Regionals, world championships and maybe even the NBA – these are just some of the achievements and goals that freshman Aidan Shaw has under his belt. For many people, sports is a way to unwind, compete and just have fun with friends. But for Shaw, sports is his whole life.

Many students know Shaw for his accomplishments in basketball, which include winning regionals and a world championship, all before coming to BV. Growing up, Shaw was surrounded with basketball. Everywhere he was, basketball was by his side. Shaw mentioned that his love for the sport began at a very young age.

“I’ve been playing since I can remember. Since I was a little kid, I was surrounded by a basketball family. My mom used to play, and she was pretty good, but then she stopped. I started playing and ended up liking it.” said Shaw.

As his love for basketball grew, he realized that he was going to go somewhere. Shaw moved from club to club, but found the right fit when he decided to join the Power Group. Through this group, Shaw made one of his greatest achievements. While with the group, Shaw and his team won a regional tournament and then went on to compete in the world championship in Florida.

“We won this regional competition, and we got to go to the world championship and people from different countries were there, and we played them and ended up winning. This was with the Power Group club I was in.”

At this point in his basketball career, Shaw became the center of attention of players at BV, along with other schools across the nation. When he came to BV, he had one goal – to play varsity for the basketball team. Shaw hopes that he will be able to play, and hopes it will help him with his long-term goal of playing in the NBA. Managing school and basketball seems to be one of Shaw’s main struggles, but he tries to remember to balance his time between shooting shots at the gym and completing his school work.

“I usually go after I get my work done. Pretty late at night, but I always try and manage how I use my time”, when talking about finding the right balance through all of the chaos. Being a young, basketball world-champion, Shaw never lets the fame and glory get in the way of who he tries to be as a person, and always remembers all the help he got from other people to get to where he is now.

For Aidan, his parents are the people that come to mind. Shaw mentions that “they really support me. “[My parents] drive me to the gym and practices, and they even hired a personal trainer to help me”. Basketball is such an important part of Shaw’s life, and he can’t imagine what it would look like without it. Shaw mentions that without basketball, he’d probably be just another kid looking to find his passion.

“Without basketball, I don’t know where my life would be. It’s become such an important part of who I am and I couldn’t imagine it any other way”.