Personal Bio:
I’ve grown up in Boise Idaho. I went to St. Joes elementary school for K-8 then Bishop Kelly for high
school and I was a senior at the age of 17. I love the outdoors and
specifically fishing and hunting. Sports have always been a huge part of my life and my two sports
I played throughout high school were football and lacrosse. I’ve had a great group of friends
throughout high school so I got to give a shout out to Dom, James, Nick, Nathan, Matt, and Bowen.
Favorite high school memory, so far?:
My favorite memory was when we won state in football this past year. I had been playing with a lot of the guys on my team since flag football and that was always the goal so it was incredible when we finally achieved it. The whole team had become like a family and we were all brothers and so it was very rewarding to earn that with all my brothers.
What is something most people do not know about you? :
I started playing the piano again recently and it’s one of my big hobbies.
Any thoughts on where you want to go to college? Any offers yet?:
I’m going to be attending the Naval Academy for college and going to try to walk on for either football or lacrosse.
When you "grow up" what is your idea of the perfect job?:
The perfect job for me isn’t one specific thing. It’s just something that I enjoy going to every day and that pushes me to further myself and that will be able to help me provide for my family and hopefully give back to the community as well.
What is the best advice you have ever received and from who?:
This is definitely difficult because I have received amazing advice from many people in my life
whether it be my dad, my coaches, my brothers, or my friends. But the thing that comes to mind
is one thing my best friend Dom said to our football team before one game and that is "The difference
between good and great is a little extra effort." This was very profound for me because the truth in it. A lot of times it’s difficult to go from good to great at something, because many times it’s easy to just over think it and try to hard. Really what it comes to is just doing all the little things with a little extra effort as successful as you can. I’ve definitely used this in these kind of situations to not only get myself to good but to the great level.
What advice can you give the kids coming up on how to get the most out of their high school careers?:
High school is an incredible experience as long as you let it be. It’s easy to slip into the mode of the pour me attitude, which makes everything hard to bear. If you just buckle down and be prepared to work and do your best in every task in front of you, it will lead to a successful high school not only in the terms of grades and sports, but in the relationships and memories you form which are really the most important thing. That attitude for me has helped me learn many things throughout high school and has prepared me for college and the times ahead. This isn’t necessarily something easy to where you just tell yourself to always do your best, so it’s also important to remember to be patient and accept failure throughout this time and just learn from it and then move on from there and let it make yourself a better person.
Your thoughts on being selected as one of the inaugural IdahoSports.com Student-Athletes of the Year?:
I am incredibly blessed and honored to have been selected. I truly could not have received this or had the high school experience I did without my family and friends around me and the support they gave me. More then anything I feel this award speaks to all of their support and their efforts that have gotten me to this point. I truly cannot thank all of them enough. Every day I was surrounded by many teammates and classmates that could have gotten this award as well and being surrounded by those kind of people has been my inspiration throughout high school so all around the people around me are to thank for this selection.
Nominated by Krieg Shaw, BK Boys Varsity Lacrosse Coach:
"Cole Oliver is an exemplary student-athlete and shows us all what we are truly capable of and can
become. He is an invaluable piece to any group and organization he is a part of and embodies many of
the qualities we all wish to have, yet is only a senior in high school. When I was first able to coach Cole, it
was easy to tell he had a very special gift. He is calm, collected, and speaks with eloquence and wisdom
beyond his years.
The goalie position in lacrosse is a very unique one. Not only are you the sole person asked to stand in
front of 40+ shots a game and save these shots that could reach speeds upwards of 90 miles an hour;
each mistake you make is directly reflected on the scoreboard. Despite this, Cole always keeps his eyes
forward and is able to keep his focus on the team’s goals, constantly pushing his teammates to better
themselves and each other.
In my 13 years of playing and coaching lacrosse, I have never met someone as talented and humble as
Cole. With the numerous honors he has received for excellence in the classroom, on the field, and in his
community, he has remained affixed at not only bettering himself, but bettering those around him.
Along with his accomplishments on the field, Cole has been just as active off the field and in the
community. He has taken up roles in the Boise Bike Project, One Stone, and volunteering at his church in
multiple roles.
Even as his coach for the past three years, I consider Cole to be one of my bigger mentors. He has an
incredible wealth of knowledge and insight on life; he is certainly bound to do great things."
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