It’s a hot summer day; the sun is shining through the window. It’s late morning, actually 11:00 a.m. and he’s just woken up. He puts on his clothes and rushes downstairs and out the door. He’s going to meet up with his friends at Taney Park at the border of South Philadelphia and Center City. They play and then head to the food truck to get their favorite meal: Halal. The popular platter consists of lambs, rice, tomatoes, lettuce, hot sauce, and peppers. When finished, they each head home and sleep off their full bellies.
That is an ideal day in the life of Avi Cantor, who is a junior at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, Avi lives on the border of South Philly and Center City with his mom, dad, and brother. Avi loves his family very much and describes the family dynamic as: “I like to talk to my dad about sports; my brother is annoying, but we have fun together; and my mom is the one who I go to for advice.”
Inside and out of the home, Avi is known as a baseball fanatic. He has a deep love and appreciation for the game.
“I have been playing travel baseball for seven to eight years, but started playing in Little Leagues and community leagues when I was even younger than that,” said Avi, who looks up to Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox.
Avi also likes basketball, though his passion for this sport is not quite as strong as it is for baseball. He has been playing basketball since he was 9 years old. He currently plays both sports for his school, which he has been attending since the 9th grade. Avi said there are a lot of things that are great about his school, but the performance of the basketball team this year is not one of them. “Yeah, we were awful,” he said. If Avi is anything, he is not a soft critique.
That relates to another facet of Avi’s life, one that puts him right back in the center of the sports world but from another angle. Avi Cantor, only a junior in high school, has an internship at a website called, “The Empire” which covers college basketball for the city of Philadelphia. Here, Avi finds himself writing columns and interviewing various collegiate sports figures in the city.
His favorite interview was his first. It was Brendan Casper, who was a 6’6”, 213-pound senior guard last season at Saint Joseph’s University. Avi states that though Brendan wasn’t a star player or someone that most reporters were rushing to interview, he was a hardworking, good guy who made an impression on Avi and also Phil Martelli, the Saint Joseph’s head coach, who named him a captain for that season.
Avi Cantor the son, brother, friend, sports fan, baseball player, and sports writer is known for many things. He is only a junior and has a lot of time to figure out what path is right for him. But it’s a good bet that whatever route Avi chooses, he will do much better than his high school basketball team did this past season.