As star quarterback for the junior varsity football team, Christian Tapia leads the team on the field for Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS). 

With this being Tapia’s first year playing high school football, it took him time to adjust to the physical play which they ended the season with a record of 3 and 6.

“Physically, at first you think it’s easy to throw to a receiver, but you need to use your athletic ability to get out of the pocket,” Tapia said. “You gotta risk your body to make a play happen.”

Tapia’s sophomore and year first time being on a high school team, everyone instantly saw each other as family. With him being the new quarterback this year, he now has the responsibility to lead the team down the field to try to score. 

“The first week I entered the team, they saw me as family,” Tapia said. “I see them as brothers and I care about them.” 

With the team improving overtime throughout the year, Tapia has polished up his playmaking which has made the team better overtime, winning the last three of their four games by more than a touchdown. Tapia hopes to improve as a leader and a teammate through the next years. 

“Well at times you get nervous in huddles and in games,” Tapia said, “You gotta be the captain of the play.”