In second and third grade, Tumwater’s Ethan Bello began his football journey, playing a season of flag football before playing a season of Pee Wee.
Eight years after that first Pee Wee season, after a stellar junior year with the Thunderbirds, Bello officially took the next step in his football career, announcing his commitment to Harvard University.
The rising senior chose Harvard over several other schools, including other Ivy League schools such as Yale, Cornell, Penn, and Dartmouth. He also received offers from seven other schools, including Eastern Washington University and Oregon State University.
“I’ve always loved football,” Bello said. “It’s going to be great. (The challenge) is going to be worth it. I’m ready to take it on.”
The start of his football journey and where he is now has followed the usual script for a Division I athlete, but a five-year span in the middle of his childhood did not.
After third grade, Bello moved with his parents, missionaries with the Assemblies of God, to the Dominican Republic, where he spent five years.
There was no organized football in the Dominican Republic, but Bello was able to stay close to the sport thanks to a television that he could not only watch football on, but also delve into countless hours of Madden, the most popular American football video game.
“Even though I wasn’t playing football, I was still with it a little bit,” Bello said. “So coming into high school, I knew what football was, so the transition wasn’t too tough.”
Bello played on Tumwater’s C-team as a freshman and swung between varsity and junior varsity his sophomore season before earning a full-time role as a junior last fall.
He was all over the field in Tumwater’s secondary, collecting eight interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and 29 tackles to earn a first-team all-league spot and help the Thunderbirds reach the state title game for the third year in a row. It was after that season that college offers started rolling in.
Though Bello has been back in the states since starting high school, his parents moved back to the Dominican Republic for another five-year term as missionaries before his junior year began. Since they went back, Bello has lived with his grandparents.
His parents were able to return home to go on visits with him, including an official visit to the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus on June 12. Bello announced his commitment to Harvard on social media just four days later.
“The location for school, that didn’t really matter,” Bello said. “It was more of having a family community with the players and the coaches, having that safe feel. And then a school that would set me up well after football.”
Bello said that when possible, his parents will be able to visit and attend games to watch him in the crimson and black.
Before heading east, though, Bello will cap his prep career with one more school year. Bello is expected to be a major factor for both the football team and the basketball team, as he also helped the Thunderbirds earn a fourth-place trophy at state on the hardwood.
“He’s blessed with some genetics that make him pretty special,” Tumwater football coach William Garrow said. “His parents and his family have raised him to be so kind and committed and devoted and just a great teammate. He’s obviously an incredible student to be able to get to Harvard, and we’re just super excited for him. It’s the first kid I’ve ever had to get an Ivy League opportunity as an athlete. We’re really proud of him. He’s a wonderful kid.”
Bello’s senior season is set to begin on Friday, Sept. 5, when the Thunderbirds travel to Sparks Stadium to take on Puyallup, a 4A semifinalist last season.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Bello said. “Our group of seniors is a really special group of guys. They’ve grown up together, and I still feel a part of that. I’m really looking forward to the fact that we get to lead the team.”
