Senior Tanish Gupta has been a part of the McIntosh football team since his freshman year. Gupta is the only football player on the football team from asian descent. Gupta is also a dual sport athlete. He enjoys playing both basketball and football. Although football is something Gupta has focused more on, he took a liking to basketball and started playing during his eighth grade and took a subtle liking to it.
“I first started playing basketball back in eighth grade and then I played [JV my freshman year] until sophomore year and then I just stopped playing,” Gupta said.
To better understand his actions and why he stopped playing basketball Gupta further elaborated that he had other responsibilities and priorities besides playing basketball and that he was in the middle of getting ready for his SAT
“It was just like junior year, my dad told me I couldn’t play because I needed to finish and focus on my SATs. I played recreational basketball that year instead just so I could stay busy. I just found that more fun in my opinion, to play with my friends in my senior year than to play for McIntosh,” Gupta said.
Gupta started playing football early on in his freshman year of high school and soon fell in love with the sport due to the influence of his close friends and the desire to get stronger from football workouts in order to return to playing basketball as a stronger player.
“[My favorite thing about football is] definitely the teammates. I mean, we joke around. with each other once in a while, but like, it’s all love. That’s probably my favorite part. Knowing we can hate each other at one point, but at the end of the day, we love each other,” Gupta said.
As much as Gupta enjoyed playing football, he also enjoyed playing basketball but mostly when playing he enjoyed the energy coming from the bench.
“[My favorite part is where] you are in the game, and you’re doing pretty well. [That] bench atmosphere, [where] your teammates and your friends cheer you on and go crazy if you just do something stupid. That’s my favorite part about [basketball],” Gupta said.
As a dual sport athlete in his final year of high school Tanish shares his perspective and experience playing for McIntosh.
“It’s been a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work. It takes a lot of time and dedication,” Gupta said.
Due to his experience Gupta shares important advice on being a dual sport athlete and what it takes to succeed.
“I would definitely say, make an agenda and stick with it. The best thing you can do is [be] disciplined and get your stuff done, that’s all. That’s all you can do, and you’ll be much happier and not stressed out,” Gupta said.
