theday
So much for this stereotypical concept about teenagers: Their eyes are made to roll and their noses are made to be buried in a phone.
Brady O'Neil has no time for either, what with playing three sports and running his own business.
You read that correctly.
Three sports and his own business, contradicting that old army commercial about doing more before 9 a.m.
than most people do all day.
The army has nothing on The Day's 2026 All-Area Boys' Tennis Player of the Year.
O'Neill earned the honor by winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference boys' singles title during his senior year at Stonington High School.
But he's so much more than a serve-and-volley young man.
Start with his business, B&M's Window Washing (the "M" is for his friend Michael, with whom he began the enterprise).
"I started it probably two years ago and it was an idea that came from me playing three sports and not being able to commit to a schedule," O'Neil said during an interview session for all The Day's players of the year at the Garde Arts Center in New London.
"I needed some money in the fall, so I started it through my girlfriend's grandfather, who actually ran a window-washing business for 30 plus years.
He talked to me about it before about getting into it and I was hesitant.
But I started it and it was mostly like family and friends at first, and then word of mouth kind of got around.
It's mostly just people in Stonington, like small jobs and stuff, but it kind of grew from there." O'Neil said it's mostly a summer thing, but although sports interfere with his schedule during the fall and spring, he can squeeze in a window wash before or after practice.
O'Neil plays soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and tennis in the spring.
He ought to be on a billboard at the next athletic directors' convention, trumpeting all the good reasons for not specializing in one sport.
"I would say the best thing I learned from three sports is time management," O'Neil said.
"Playing three sports, and then I also love the gym, and always trying to get a workout in.
So you throw in homework and you really need to know how to manage your time and get adequate sleep.
When I was younger, when I was a freshman, sophomore, I was really bad on sleep, like none at all.
I was staying up past 12, just trying to get things done.
Then came the revelation.
"I realized that if you just put the phone down and you get things done right after school or in study halls, you have more time to focus on sports," O'Neil said.
"At the end of the day, you are a student-athlete, but you love the sports more and you care about the sports a little more than you like to admit.
So I want to give as much time to that as possible." O'Neil also discovered the varying responsibilities and roles three-sport athletes learn.
On some teams, they are a central figure.
On others, they're role players.
It teaches you how to be a good teammate.
"In tennis, it's both individual and team.
In my role (as No.
1 singles' player), you're still trying to help everyone out," O'Neil said.
"Soccer was a lot of fun, because I wasn't the man.
I mean, obviously we had Sal (Alessio), so being able to take a step back and just make sure as a defender the ball didn't go in the net, and Sal did the rest of the work.
"Basketball, I had a great team around me, great coaching staff, everybody on the court could score, so I really had no pressure as a scoring guy.
So, all I had to do was make sure plays were run, everything was organized and I got the ball to the hot hand." O'Neil will attend Bentley College and major in finance.