life lessons that is really going to stay with me.”
According to his coach, this is one young man who is ready to face the world.
“He has everything together,” Manser said. “I have seen enough kids who are 17 or 18 who don’t, and he has it together in every aspect.”
