Jared Helmstadter drives to the hoop. (John Fisken photo)
One more time. And why not?
Traditionally, if you’re an athlete, once you graduate from Coupeville High School, I stop running birthday stories for you here on the blog.
At that point, you’ve moved on, so it’s time to flip the spotlight onto the other 23,000 Wolves trying to elbow their way into the frame.
But, Jared Helmstadter, who celebrates a cake day today, only graduated a couple of weeks ago, and he’s one of the big success stories from our run here at Coupeville Sports, so we’re bending the rules.
Sometimes you need to do that for the great ones.
And Jared is, without a doubt, one of the biggies.
He first skipped into high school right after I kicked off Coupeville Sports in Aug. 2012, and, over the next four years, he was everywhere.
Even when I tried to change his last name to Helmstadler, with an L instead of a T, he never missed a beat.
The kid who shot into the world at week 26 (a modest two pounds at the time) grew up to be the only Wolf in the Class of 2016 to play a full 12 sports in his time at the school.
Four years of tennis, basketball and track later, he exited as arguably the best-liked, most-admired athlete in his class.
And I’m not saying that lightly.
His coaches adored him. His teammates raved about him.
Jared, much like classmate Makana Stone, transcended sports.
When he applied for the scholarships given out by local photographer John Fisken, one of the interview questions the paparazzi asked of each applicant was “If you don’t win, who do you want to see win?”
Every single applicant said the same name. Spoiler alert: it was Jared.
Helmstadter himself would admit he wasn’t the most talented athlete in his class, but he was justifiably proud that he put out as much effort, showed as much heart and cheered for each and every one of his teammates like no other.
When he talked about the best moments of his prep career, he always went to team moments, slices of time when he was part of something bigger than himself.
Through four years of covering Jared, I saw a young man who will not be beaten down by rough times, who will always get up and fight, who will always look for the best in everyone around him.
The guy is, was, and will always be, a true class act and it really was an honor to be a small part of telling the world about him.
Happy birthday, Mr. Helmstadter. May the best be yet to come.
Coupeville Sports 