Junior Ari Bonifay who transferred to La Salle last year is a relatively new member to the football community, as he just started playing the sport a few years ago as a wide receiver and corner. With wanting to try something new for high school, Bonifay jumped at the opportunity to play a different sport. 

Bonifay isn’t just limited to football. He has also participated in track and field, mainly competing in sprints.

Bonifay has greatly enjoyed his involvement in sports and its benefits. “It’s just really fun for me, but also I just like being physically healthy,” Bonifay said.

“The first game of the season actually [was my most memorable moment] because at my old school we weren’t very good compared to here, so we didn’t really win a lot, so it wasn’t very positive,” Bonifay said. “But here’s a lot more enjoyable and fun, and there’s a lot more energy, so winning 20-0, it was just fun. Especially when everyone ran on the field.” 

Coach Cory Hincks is a coach that Bonifay really appreciates in his athletic journey at La Salle. “He’s really positive to me and he really encourages me to keep going at it,” Bonifay said.

Bonifay enjoys the amount of faith that his team has this year after a rocky past few years. “[We have] excitement for the season because we all think it’ll be very good,”  Bonifay said. “That’s been very uplifting.” 

With being a newer member to the La Salle community, it took Bonifay a little while to figure out how to balance school and sports, but as time has gone by he’s been able to manage his time better. “I try to fit as much time in after my sports, like an hour or two a day [to do homework], but then I’m mostly focused on school work on the weekends,” Bonifay said.

Being a student athlete has helped Bonifay learn how to stay on top of things and manage his time better. “I’ve learned to get my schoolwork done before I do anything else, like hangout with friends or be on my phone, so I just have to stay focused until I’m done,” Bonifay said.

Bonifay’s favorite class at La Salle right now is Art Foundations with Ms. Cha Asokan because of the relaxing atmosphere and the ability to create new and fun artwork in class.

As a student athlete, Bonifay really values his coach’s help. “Coach [David Kilpatrick-White], he helps make sure that everyone has time to do their school work before practice, so that way they aren’t stressed out during practice,” Bonifay said.

In Bonifay’s future his long-term goal is to be able to attend college with a scholarship. In the short term, he would like to be able to help his team get better, “not focusing on just me, but what my team needs,” Bonifay said.

A piece of advice Bonifay would share to a new athlete coming into high school is to “play more sports,” Bonifay said. “Doing more than one sport helps you, it’s not negative, it’s really positive.”