SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Dec. 22, 2016)
Brendan Nolan recently had a brief hospital stay for knee surgery, and while there, the Cheltenham girls’ basketball coach couldn’t help but think about Mia Leonard. “She’s the kind of kid I can see 10 years from now, 12 years from now – she’ll be in the hospital as a doctor,” Nolan said of his senior captain. “I could see her in sports medicine.” While it’s not a stretch for Nolan to imagine the Cheltenham senior becoming a doctor, the Lady Panthers’ coach admits it might have been a bit more difficult to picture Leonard – as a newcomer to the sport of basketball when she was a freshman – turning into one of his program’s proudest success stories. “Mia is one of those kids you might get once in your program,” Nolan said. “She’s sweet, but yet she has that strong side to her. She’s very, very intelligent and is an unbelievably hard worker. It’s a great combination of qualities. As a coach, you need that example to give to every kid of someone that wasn’t quite ready to play basketball but who really made themselves into a player and took ownership of it, made themselves accountable and worked hard and turned themselves into a player.”
Leonard, who moved to the area from Yonkers, was close to six feet tall as a ninth grader. At the encouragement of a classmate, Leonard attended an open gym. “I told her I couldn’t because I didn’t know anything about basketball. When I was younger, I didn’t play sports at all,” she said. “I didn’t even know how to make a layup. She said, ‘It’s okay, they’ teach you,’ so I went. I hated it, but I decided to stay.” That’s where the story takes a remarkable turn for Leonard, who had never played any competitive sports. “She couldn’t even run up and down the floor in ninth grade,” Nolan said. “You could tell she was a kid that was not at all used to the body she’d grown into.” While her teammates vied for playing time, Leonard was happy to watch from the bench. “I didn’t know how to play,” she said. “My mom used to say, ‘When you run, it’s like you’re running through a meadow of flowers. You’re not running.’ When I first got there, there were so many girls on the team that were so good, and, of course, me being on the sidelines having to practice footwork and layups and not knowing how to run – it was definitely intimidating, but all I had was encouragement from the coaches and the team. Even though I was embarrassed most of the time, I decided to keep doing it.”
By the time she was a junior, Leonard was a fixture in the varsity lineup and earned third team all-league honors. “She was one of those kids you’d watch and think, ‘Well, if she puts a lot of work in, maybe she can help us one day,’” Nolan said. “She’s one of the rare kids who delivered on that. She really, really applied herself. She makes it her responsibility to make herself better in the offseason, and it’s just been a wonder.” Double-doubles are not uncommon for the senior captain, but it’s her leadership that has been especially significant. “It’s great to have a leader who is really stepping up as our best player and is willing to take responsibility for things and encourage her teammates and hold herself accountable as much, if not more than everyone else,” Nolan said.
An excellent student, Leonard - uncertain whether or not she will play collegiate basketball - is considering Mansfield and Ursinus and plans to major in biology with the goal of becoming a doctor.
To read Leonard’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/mia-leonard-0066916
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Dec. 22, 2016)
Central Bucks South senior Dan Tecce found his spot on the court, planted his feet and drew a charge. Such a standard play in an early-season basketball game would not normally be noteworthy. In this case, however, it was extraordinary. Because Tecce, now a senior starter for the boys’ basketball team, not only had to deal with an oncoming opponent, but the memory of a similar moment two years ago that nearly derailed his basketball career – and far more. In a late-season junior varsity game during his sophomore year, Tecce found his spot, planted his feet and drew a charge. During the ensuing collision, Tecce took a knee to the stomach and went down. He knew something wasn’t right. “I immediately felt the wind taken out of me,” Tecce said. “I got off the court on my own, but I was in so much pain. I got to the bench and grabbed the trash can and threw up. I knew it was probably something bad, but I didn’t know what.”
When the pain didn’t subside, Tecce went to his family doctor the next day and was immediately sent to CHOP. In what doctors deemed a “one-in-a-million” occurrence, the collision had actually crushed the tail of Tecce’s pancreas, and as a result, three liters of fluid had accumulated in his stomach. Surgery was performed immediately. Had they waited another 24 hours before taking action, the injury could very well have been fatal. Tecce credits Titans’ assistant coach Josh Williams – a paramedic – for his care and assistance in the moments and hours following the collision. While the road back to health was quicker than expected – doctors projected an eight-month recovery period and Tecce was cleared to resume full athletic activities in just three, it wasn’t always easy. With a weakened immune system, Tecce was isolated following surgery to remain free from infection or virus. Most importantly for him, he was forced to watch his friends and teammates from a distance.
The doctors suggested that perhaps the ultra-competitive Tecce should try his hand at non-contact sports like golf or bowling. “I just laughed that off,” he said. “Basketball, baseball, football were the sports I always loved to play. My family, the coaches, they knew I wanted to play again, and everyone supported my decision.” Tecce - who also plays centerfield for the baseball team but was forced to sit out the spring season of his sophomore year after missing tryouts – targeted his junior year on the hardwood as the place he would make his dreams come true. Tecce saw limited varsity minutes on a team with a large senior class. “That says a lot about his character to come back junior year to be more a practice player for varsity, yet he still sets his goals and continues to work hard to go after his goals,” coach Jason Campbell said. “That’s what I love about the kid. Not a lot of high school players can face that type of adversity and be patient enough and know that eventually it will pay off down the road.”
As a senior, Tecce is a leader of this year’s basketball team. “He’s relentless, he doesn’t take plays off,” Campbell said. “He really is the motor of the team, both in practices and games.” While he doesn’t dwell on the injury, it certainly affected his outlook on basketball and life. “I don’t take it for granted,” Tecce said. “I know that at any moment, something could be taken away from you, so I go 100 percent. It means so much more to me to come and play every day.” You can expect to see Tecce leading by example, inspiring his teammates by diving for loose balls, fearlessly taking charges, battling in the paint…whatever role his team needs him to play, he is ready and willing to help.
To read Tecce’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/daniel-tecce-0066917
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