Bear’s Patrick Persaud is both a force on the court and a physics whiz in the classroom
Patrick Persaud adheres to the laws of physics when playing volleyball.
“You can relate that stuff to everything in life,” he says with a smile.
Physics is all relative when it comes to the force Persaud puts into his spikes and his ability to move to the ball on big digs.
Regardless of the science of volleyball, the grade 12 beams when talking about the sport he loves — and one he’s gone across the universe to learn.
Since his start with Bloor Bears junior boys squad in grade 10, Persaud has honed his skills. During the summer of his grade 11 year he joined OVA team Markham Stingers, which helped him step up his game.
Taking his sport more seriously was all in the name of his school’s tradition of dominating at the net.
“I always enjoyed playing but I really was not that good at it when I started,” he said. “But at Bloor there’s a long history of volleyball and a lot of the older guys that were here last year and the year before really inspired me.
“I had a lot of people help me out along the way and I just fell in love with the game.”
Anyone witnessing Persaud’s on-court persona will attest to his hard-driving spirit and morale-boosting cheers.
That character helped guide his Bears to A OFSAA in 2010, as they had a rematch against Runnymede Ravens in the City Championships. The Ravens beat Bloor in 2009.
“(The win) felt really good because three of the players on the starting lineup this year were on the bench last year.”
His senior boys coach Patty Barclay said Persaud is talented both in the class and on the court.
“Patrick is a really smart student, gifted. A lot of things come easily to him academically,” she said. “I would say athletically, he works incredibly hard.”
Barclay also sees Persaud help his fellow students out as a coach in track and field.
“He has a big skill set of being able to make the workout interesting and getting the students to work hard,” she said.
The next big challenge for Persaud, Barclay suggested, was specializing his role on the volleyball court.
But forget the law of inertia — nothing will stop Persaud from moving forward. He’ll be back for another year, and after 2012, he’ll be heading to U of T for physical and chemical sciences.
Naturally, physics is his fave class at school.
But ask him if he plans to don a Doppler Effect costume next Halloween much like the character Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, he lets out a loud laugh.
He plays coy but admits he’s a fan.
“I’ve seen every single episode,” he said. “I have it on my computer.”