Senior Bryce Gerbasich came home from coaching a youth sports camp over the summer excited to tell his older sister, Katie, everything that happened. His face lit up when he shared stories each day. 

The youth camp at United City helped fuel what is one of Bryce’s passions and goals for the future – coaching. The two-sport athlete and state-qualifying pole vaulter, found a love for football even before coaching at the camp. He plays the game and he studies the game every chance he gets.

“I would argue he’s probably the smartest football player I’ve ever spoken to,” senior Cooper Wolocko said. “I know he talks about growing up, he would always play Madden. Just playing any kind of football game against him is so frustrating because he’s actually a genius. He talks about wanting to be a coach when he grows up and I think that he’ll flourish in that.”

Bryce’s own football journey started in the Kingwood Football League, but he became more serious about the sport once he joined the team his freshman year.

The Quarterback 

During his freshman and sophomore year, Bryce played quarterback on the sub-varsity level. He enjoyed being the one in control of the ball.

His knowledge of the game led to success. JV even went undefeated his sophomore year with him at quarterback. But Bryce knew his quarterback days might be over when he joined varsity because of the team’s depth at the position.

That early experience leading the offense helped him when he moved to different positions for his junior and senior years.

“I think that it makes him smarter in his route running,” wide receivers coach David Feliciano said. “He knows how hard it is for a quarterback to throw an accurate ball. So he doesn’t really give them a hard time if they threw him a ball that was on the ground or if they threw him a ball where he’s running into contact. He just tries to make the play.” 

The Safety 

Initially, Bryce was uncertain about making the switch to defense as a junior, but he was willing to play any position. 

Using his knowledge from playing offense, Bryce learned how to quickly read an offensive line.

“When you’re a quarterback, you’re taught to kind of read the safeties and then make adjustments to the play based off of that,” Katie Gerbasich said. “Then he learned how to play safety and so then he got to see the flip side of ‘Oh, now I need to read the quarterback’s eyes and read XYZ.’”

The Track Athlete 

As soon as the football season ended, Bryce shifted gears quickly to pole vault, an event he started practicing in seventh grade.  

Bryce spent much of last season focused on pole vault, however, he also went to sprint practice every day to help on the relay teams. The workload eventually took a toll on him.

Leading up to the District Meet, Bryce sustained a calf strain making jumping more difficult. Bryce shortened his pole vault approach and temporarily stopped competing in the 4×100 and 4×200, in hopes of healing quick enough to perform well in the postseason.

“He has a lot of grit and determination,” said boys track coach James Higham. “I know it probably didn’t feel the best, but he gutted it out. He really wanted the opportunity to go jump in Austin and jump at the State Meet.”  

The focus on rehab helped Bryce get through the District and Area Meets. With a jump of 15 feet at the Region Meet, he qualified for the State Meet last April. At State, Bryce finished seventh out of nine jumpers.

Bryce left disappointed, but he was motivated going into his senior year. 

“There was a lot of pressure and I was really nervous and I kind of just wasn’t expecting it,” Bryce said. “There were a lot of seniors competing, so being one of the only juniors, I kind of wasn’t as worried about how I did that year. It was more just like experiencing the moment and taking it all in.”

The Wide Receiver 

When State ended, Bryce returned to the football field where conversations about switching back to offense started. However, with sophomore Jon Pavlatos set to be the starting quarterback, Bryce wanted to contribute more. 

“It was kind of hard knowing that I was athletic enough to where I should be on the field and not just be sitting as a backup quarterback,” Bryce said. 

Bryce shined at receiver early and spent the spring adjusting to the new position, while also working on playing quarterback again. 

During one of the scrimmages, a defender rolled over his ankle, forcing Bryce to be put in a boot and sidelined for multiple weeks. This didn’t stop the senior from missing any of the practices though. 

He was still there to learn the position, even though he couldn’t participate for a couple weeks,” his mother Michelle Gerbasich said, who teaches in the English department at Kingwood Park.

The Senior

By the start of his senior year, Bryce was ready for a little of everything. He was a starting receiver, but he also prepared to be the team’s backup quarterback and kicker. 

“I just wanted to do what I could to help us win and be on the field as much as I possibly could,” Bryce said. “It didn’t really matter where that was.”

While Bryce was on the field, he did as much as possible on offense. He had 353 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season. He also kicked seven times and punted three times. 

Bryce’s offensive contributions helped the team finish the season with a 5-5 overall record. 

“Bryce has a tremendous understanding of [wide receiver] because he’s still the backup quarterback, if we need him to come in,” football coach Clayton Maple said. “He still has that working knowledge of everything about our offense, not just his position. I mean, I think he can really tell everybody what to do receiver-wise on every play. It’s a huge asset.”

The Coach

With the football season now over, Bryce is ready to focus on qualifying for State in the pole vault. In his free time, he is back to watching and studying football every chance he gets. 

“His intelligence about sports is insane to me,” said his sister Katie, a junior at Clemson University. “He came to Clemson to see me, and he was watching the college game, and he was so locked in on warm ups and all these things. Then he would make comments to me that I didn’t even notice, and I’ve been watching these games for three years.”

Bryce’s athletic ability and work ethic have made him versatile and successful in both of his sports. Those who have worked with him have no doubt that he will keep finding success in whatever direction he chooses. 

“He’s a very hard worker,” Higham said. “You know, whether it’s football or whether it’s track or whether it’s ping pong, he’s a competitor. He gets after it and he wants to do his best.”