In this day of specialization when it comes to high-school prep sports, the three-sport athlete has become an increasingly rare breed.
But there always exceptions to the rule, like recent Bothell High graduate Braden Foley, who excelled as the Cougars’ starting quarterback last fall. The University of Puget Sound-bound athlete then went on to play a threatening post position on the basketball team and won the Kingco championship in the javelin on the track squad this spring.
In addition to his athletic talent, Foley was also highly regarded by his peers and coaches, earning team captain honors on all three of his sports teams during the school year.
For his outstanding performance and leadership he displayed during the 2010-11 sports year, Foley has been named the Reporter’s Male Athlete of the Year.
DOING THE RIGHT THING
Soccer’s loss turned out to be the Cougars’ ultimate gain.
As a second-grader, Foley quit soccer and joined the Bothell High junior football program, getting hooked on the sport. Soon, all of his friends followed suit, and advanced through the ranks together.
After the 2009 season ended and knowing that then-starting quarterback Mitch Muller would graduate in June, Foley conditioned himself to take on the role of team leader instead of resting on his laurels.
“It hit me that this was going to be the season, that it was going to be my turn,” Foley recalled. “I needed to buckle down and focus on what needs to be done, and not do the wrong things. The preparation started right when last season ended. You go nonstop with football, it’s pretty much like a job.”
Foley attended a number of invitational camps for quarterbacks to hone his skills, while leading seven-on-seven camps with the Cougars and building trust and cohesion with his teammates.
“Bonding with the team is something that I really wanted to focus on,” said Foley, who was named a first-team all-league player on offense after passing for 1,243 yards with 14 touchdowns. “As well as getting better myself, since (quarterback) is such a large position to hold down.”
The team’s head coach, Tom Bainter, instantly knew that Foley was a special breed of athlete after seeing his work ethic and personable nature.
“He is extremely athletic and could have played four different positions on our football team,” said Bainter of Foley. “What stands out most about him as an athlete and a person is the way he treats the people around him. He is a young man of incredible integrity.”
Bainter lauded Foley’s commitment in the weight room during the offseason, while noting that he became more of a vocal leader as the season went on.
“Often times he was the first to arrive, and the last to leave,” recalled the veteran coach. “(His) positive actions and words often raises the level of performance in those around him.”
Most importantly, Foley credits playing under Bainter as a truly life-changing experience, as he was able to take the program’s core values and apply them to other aspects of his life.
“It’s really something that turned my life around,” he said. “The work ethic that I learned from the Bothell football team is incredible. It related to my school work and really brought my grades up, and it just made me work harder at everything. It opened my eyes to ‘why not work harder at everything you do, and give it all your best.’”
JUMP SHOTS AND JAVELINS
Foley played on the gridiron last fall, averaging 155 passing yards per game (third in the league), but he was far from a one-hit wonder.
Just like football, Foley’s love affair for basketball goes way back, often playing on select, club and school teams during the same season.
In his senior year, after the football season ended with a 28-21 loss to Bellarmine Prep in the state quarterfinals, Foley, a 6-foot-4 forward, challenged opposing offenses with his big post presence, and was one of the Cougars’ main rebounding threats.
While the young Bothell team struggled to put up wins in league play last winter, Foley never quit. He followed through on his role as team captain, taking charge and encouraging the team even when things weren’t going their way.
“He’s a very intense competitor,” said head coach Ron Bollinger. “No matter what we were doing, he always went hard. He was one of the fiery ones… not in a dirty way or a bad way, but he wanted to compete.”
According to Bollinger, Foley lettered as a sophomore due to his defensive abilities, took instruction well and started every game since his junior season, becoming a vocal leader as a senior and helping the Cougars’ inexperienced team be the best it could be.
“I was not the best offensive player, but I did take my pride in defense and rebounding,” said Foley. “I also wanted to take on the leadership role that I learned through football. In football I struggled a little bit to be a vocal leader – I tried to lead by example, but in basketball I tried to be more vocal, and in the long run, it helped.”
Once springtime rolled around, Foley had a decision to make. He had a stint running on the oval last year as a member of the track relay teams, but the problem was, Bothell’s Kingco-title-winning boys’ team was already stacked with sprinters, and while Foley could hold his own, he wasn’t quite fast enough to nail down a starting spot. Head coach Cathy Boyce encouraged Foley to stick with the javelin.
“(Running) was something that I was OK at, but I could not excel in,” Foley said. “We thought it was better for me to focus on the javelin and get our team as many points as possible.”
Foley even surprised himself early in the season with a personal-record toss of 177 feet, 10 inches in a meet against Redmond, a mark that stood in the top 10 in the state for nearly the entire season. A couple months later, he capped off his senior year with a gold medal at the 4A Kingco league championships, edging out Issaquah’s Mike Baba by just over a foot, 165-9 to 164-8, before falling just short of a state berth.
“I have so much respect for Braden because he had managed to balance three varsity sports the past two years, while keeping up with his studies and contributing to making Bothell High a great place to be,” said Boyce, who had Foley as a student for the last two years in history classes. “Braden’s personality, work ethic, leadership and sense of humor encourage and make those around him better (people).”
Next year, Foley will be looking to pursue a degree in business management or finance during his time as a Logger, while playing in UPS’s NCAA Division III football program.
While the challenge of playing collegiate football while taking a rigorous course load may seem daunting, it should be a piece of cake for the 18-year-old Foley, who will be getting a well-deserved break this summer after a hectic senior year.
“The work ethic that I gained from football pushed me through the sports,” he said. “It made me not even regret doing three sports, and love doing everything that I do.”
———
Q & A with Braden Foley
Our Male Athlete of the Year talks football, javelin, and gives a shout out to his coaches:
Q: How you were to handle the pressure of being the leader of the Cougars’ talented team this year, in front of thousands of screaming fans at Pop Keeney?
A: That’s something that I really didn’t know exactly how to handle. I just think it’s something that you block out. When I focus on the fans, it’s fun, but you get out of the game if you think about the crowd. You just need to block it out, and put 100 percent focus on the game. It helped me to not really think about them.
Q: What was your best memory from the football season?
A: It was the first touchdown pass I threw when we played against Mount Si. It was the biggest stress reliever, I think – at the time I was nervous because I didn’t play well the game before and I was struggling at the beginning of the game. That throw really just (took) the stress off me. The whole season in general was fun, and just to do something that a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity to do.
Q: What’s the key being successful at the javelin?
A: It’s all technique. You can have the biggest, brute guy come up and be the worst thrower, and have the smallest guy come up with perfect form and throw it the farthest. It takes a long time to get the focus and the right technique, and it’s just a whole bunch of reps, over and over again.
Q: Who would you like to give a shout out to, that have helped you get to where you are today?
A: All three of my coaches, definitely. They all understood that I have a lot of things going on my life, and they really helped me excel at the position I was at in each sport. On and off the field, they were very inspirational and helpful for me.
