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
It is no coincidence that Samantha “Sami” Roby is interested in studying occupational therapy in college while continuing her soccer career. The William Tennent senior, who also excels in flag football as a receiver and captains the school’s Unified Bocce team, has plenty of firsthand experience after battling back from a severe knee injury. “In February of my sophomore year, I tore my (right) ACL,” she said. “I was out for the whole entire junior year of soccer, as well as my whole sophomore season of flag football, too. When I went into my physical therapy, I was really interested in that job. From that, I found occupational therapy because it’s something to do to help other people.”
Helping other people is a general theme with Roby, as all of her coaches rave about what she brings as a teammate. “Sami Roby exemplifies the very best of William Tennent through her character, leadership, 
perseverance and unmistakable dry sense of humor,” said John Creighton, the school’s athletic director and Unified Bocce coach. As the captain of our Unified Bocce team, Sami has become the driving force behind our mission of social inclusion, recruiting teammates from both the soccer and flag football programs to join Unified Sports and build meaningful relationships with students with special needs.”
Roby certainly led by example when she was out for the entire soccer season. “She lost her whole junior year to a knee injury but was still present at every practice or game encouraging the team,” said soccer coach Elise Jara, who called Roby the “anchor” of the defense. “She was determined to come back and worked hard to come back strong for her senior year, which she has accomplished.” Roby was a second-team All-League selection as a sophomore and is playing at that level again. Those sentiments were echoed by flag football coach Gary Bisacquino, who is also an assistant soccer coach. “Her recovery required tremendous, hard work and mental toughness,” he said. “She never lost sight of returning to the sports that she loves.”
Roby remains a team-first player, focused on the goals ahead. “Our first goal is to win our division,” she said. “Our second goal is to make it to playoffs, because we didn’t make it last year.” Bisacquino convinced Roby and a few soccer teammates to give flag football a try when the program was still in its infancy. “He roped a couple of the soccer girls into playing, and I ended up having a lot of fun and I’ve been playing it ever since,” she said. And even though she technically injured her knee during flag football season, there are no regrets. “It’s something new, and it’s something different from other sports I’ve played,” Roby said. “I enjoy the coaches, my friends and just learning new stuff about it every practice.”
While the goal is still to win against other schools, the Unified Bocce team is more about including student-athletes with special needs. Roby, as team captain, finds it fulfilling on many levels. “I started playing it because my sister played it,” she said. “My athletic director coaches it, and he got me and a couple of my friends involved. It’s just really fun for me to be on the court and to be learning a new sport and making new friends.” And she does it all with a distinctive personality. “Sami proves that the strongest leaders inspire others through kindness, resilience, and just the right amount of humor,” Creighton said.
Roby takes AP and honors classes, participates in numerous school activities and boasts a 3.75 GPA. How does the second of Sarah and Eric Roby’s two daughters make time for everything? “I plan ahead a lot,” said Roby, who thanked her coaches, trainers, teammates and family. “I look at what work I have and when I’m going to do it.” She hopes to continue playing soccer in college and is primarily interested in smaller schools not too far from home. While her college decision remains ahead, her coaches have no doubt that Roby will continue her success. Said Bisacquino: “Four years of soccer and flag football, combined with her perseverance through adversity, make her someone who truly represents what it means to be a student-athlete.”
To read Roby’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/samantha-sami-roby/#sidr
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete
Jake Fallon – then a small, skinny kid – was hardly an imposing figure when he stepped onto the soccer field as a freshman. But the now Neshaminy senior impressed his coaches enough to earn a spot on the varsity. “He doesn’t look like he’s got much behind him, but he’s a pretty tough kid,” Neshaminy coach Tom Foley said. “For a freshman, he held his own against varsity players.” Three years later, Fallon is a senior captain and anchoring the defense at center back, a new position he assumed as a junior. “He’s used to playing center midfield, and we were scratching our heads – ‘Who could we put at center back?’” Foley said. “We thought of Jake. We said, ‘Hey, have you ever played center back?’ And he’s like, ‘No.’ But without us even telling him, the first scrimmage we had – he went back and played center back, and he was a natural at it. We kept him back there, and he earned first-team all-league, and he’s having a real solid season this year.”
Fallon’s journey from promising freshman to senior captain and leader, however, was not without adversity. As a sophomore, he went down during tryouts at Neshaminy, where – one day earlier – his younger sister Samantha
was taken off the field with a dislocated knee. “We were scrimmaging, and I went for the ball, and then it was just really weird, honestly,” Fallon said. “I could just tell that it was going to be really bad. They had to carry me off the field on a stretcher.” A trip to the hospital resulted in a diagnosis that would sideline Fallon until March – a broken tibia and fibula. “It was definitely really tough,” he said. “I couldn’t walk for over a month, so I couldn’t go to school for the first couple weeks of the school year.”
Fallon rejoined his team late that fall, but only to offer support. When he returned to playing at the end of March, he was not at full strength and continued physical therapy. By the start of his junior season, however, Fallon was healthy and ready to go. “I was a little nervous to get back into it, but then I started playing and getting my confidence back up, and it went way better after that,” he said. It was during summer training before his junior season that Fallon made the move to center back, where he was a natural fit. “He sees the ball, and he sees the field really well from the back line,” Foley said. “He plays best when the play is in front of him, and he knows where to go. He knows when to step in front.”
For Fallon, soccer has been a constant for almost as long as he can remember. It’s been something of a family affair, with his older brother and sister playing before him and his younger sister also choosing the sport. A member of the National Honor Society, Fallon hopes to continue playing soccer in college. “I definitely want to go to a school where I could get a good education and also play soccer,” he said. “I just really enjoy playing it, and I like playing with my friends as well. The injury really made me realize that anything can happen, and you just gotta enjoy it while you can play.” Listening to Foley tell it, the college that eventually lands Fallon will be getting more than a soccer player. “He’s just a real model citizen, good kid, really good in the classroom,” Foley said. “He’s not the most vocal kid in the world, but he’s got a sense of humor, and the kids really look up to him.” Fallon acknowledged that he’s more comfortable leading by example. “Obviously, I’m not the most talkative person,” he said. “So, I really just try to lead and show hard work.” Foley sees it every day. “He works his butt off every practice,” the coach said. “He’s always at the top of all our fitness training. He’s an indispensable player.”
To read Fallon’s complete story, click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/jake-fallon/
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