Joshua Pioch '20 Recruiting Profile

        My name is Joshua Pioch and I am currently a senior at LaSalle Peru High School. After spending most of my life playing soccer, I decided to give tennis a try. I fell in love with the sport and plan to play the rest of my life. Once my mom saw my passion for the sport, she found a private coach for me and an indoor facility to practice at. Currently, I play mostly doubles, and play singles on occasion. My partner and I almost made state last year and my coach believes we will obtain that honor this year.

        My educational interests include both computer engineering and law, specifically real estate but am undecided in what I wish to pursue. Growing up in my hometown of Earlville, IL, there weren't many class options available as it was a small school of only 450 kids k-12. Upon moving to LaSalle, my interest in computer engineering began when I saw all the clubs and classes I could take that would teach me about computers. What I find most interesting is how everything is becoming so entwined in technology and how it is affecting society. I took an Intro to Engineering class my junior year to dip my feet into the engineering field and enjoyed it a lot. My senior year, I am currently taking AP Computer Science, Computer Maintenance and Repair, and Principles of Engineering. Because these new classes are a little more specific, it has been a little bit of a struggle, but I have made sure to utilize the resources available to get help in the classes that I need.

        So, those are my academic interests that I would be looking for colleges, now playing tennis is a whole different story. During my time living in Earlville I only played soccer and a little basketball. Soccer was my main sport since I played when I was little and have about 13 years of experience. When I moved to Lasalle, it opened a huge opportunity of other sports I could play. However, being new to the school made me shy and not as confident in trying any of them. As I made some friends, they persuaded me to try tennis and my first day was really fun and I absolutely loved the sport even though I wasn’t very good. When time went on, I truly think that I have gotten better and have even more potential to be unlocked by playing for a college. I would like to think that a college has a lot to work with if I join their tennis program. I am 6’2”, weight 200lbs, and can move around pretty quickly from what I was told by another tennis coach who was from Wisconsin and has his own tennis program where he teaches other players. Some of my goals for playing college tennis would simply be to play at the highest competitive level and playing to the potential that my coaches and I believe I can accomplish.