When Thomas Nowakowski (10) joined his neighbors for their water polo practice, he wasn’t thinking of taking it seriously. It was just a casual after-school activity.

But after tagging along to the first few practices, Nowakowski immediately became interested in giving it a real try.

“My neighbor’s dad played water polo when he was in high school, and his boys were trying it,” Nowakowski said. “They asked me if I wanted to come try it out, so I went to a practice and I really liked it.”

Nowakowski was surprised to see how easily the sport grew on him, leaving him eager to get in as much practice as possible. He is now a part of the Boulder Valley School District team, as well as being on the Rise Water Polo club team.

“The community is really great,” Nowakowski said. “It’s really fun, traveling with all your friends, and playing a sport that you love.”

Water polo is a brutal battle between players where treading water is required at all times. They jockey for positioning, pass the ball to score, and fight to maintain control of the game. The real battle is what’s going on under the water’s surface.

“You get jabbed, punched, and all of that under the water,” Nowakowski said. “They grab your suit and yank it around.”

After endless days of training and practice, Nowakowski’s hard work paid off, earning him a spot on the state team, regional team, and now the Junior Olympic team, allowing him to participate in Olympic development training.

“Junior Olympics is always an amazing experience,” Nowakowski said. “It’s just a completely different atmosphere, and definitely my favorite memory.”

Nowakowski doesn’t want to stop at the Junior Olympics. He has his goals set higher than his current student-athlete lifestyle, aiming to continue his journey into college and beyond.

“My goal is to play in college, and there’s professional leagues overseas in Spain and Croatia that I could play for,” Nowakowski said. “It’s really important to me, and I work very hard.”