Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

Palo Alto High School's sports news magazine

Viking Magazine

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The Alok Subbarao Award

The Alok Subbarao Award

Each year, the Viking Magazine chooses one athlete to receive the Alok Subbarao award.  The recipient must demonstrate the spirit of Alok, who showed impeccable character and attitude on and off the playing field.  This year, the winner of the Alok award is Alistair Thompson (’11).  An athlete does not necessarily need to be the best player on his or her team; instead he or she has to show outstanding character and spirit.  Thompson embodies this persona.

“His work ethic is unmatched,” former teammate and friend Max Schmarzo (‘11) said.  “He takes great [pride] in his school work and his athletics.”

Although Thompson was not a starter on the varsity football team this year, everyone noticed and respected his presence.

“He is a great teammate,” varsity football player Kevin Anderson (‘11) said.” He’s fun to have on the team and is a great example for the younger players.”

Although Thompson was not always catching passes and making huge plays during games, hen always stayed positive.  It is easy to get disheartened if one does not receive large amounts of playing time, but Thompson kept his head up and kept on working.

“He’s the type of kid who likes to work hard,” Anderson said.  “He’ll set himself a goal and will work extremely hard to reach that goal and I’ve never seen him fail.”

His approach to the game of football showed his desire to improve.  While others complained about the long and demanding hours of varsity football, Thompson embraced it.  He competed every down because he wanted to push both the team, and himself.

Whether Thompson was running extra sprints after practice to get better, or volunteering to be on a scout team for practice, he was always giving it his all.  While some players often tried to avoid as much work as possible, Thompson did the opposite.

“Al does anything he possibly can to help the team, whether it be volunteering for the scout team to give the starters a worthy look, or working to expand his skill set to play wherever he is needed,” younger brother Rowan Thompson (‘13) said.

Rowan played along side his brother during Paly’s playoff run towards a state championship.

Thompson’s work ethic is infections, spreading to those around him.  He inspires others to follow his lead, and to give it their all.

“He is a leader,” Schmarzo said.  “He leads by example [and] by always going 100 percent.”

Thompson’s attitude and work ethic has also rubbed off on his two younger brothers.

“The example he sets causes me to strive to improve myself, and live up to the standard he sets,” Rowan said.  “It’s the same with sports, although I don’t work nearly as hard as Alistair, seeing him work his ass off in football inspires myself to do the same.”

Rowan has noticed the Thompson work ethic in his youngest brother Flynn too.

“His work ethic has clearly rubbed off on Flynn,” Rowan said.  “Today I can see Flynn work every day on his swing in baseball, and he has a very similar attitude in football. He loves both sports and is always willing to go the extra mile [like older brother, Thompson].”

This passionate work ethic and dedication that Thompson passes on to others has been with him since he was very young.

“When I was younger I was taught that you only have so many opportunities to work at something that you truly love and when you have those opportunities there is nothing to do but make the absolute best of them,” Thompson said.

Thompson credits his ability to keep pushing on even when things seem down to his father, who instilled a desire to succeed in him at a young age.

“He taught me that things wouldn’t always seem fair but I would always be able to choose how I reacted when things went wrong,” Thompson said.  “He taught me that the best way to make this choice is to work harder than everybody else around me and that is what I try to do.”

Thompson had put in as much work as anyone on the football team, but when he arrived in Los Angeles adversity struck.  Thompson suffered from a partially collapsed lung, and could not play in the state championship game.

“The night before we went down to LA I had a spontaneous pneumothorax which means I had a partially collapsed lung,” Thompson said.   “It’s something that I’ve had before and it happened because I have these pockets in the tops of my lungs and when they burst my lung collapses.”

The injury came at a difficult time for Thompson because of how much he wanted to play in this game.  Thompson initially wanted to play through it, but realized it would medically unsafe.

“I didn’t tell anyone because I thought it was minor like my last one and I thought I could try to play with it,” Thompson said.   “However, the doctor told me I had to go to the hospital because it could potentially collapse completely and then I would be in pretty serious trouble.”

At first Thompson was frustrated with his inability to be out on the field with his teammates, but he soon turned his view into a positive one.

“I was bitter for a while, but I realized just how fortunate I was to be a member of that team,” Thompson said.  “I think this means far more than all of the frustration I felt. I was able to see through everything that went wrong and focus on the one thing that went absolutely right.”

This ability to look for the positive aspects in everything is why Thompson was chosen to win the Alok award.  Others could have wallowed in self pity, but Thompson supported his teammates instead.

Thompson was not able to play in his last high school football game because of his lung, but he plans to continue working hard in whatever he does after graduating high school.

“I will pick what I love to do most and I will apply myself to the fullest,” Thompson said.  “That is what I do best and I will continue to do that for the rest of my life.”                                       <<<

 

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    Alok SubbaraoJun 16, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    Congrats Alistair! Sounds like you really put your heart into the team and sport, and had a great influence on your teammates. I’m sorry to hear you couldn’t play your last game, that must have been a huge bummer, but good luck in the future!

    Also to the Viking eds, it definitely means a lot to me that you guys have stuck with the award title, thanks, I appreciate it.

    Reply
    • althompson11Jun 20, 2011 at 3:40 pm

      Alok,

      Thanks for the recognition man, I appreciate it. I’m glad we have this award along with the others so I have to thank you for being the inspiration.

      Reply