To be completely honest, there is no single moment I can point to and say, “this is when I knew sports analytics was something I wanted to explore.” Rather, I think my interest in the field stems from a combination of a lifelong love of sports and a deep interest in math. I started playing soccer at age three. I was six when I joined the local tee-ball league. I have played had stints where I have played flag football, tennis, and basketball as well. Sports have always been a major part of my identity.

I think my interest in math started in the first grade. I used to fill math notebooks with long division and multiplication problems for my own enjoyment. At some point or another, the number of notebooks I filled became a point of pride for me, so I began filling them even faster, trying to grow my collection. With the help of an education presented to me by passionate and enthusiastic math teachers, my love of math grew throughout middle school and high school.

These two worlds of mine finally collided in the summer before eleventh grade. I had gotten into the Wharton Moneyball Academy, a three-week sports analytics program. I had no idea what to expect. Our only assignment to do before we arrived on campus was to read Moneyball by Michael Lewis, so I guess I was expecting something related to roster building or sports market analytics. Instead, I was introduced to this amazing world in which numbers quantified athletic ability, team contributions, and monetary value. Throughout those three weeks, I was captivated by a world of numbers that could quantify things that seemed unquantifiable. It was the first time I truly appreciated the power of numbers. Though I can’t look back at it as the origin of my love of sports analytics, it is the moment my essential question was born.