Student Athlete of the Week Jack Klein

Jack Klein squeezed about as much as he could out of his four years at Niwot High School.

Now about two months away from graduation, the senior in Niwot's International Baccalaureate Program is also the school's National Honor Society Treasurer and the youth board executive director of the Community Food Share, a local food bank focused on fighting hunger in Boulder and Broomfield counties.

To complement his community work, Klein owns an accomplished athletics resume as well. In his primary sport, water polo, Klein has been named a USA Water Polo Academic All-American three times playing for the Boulder-based club team Rocky Mountain Neptunes. He and fellow NHS student Logan Waldron have represented the Mountain Zone at Nationals in conjunction with the Olympic Development Program and have played in the Junior Olympics. Klein's grace in the water has also translated to a spot on the Silver Creek High School boys swim team.

His latest athletic endeavor includes a ball similar to what's used in water polo, as he recently made the Niwot boys volleyball program's inaugural varsity squad. Klein entered the season with essentially no volleyball experience, but being a 6-foot-6 middle blocker makes things at least a little easier.

"I'm just having a ton of fun," Klein said following Niwot's home opener sweep of Mountain View High School on March 9. "The guys are all really great guys, and I'm enjoying it and learning a lot every day trying to better myself.

Klein added that only "some" of his water polo experience translates to the volleyball court.

Because Niwot represents the St. Vrain Valley School District's first and only Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned boys volleyball program, students from across the SVVSD are welcome to join. Perhaps oddly enough, Klein is the only Niwot High student on the varsity team.

"It's definitely been a little bit different not seeing your teammates in classes and stuff like that, but we make it work," Klein said. "We're texting each other all the time, checking in and making sure each other's having a good day. Then at practice, it's like we were never apart."

Chemistry, as Klein alluded to, hasn't been an issue for head coach John Miller's group, and has produced positive results early on. Niwot has dropped only one set through its first two games with the help of Klein.

"Jack, the big guy here, he's having a blast," Miller said. He's developing into a really strong leader, too. I think we have a lot of good leaders on our team, which is helpful."

While Klein remains a new student of the game of volleyball, confidence is growing quickly for him and his teammates.

"We're feeling pretty confident," Klein said. "It's still early in the season and we still have got a lot to work on, still a lot to improve, but I'm feeling very confident about our team. If we just keep improving every day and getting a little bit better, I think we'll have a really good season."