Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week 6)
Marielle Mauri should be forgiven if she forgets that it’s illegal to use both sides of a field hockey stick or – without thinking – is a bit too aggressive during games. It turns out the Central Bucks South senior grew up playing ice hockey, initially with the boys’ middle school team and more recently with the Lady Patriots. “In third grade, I had an ice skating party, and I fell in love with ice skating, so I started ice hockey,” Mauri said. “My dad played ice hockey when he was growing up as well. We’ve been a big hockey family – Flyers. I was like ‘Wow, this is a cool sport.’ I tried it and fell in love with it. I’ve been playing since third grade.”
In seventh grade, Mauri decided to add field hockey to her resume. The rules for the two sports, as Mauri quickly found out, are vastly different, and she reverts to ice hockey lingo when she recalls her introduction to the sport. “I used to get a bunch of penalties against me because I would use my body too much,” Mauri said with a laugh. “I would push people off the ball, and you’re not allowed to do that. Same with the opposite side of the stick – that took me a while to get used to.” Despite the differences between the two sports, Mauri became a valuable part of the varsity. “She’s an ice hockey player, so she has a really good sense of movement off the ball and a really good feel for the goal,” South coach Pat Toner said. “We’ve used her in a bunch of different spots. She’s been a really important part of our team. We’ve moved her from deep defender to center mid. She’s in on our corners – we have her all over the place, and she’s been phenomenal.” Mauri, according to her coach, brings much more than skills and a competitive drive to the hockey field. “She’s a sparkly kid,” Toner said. “She walks into a room, and she just sparkles. Her eyes sparkle. You can’t not like her. She’s just a fun kid to be around, a positive influence.”
Mauri’s effervescent personality belies the fact that she has been through some unimaginably difficult times for such a young person. It also speaks to the family who raised her, especially her mother, Gloria Mauri, who passed away this past summer after losing her courageous battle with uterine cancer and then leukemia. “It started when I was in fourth grade,” Marielle said. “She had a hysterectomy and was in remission for a while until the fall of sophomore year it came back. She had many surgeries, and she had another surgery summer going into junior year, and everything went perfectly. They told her it was all good. In May, she was diagnosed with leukemia on top of the cancer that came back for the third time, and that’s what took its toll on her.” Several weeks later, on June 15, Gloria Mauri passed away. “She was my best friend,” Marielle said. “Honestly, it’s almost like I’m still in shock about the whole thing. I’ve definitely not fully processed it. It’s definitely a longer process than I expected. It’s tough.”
Toner and the field hockey team have been a welcome source of support. “The field hockey girls are like a big family to me, so they were super supportive,” Marielle said. “PT (Toner) put a GM, my mom’s initials on the back of our practice pinnies. It’s been really helpful to have a lot of people there for me and supporting me whenever I need it. PT is a huge help. She’s gone through a lot as well, and she relates to me.” Mauri, who is not planning to play collegiate hockey, will walk away from the sport with nothing but the fondest memories. “PT was a huge part of why I fell in love with field hockey,” she said. “The environment we’re in every single day after school – it’s not an easy commitment, but it makes it feel so natural and just like a family because we’re all so close with each other. It’s just a fun environment to be in.”
School has been a whole lot more than sports to the South senior. She has been a student council officer since her sophomore year, she is a member of the National Honor Society and the Science Honor Society. She is involved in Operation Eternal Gratitude, a club that supports the military, as well as CHOP Club, which raises money for the Children’s Hospital. Mauri is vice president of Athletes Helping Athletes. She is a member of Titans Connect and Unified Track, both of which work with special needs students, and she is living by the same principles that were such a natural and integral part of her mother’s life. “She came to all my sports games, as much as she could get there at least,” Mauri said. “I’ve been doing pretty good this season, and I’ve got to say – I’m playing for her. My mom was loved by every single person, and she always told me – if you’re nice to people, they’re going to be nice to you, so stay positive and be kind to everyone you encounter and live your life.”
To read Mauri’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/marielle-mauri-00103278
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week 6)
During the climactic championship match in Rocky II, after taking a beating and being knocked down by champion Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa sits in his corner between rounds and says six words to his trainer Mick before rallying and eventually winning the title. “I ain’t going down no more.” Council Rock North football coach John Greiner thinks about that scene often. First, because Rocky II is his favorite movie. But also because he sees the same attitude, the same fearlessness, the same refusal to stay down when senior Gavin Papp is on the field. “Gavin is so tenacious and unrelenting and has that characteristic of never wanting to lose,” Greiner said. “He refuses to go down, refuses to lose, has that lionheart of a player, and not all players have that. The thing about Gavin that separates him from a lot of the other players I’ve coached over my 25-plus years is that Gavin not only wants to win for himself, he wants to win for his teammates, he wants to win for the CR North community, for his family. He represents himself, his school, and his community the right way, and he has broad shoulders to carry all those people with him along the way.”
Greiner points to a mid-September game that saw the Indians fall 35-14 to Souderton. Despite trailing by double-digits late in the game, Papp took the ball and stayed on his feet after taking the first hit from a Souderton defender … then a second defender … then a third …“Gavin literally dragged a group of eight to 10 Souderton players an extra 10 yards in a game we were down by three touchdowns, he kept on churning and working like the workhorse he is, dragging those players along,” Greiner said. “Against Truman (a 20-13 Indians’ victory in which Papp scored all three North touchdowns), I believe we had a first-and-10 at the 12. Gavin got hit at the 10, dragged a group of players down to the 1-inch line and the next play got a touchdown. That’s the analogy with Rocky. Gavin refuses to go down. It’s human nature for most of us, if we get hit, it’s easier to go down and lay down on the mat and get counted out. Gavin keeps on fighting. He will not go down.”
And while Papp is first and foremost a football player, he brings the same mentality, the same refuse-to-lose attitude, and the same intensity to the wrestling season. His football background helped him with certain techniques on the mat. As for the rest of his wrestling game … just like in football, Papp worked tirelessly to improve. “Gavin has really been a weight room leader for us,” Rock North coach Mike Diglia said. “Football programs have a culture for lifting weights. Wrestlers don’t get as motivated. A wrestler might by nature be embedded in his sport and focusing on technique and skill rather than the physical training pieces. But Gavin has us seeing and believing, they’re embracing that energy. It’s amazing to see what he brings to this team, despite being focused on football the way he is. I watch him celebrate our successes, celebrating when a teammate wins and he’s as happy for them as he would be if he had won the match. He has a passion for his teammates. Gavin has this good, raw, pure energy, you can see it pouring out of him when guys win.”
Papp plans to bring that energy to whichever college football team is lucky enough to gain his services. Right now, he is still considering all his options. He’s leaning toward sports medicine or possibly following in his mother’s footsteps and becoming a phys ed teacher. But while he’s not yet sure of his field of study or even where he’ll end up, he does know he will be suiting up on fall Saturdays. Greiner has no doubt that Papp’s influence on the Council Rock North football team, the school, and the community will be felt for quite some time even after he’s graduated. “You watch ESPN and someone makes a fancy play on the field or on the court, and the next day, people are trying to emulate that,” Greiner said. “I hope that our younger players will emulate Gavin’s mentality as well as his play. Because the younger guys do see the way he presents himself, modeling what a successful student-athlete looks like. He makes sure his grades are aboveboard and he shows up on time, and that means being there early and being ready to rock-and-roll. You would hope that the younger players see that because that’s what success looks like. I remember Jerome Bettis getting in the NFL Hall of Fame. When he gave his speech, he said the most important thing was the name on the back of the jersey. Gavin knows the importance of the name, and that’s what people are going to remember. They’re not going to remember number 15 or how many yards he ran for or how many touchdowns he had. But they’ll remember his name. The Papp name—and everything he does to make that name proud—is the legacy he’s leaving here.”
To read Papp’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/gavin-papp-00103290
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