The Knightly News

Each year, a select group of North athletes is recruited to continue playing sports in college. It takes time, dedication, and true passion to achieve this. Division One athletics are known for their rigor, and the commitment they demand from players, so it is always impressive to see North students take their athletic talents to the next level.

But this year, one student stands out among the rest: his innovation, his spirit, his drive, his tenacity. Recruited by a record 1326 schools, committed to one: first Team All-American, All-State, CVC, four-year varsity Spikeball player David Perron will attend Lafayette on a full ride to play the sport he calls “spoke” for the best collegiate team in the nation.

One of the pioneers of his sport, Perron had no idea that Spikeball would explode and thus change the course of his life. “Spoking isn’t like anything else,” Perron said. “It teaches perseverance; it teaches you how to love.”

And we don’t doubt his love for the sport. Watching him play is like watching moving poetry: his moves are sharp enough to give him power, but flow into each other seamlessly. Before one intense spike, it’s as if he’s surrounded by an angelic glow—an exalted choir seems to sing around him—and as his body meets the air as he prepares for the final strike, he exclaims: “Mom, get the camera!” Time stops altogether. It’s the type of moment you remember for rest of your life.

Lafayette is famous for its competitive Spikeball program, having won nationals the past three years. Its games are played regularly on ESPN12. Lafayette’s head coach, Igor Kravetszinsky, takes the sport very seriously, and he said he knows Perron will be an important asset in the coming years. “David has something different, a sort of finesse we’ve never seen. He’s a different kind of beast altogether,” Kravetszinsky said.

For many, the high expectations would be a source of pressure, but Perron has handled it with elegance. “I do better under pressure,” he said. “People will always say, ‘No you can’t,’ and I just won’t accept that.”

As the first North Spoke Bro to advance to college play, Perron will be recognized at a special ceremony scheduled just before graduation. “Spoke is life,” Perron told me definitively, lowering his eyes and nodding. “Spoke is life.”