By: Maddy Tamayo
Skylar Ford, ‘20, is currently attending her final year as a senior at Redwood. Ford is involved with many activities around Redwood’s campus and has been on varsity water polo for four years as well as involved in ASB and in many clubs.
Ford has been playing water polo since she was in 7th grade. She has gone to the Junior Olympics for 5 years and is expecting to go again this year.
Her love for water polo emerged from her love from swim. “I loved swimming because of the competitiveness but I wanted something more interesting. I combined two things that I really love which is swimming and playing with a ball and with teammates.”
The Junior Olympics is tough and rigorous playing field but it helps her get ready for the type of play in college. From the Junior Olympics, Ford has learned that there is a lot of other competition elsewhere and that she has to work hard in order to stand out.
Ford’s teammate and friend Alex Salazar, ‘20, describes Ford as a team player. “She is super trustworthy and you feel like you can talk to her whenever you need to and she is very open minded.” Salazar has been able to rely on Ford for if she ever needs to get anything off her chest.
Ford has received multiple awards for water polo. Ford’s freshman year, she received offensive player of the year, her sophomore year she got MVP, and junior year she received offensive player.
For swimming, Ford has also received multiple awards. She has received the coach’s award and also WYL MVP.
Ford started as a swimmer when she was young and then evolved into a water polo player. Ford has found that balancing water polo, school and a social life has been difficult.
This year, Ford is taking one AP class along with 2 COS classes. She really focuses on getting her work done in class and studying on any free time.
Along with sports, Ford has been apart of ASB since she was a freshman. Former ASB teacher, Ms. Aguilar, describes Ford as “unique because she is so kind and so genuine.” Aguliar has seen Ford grow into a leader as her time in ASB progresses. “She brought us back to the reality of our conversation and that is where our decisions were impacted the most.”
Ford describes herself as a perfectionist with school and activities. “I always want things right and that can be challenging to balance to try to get everything perfect.”
Around school, Ford is also involved in clubs like Surf Club, Ski Club, CSF, Key Club, and Rally Club.
Outside of school, Ford plays the piano. She has been playing the piano since she was four and continues to play very frequently.
As of right now, Ford has been in contact with a couple of schools to further her education and to continue playing water polo.
For college, Ford looks for a school that allows her to not be just another number. The campus life, the class sizes, and what majors are offered stand out to Ford as she is researching different schools.
Ford wants to major in kinesiology and eventually grow a career that is involved in the medical field.
Ford has received much support from her family and friends. Ford comes from a big family of 4 kids. She describes a typical weekend as going to watch her little siblings play soccer and baseball along with working on school work.
Ford would like to thank her mom for a lot of her success. “She has taught me to work hard and she is an example for me with her work ethic.”
Tags: girls swim, girls water polo, girls waterpolo, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood highschool, redwood rangers, redwood sports, redwood water polo, redwood waterpolo, redwoodhighschool, redwoodrangers, waterpolo