RDC eighth grader Jaylen Berry has been playing basketball since third grade.

He also plays football and is a guard on offense and a defensive end.

Berry admits he looks forward to football season more.

Berry said football and basketball are the sports that motivate him the most.

“They both keep me going year round,” he said. “Each sport helps with conditioning and lets me stay in shape.”

Berry is confident in his ability to grab defensive and offensive rebounds.

“I am good at getting rebounds and going back up quick,” he said. “I am also good at getting rebounds and finding an outlet pass, or I just push the ball up the court myself.”

Berry said he can handle any assignment given to him on the football field.

“On the offensive line, I kind of dominant almost everybody,” he said. “On defense, I make most of the tackles.”

Berry admits he wants to put my work into his stamina.

“I need to get more energy to help push me through the rest of the game,” he said. “That goes for both sports. I need to learn to pace myself and save energy so I can go hard in the last minutes of the game.”

Berry said his motivation comes from within.

“I use myself as motivation,” he said. “I don’t have anyone else. I motivate myself to always want to get better and look for improvements. I am the only one that can do things for myself like practice and go to school. No one else can do those things for me.”

Berry wears no. 83 in football and no. 32 in basketball.

He said both numbers were chosen randomly.