Soccer
Favorite athlete: Christian Pulisic
Favorite team: Dallas Cowboys
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being a part of the CB West Boys Soccer Team that made a run to the state championship my sophomore year, in 2019.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Traveling two hours for a club soccer game, and then realizing that I forgot my cleats. My dad had to run to the store and buy me a very cheap pair of cleats that I only wore for that game and never touched again.
Music on playlist: Eighties and rap.
Future plans: I want to attend college and study business or economics.
Words to live by: “You can only control what you do, so don't worry about anyone else.” This is especially important in sports because it is crucial not to worry about how good the other team is or what calls the refs are making - just play the best you can!
One goal before turning 30: Start my own business.
One thing people don't know about me: I used to play lacrosse, basketball, and run track. I was always involved in a variety of different sports growing up, not only soccer!
By Mary Jane Souder
Ryan Horst is the epitome of what coach Stefan Szygiel likes to call a ‘West Kid,’ a player who understands and buys into the culture of a Central Bucks West soccer program that has been a force in the SOL and beyond.
“Ryan is a kid we’ll refer to for years to come,” the West soccer coach said of his senior captain. “He has had a very different path than some of the kids we’ve had before him, but he was on the roster with them, and he learned from them. He’s always learning, always trying to better himself.
“In the bigger picture, he’s also absolutely stellar in the classroom. That’s a big part of who he is. Ryan’s the type of guy – I genuinely think wherever he ends up going to college, there’s a good chance some of us might end up working for him someday.”
Horst has pretty much experienced it all during his soccer career at West.
As a freshman, Horst was a swing player on the varsity and experienced the Bucks’ magical run to the District One 4A title. A year later, Horst was in the starting lineup, poised to make an impact on a team with lofty expectations. In the fifth game of the season, he broke his leg and was sidelined except for cameo appearances in the state semifinal and final games during the Bucks’ improbable run to the state title game.
One year later, Horst and his teammates weren’t sure they would even have a season during the COVID-19 pandemic but were grateful to play 10 games in an abbreviated season. The Bucks won just two games and did not advance to the postseason, and this year they will once again be at home when the District One 4A Tournament begins.
If it seems as though Horst – a standout player – might be frustrated and even angry, you don’t know the senior captain.
“This wasn’t a typical West year,” Horst said. “But none of the guys over here are upset or angry. Especially the seniors, we know we’re just getting the younger guys ready to do what West had done when we were underclassmen, so we’re still having a great time.
“We’re competing every game. It’s not like we’re throwing in the towel. It’s definitely been a down year but still one with a lot of great experiences, memories we will never forget.”
That remarkably mature response doesn’t surprise his coach.
“Ryan’s wildly resilient,” Szygiel said. “He’s been through pretty much everything you can go through as a high school player, the ups and downs.
“I will remember Ryan for his senior year – we had a tough year he and continues to do whatever we ask him to do even if it’s not in his best interest but it’s in the best interest of the program. He’s put himself secondary to what the program needs.
“We are so young this year, we are so inexperienced and that is not an easy place for a senior to be in, especially a senior that has been in and around district and league title teams and on the sidelines for a state championship game and the run we went on in 2019, a 2020 COVID year and a 2021 season we just haven’t quite gotten enough results. He has done everything and more that we’ve asked him to do.”
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To say Horst grew up in a soccer family would be an understatement. His father coaches soccer and his two older sisters, Lindsay and Kelsey, both went on to excel at the next level – Lindsay at St. Joseph University and Kelsey at Siena.
In 2011, the Horst family travelled to Germany to see the Women’s World Cup and even appeared on ESPN in the USA fan section. Although Horst competed in other sports, including lacrosse, basketball and track, soccer was always number one. He played for numerous club teams, most recently in the ECNL for FC Bucks. Through it all, his father, Bob Horst, has been his coach and then was named an assistant at CB West when Ryan was in eighth grade.
“Initially, I was a little worried that some of the other guys might think I was getting favored or what not, but they saw that wasn’t really the case,” Horst said. “I was just like all the other freshmen. I was on the bench learning, and I think all the other guys enjoyed his presence and having him around, and I grew into it. I appreciated him being there.”
Looking back at his high school years, Horst has nothing but fond memories of his freshman season as a swing player.
“That was definitely a great experience,” he said. “I didn’t play much. I did get into varsity games here and there, but just being on the bench for that and learning from all the older guys definitely helped me as I continued to grow, getting older and seeing varsity minutes myself and becoming a captain.
“I learned from those guys how to lead a team, and believe it or not, it wasn’t that tough not to play because I saw all the guys out there were just phenomenal and they made it so fun to watch. All the guys on the bench were so close that every game was so fun to be at.”
Szygiel had high expectations for Horst as a sophomore.
“He was a key starter for us at left back,” the Bucks’ coach said. “A couple games in at Pennridge in an afternoon game he broke his leg, took a really tough injury.
“We were really excited about Ryan as a sophomore because we knew there was an upside, we all know where it ended (in the state title game). It was tough. We know those things happen, but he was a really promising up and coming player, a sophomore on a team of primarily seniors.”
Not even a broken leg could dampen Horst’s positive spirit.
“We just came off a district championship,” he said. “We knew we had the potential to be really good and had the potential to go a long way.
“Initially, it was tough, but again, just like I did my freshman year, I really liked all the guys on the bench. We had a great time at every game. It was tough not to play and to watch them, but all my teammates did a great job, and it was just a phenomenal experience yet again to watch them go as far as they did.”
The fact that the past two years did not live up to expectations has not deterred the senior captain.
“The bottom line is Ryan still epitomized what we look for and what we try to teach with our program and our culture,” Szygiel said. “He’s playing a little bit out of position for us this year. He’s playing on the defensive line because he has to, and it’s what’s best for the team.
“That’s the thing about Ryan – I could ask him to play anywhere and he’ll do it, and that’s something I always appreciate about a West kid.”
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This fall, Horst has added an additional sport to his schedule – he is the kicker for the football team, trying out at the suggestion of a good friend. He hasn’t regretted it for a minute.
“I was initially a little apprehensive – I didn’t know if I’d have the time, but I ended up going to a practice, and I just really liked doing it,” Horst said. “It’s been one of the best decisions I’d say I’ve ever made, just meeting all the friends and having all the fun.”
So far, Horst has not been asked to kick a field goal, but he has handled the extra points for a West team in line to compete in the District One 6A Tournament.
“It’s a little different because there are so many people watching,” he said of his role of kicker. “A soccer game – there will be an occasional game here and there where the students will come out, but mostly it’s parents and some friends watching, but at a football game, most of the school is there, it’s really loud. There’s definitely some additional pressure with it, but it’s still a lot of fun.”
Horst has done what he calls doubleheaders – playing in a soccer game on a Friday afternoon and then changing into pads to handle kicking chores for the football team that night.
Being busy is something Horst enjoys, and he is active in school life, working with the school newspaper and serving on class council. He is a member of the National Honor Society. Although he won’t mention it himself, Horst is a brilliant student, ranked in the top five of his class. He boasts an SAT score of 1560 and is enrolled in three AP classes this semester.
As for his future, Horst – who will major in something related to business or economics – has not decided on a school or whether he will play soccer at the next level. Depending on the school – Duke University is his top choice, he will play intramural or club.
Horst treasures his athletic experiences at West and notes that they extend well behind the soccer pitch and football gridiron.
“I feel like the culture surrounding athletics at West is like no other,” he said. “I feel like every single sports team is close together.
“We all go out and support at the girls’ soccer games, the field hockey games, the volleyball games. I feel at most other schools each sport may seem kind of individual. At West, the whole athletic culture is together and supportive, and I feel like it’s just been even more of an enhancement to the experience that all the students support every single sport.”
Spoken like a true “West Kid.”
“Ryan is going to be very successful,” Szygiel said. “I don’t think he’ll remember his time at West as – my junior year was tough with COVID, my senior year we just didn’t quite get the results. I think Ryan will remember what we’re about and how he was an important part of that.”
