As for his motivation, Tony says it’s always been his dad. “He never had a chance to play sports a lot because he had to help his parents support the family, that just pushed me to make my dad proud.”

As the little fish in a big pond, freshman Tony Esquivel’s life has rarely been easy.

His determination is visible, his motivation is apparent, and his passion is easily seen when you hear Esquivel talk about his sport, basketball.

“I’ve been passionate about basketball since the fourth grade,” Esquivel said. “It just stuck with me and it means a lot; it calms me.”

Esquivel’s basketball career all started back at a young age.

“I was at daycare and I was shooting around and a coach for a team liked the way I was playing, and I started playing with him,” Esquivel said.

Being the lone freshman on an all-upperclassmen varsity team, Esquivel’s skills were quickly put to the test.

“In most cases it is rare to have a freshman on varsity but it does happen,” Coach Ron Stone said. “Tony adds to offense, [and] defense, and he can score.”

“It’s a big challenge but it’s going great,” Esquivel said. “I enjoy the challenge at this level that I’m playing at because it’s getting me better every day. I like playing with the variety of age differences; it feels different being the youngest on the court but I also like it at the same time because they give me help on how to become a better player and teammate.”

However, it is apparent that Esquivel, one of the team’s point guards, has had no trouble fitting in with the older boys.

Junior varsity teammate Chase Resch commented, “He’s my little jumping bean… He brings good ball handling and lots of confidence. He knows the game really well and it’s always fun to play with such a good athlete.”

Moving from school to school throughout his young life, Esquivel was challenged on and off the court.

“Before high school, [I moved] three times in the last five years,” Esquivel said. “[There was a] struggle [with] going to a new school and having to make new friends, since we moved to multiple states in a short amount of time.”

Despite facing this challenge, Esquivel has overcome it and continued on his path to basketball success.

As for his future, Esquivel said it will definitely involve basketball.

“My plans for the future are to keep on playing football (quarterback) and basketball at Wenatchee High School,” Esquivel said. “Focusing on my academics, as well to continue my journey to possibly receive a full-ride scholarship to a D-1 [Division I] university in either sport. Once in college, I will still be enjoying sports and working hard.”

When asked which sport he feels he has the best chance of playing in college Esquivel easily answered football. “I feel in my opinion that I’m built for [football], but I wish it could be basketball.”

Esquivel plans on pursuing a career in the medical field.

“I just always thought it would be cool to go into the medical field,” Esquivel said, “I just like helping people in general.”

As for his motivation, Tony says it’s always been his dad. “He never had a chance to play sports a lot because he had to help his parents support the family, that just pushed me to make my dad proud.”