Muhammad and Laila Ali. Dell and Stephen Curry. Joe and Nick Montana. Rick and Brent Barry. In all of these duos, a child excelled in the same sport as their parent.

Although students sometimes put pressure on themselves to live up to their parents expectations, many students who play the same sport as one of their parents feel that this leads to more parental support and guidance regarding their own participation in the sport.

Senior Jake Boyd, who is on the boys varsity hockey team, plays the same sport as his father. Boyd began learning to play hockey when he was four years old and says his father encouraged him and both of his sisters to start playing. According to Boyd, some parents try to force their sport on their child, but unlike these parents, Boyd’s father was very supportive and Jake ended up enjoying hockey.

“The only time there is pressure is when I want him to be proud,” Boyd said. “I always do my best so I don’t think I ever let him down for any reason.”

According to sophomore Niko Georgaklis, a wrestler on the boys varsity team, playing the same sport as his father has influenced his experience greatly.

“It’s kind of an obligation to be committed to wrestling, because my dad was very successful,” Georgaklis said, “so it’s really difficult to live up to those standards because he was really good.”

Despite this, Georgaklis says that playing the same sport as his father has given him an advantage since his father has mentored him and helped him become more successful in wrestling.

Senior Isabel Lobon plays tennis and skis with her parents as well as at  school. She says her parents encouraged her to take tennis lessons so they could play as a family.

According to Lobon, most parents who played the same sport as their child try to avoid pressuring them to do well.

“I think in general, especially with parents playing the same sport as kids, they really try to encourage them instead of create this really pressured environment because kids don’t do well under pressure,” Lobon said.

According to Boyd, getting help from his father gave him an advantage in hockey. His father was supportive of him playing and helped him learn the game.

“I’ve always liked it because my dad loved it,” Boyd said. “It really made a big difference because he was always teaching me about the game and a lot of kids had to learn it on their own. I knew a lot of things right off the bat because my dad would teach them to me, so I definitely had an advantage in that respect. I also just had parents who were really supportive of it all the time so I could always be working on it.”