Rye High’s Ameer White is remarkably — and equally — talented both on and off the football field. On the gridiron, he’s one of Head Coach Dino Garr’s senior captains. Coach Garr nominated his senior safety as Athlete of the Week after the team’s 35-12 trouncing of Nyack September 30.
Coach Garr said, “Ameer is outstanding in his play and his commitment to the team. He’s the leader of our defense, which is getting better and better.”
The statistics bear him out. After yielding three touchdowns in the opener against Harrison, the Garnets have allowed an average of less than a touchdown and a field goal in defeating Lakeland, Nanuet, Nyack, and, most recently, Byram Hills while dropping a 21-12 decision to last year’s Class B State finalist, Pleasantville. Ameer intercepted a pass in that Pleasantville game, but it wasn’t enough.
Off the football field and in the classroom, Ameer sports a 4.0 GPA. Asked to name a favorite course, he couldn’t decide among History, Math, Physics, and AP Chemistry, singling out Dr. Zung for his ability to make science come alive.
Ameer is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the National Music Honor Society. He played the trumpet at an accomplished level before switching to drums in the Rye High Band under Dr. Brown.
Ameer’s parents were both athletes. His mother ran track in high school, specializing in the triple jump, while his father played football — also at safety, Ameer’s position — at Fordham.
The family started out in White Plains and moved briefly to Greenwich before settling in Rye when Ameer was in middle school. In grade school, he played youth football as well as summer travel baseball.
The honoree worked at Little G Big G summer camp, where he taught football to elementary kids along with other Garnets. He’s volunteered to pack food bags for Filling in the Blanks, a group providing aid for the needy in the Norwalk area. And he’s helped in the cleanup of several Rye homes that have been flooded.
Ameer is thinking of a career as an entrepreneur. He’s already had his toe in the water, buying clothes online and re-selling them. He’s undecided on a college, though he already has an offer to play for Trinity in Hartford. Wherever he goes, they’ll be getting the young man Coach Garr describes as “selfless, always putting the team first. He’s a natural.”
