Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com is once again recognizing 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 of Nov. 25, 2024)
Sports, particularly basketball, were woven into the nuclear family of Upper Dublin senior Shea Joyce. Her dad, Tom, played high school basketball at Father Judge in Northeast Philly and went on to played collegiately at Gannon in Erie, Pa., before finishing up at Holy Family back in the old neighborhood. The whole Joyce clan are also loyalists to the Villanova program, particularly during the Jay Wright era. “We have a saying in our house that college basketball is real basketball, not the NBA,” said Joyce. “We also loved the way Villanova played and the philosophy that Jay Wright had, so we just had a great time watching that team.”
Considering that she was 6-2 as a freshman at Upper Dublin, it seemed that Joyce was primed for the family business. But something happened on the way to an easy layup. That something was the sport of volleyball.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like basketball. It’s just that there weren’t enough hours in the day. For Joyce, who still keeps in touch with her influential CYO coach, Janet Quinn, volleyball felt like the right fit. She said: “I was excited every day to go to volleyball practice. I felt like I had autonomy in my sport because no one in my family had played it before. I said, ‘This is just my fit. It’s for me.’ I just fell in love with it. I decided that it was what I wanted to stick with.”
A dislocated knee came with a torn patella tendon, and they formed an unholy alliance that kept Joyce out of action her entire sophomore year, and she is the first to admit she is a bit of an anomaly. “It’s kind of funny, or ironic, because I’m a four-year varsity player on paper but I’ve only really played two varsity seasons,” she said. Still, in the time she played at middle blocker, Joyce was able to set a program record with 83 career blocks. Beyond her defensive play at the net, Joyce brought something else to the mix that cannot be tallied on the scoreboard. Coach Paul Choi referred to her as a “gentle giant,” adding that she fit the definition of a true leader. “She was our captain for a reason,” he said. “We call her our mom of the team. She takes care of everyone. She really takes the responsibility and load off of these younger players. Even when she wasn’t playing, she tried to contribute what she could off the court, just by using her voice and talking to players.”
Joyce carried over her concern for others by starting a club at Upper Dublin called Hope Squad, which focuses on peer-to-peer communication and learning about mental health before it hits a crisis point. “It’s getting up on its feet right now,” she said. “You don’t need to be on the extremes before you value mental health and reach out for resources. For a long time, I felt like a lot of my friends were struggling with mental health. They weren’t at the point where they were thinking about taking their own life, but my whole thing is that you should get help before you are at that point.” As for herself, Joyce has a simple way to deal with stress, and it is one handed down through her extended family. It started with her Great Aunt Betty and then to her Aunt Tammy and then on to her. “When I get stressed, my first outlet is to sew,” said Joyce. “I’m really into sewing. It makes me look like I’m a 60-year-old woman when I’m only 18, but it’s so fun. I tell people all the time how much fun it is. I just throw on a movie or a TV show in the background and I just sew anything I can think of.”
In addition to leading the Hope Squad, Joyce is involved in several other activities – National Honor Society, Mini Thon and the Hope and Wellness Club. For her Senior Project, Joyce is embroidering sweatshirts for the Horsham Clinic. And her love of volleyball saw her serving as team manager of the boys’ team, also coached by Choi.
Sporting a 4.2 GPA, and with a plan to major in kinesiology and minor in sports psychology with an aim to become a physician’s assistant, Joyce has applied to nine schools and has already gotten into three – Alabama, Pitt and UNC-Charlotte. “I don’t know if playing anymore is in the cards for me, but I don’t think that volleyball will ever be fully out of my life,” Joyce said. “I’ve done it since I was 9 years old. It’s just one of those things that just becomes a part of you. I would love to be a coach one day. That’s my major goal. I want to help other athletes feel the same way about the sport that I have and see how amazing it is.”
To read Joyce’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/shea-joyce-00115894
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Nov. 25, 2024)
Soccer is undeniably Matt Diamond’s sport of choice, and he excelled as a captain of Neshaminy’s soccer team. It’s not, however, the sport most likely to come up in conversation with the all-league defensive back. “Everyone knows I’m a diehard Sixers fan even though soccer is my number one sport,” he said. “Since freshman year, I would talk to the jayvee coach. He moved away, but I would always talk Sixers with him. Once I moved up to varsity, it moved to coach Foley and coach McCourt. We talked Sixers.”
All of this earned Diamond an interesting ‘title.’ “He’s always talking about the Sixers, and we always tease him that he’s going to be the next general manager of the Sixers, and he better save us some good seats,” Neshaminy soccer coach Tom Foley said. “We call him the GM of the Sixers.” Diamond obviously isn’t the GM of the Sixers, although they might be in better hands if he was, but the Neshaminy senior certainly has the kind of leadership qualities that will one day translate well into the workplace.
His unfailingly positive attitude was never more apparent than during Neshaminy’s 3-14 season his junior year. “Last year was kind of disastrous, but he was always positive,” Foley said. “He and (then senior) Jack Sexton were always real positive. This year he kind of morphed into the heart and soul of our team. He did whatever we needed him to do, and he was happy to do it. He was a great choice for captain, and he did a great job.”
Diamond’s leadership style worked well for a Redskin squad looking to turn things about after last year’s three-win season. “He was the guy that was upbeat all the time,” Foley said. “He’s a vocal guy, and he kind of leads the charge. As far as talking to the group, he’s the most vocal guy. He’s the guy that will come into the office and maybe make suggestions. The kids go to him – if they don’t want to talk to me, he’ll be the go-between. He did that a few times this year. He did a really good job.”
The leadership of the team’s three captains certainly played a key role in the program’s dramatic turnaround this fall that saw the team win 14 games and advance to the postseason, missing out on states by one game.
Another key was Diamond’s willingness to move to the back line after playing wing all three years. His presence in the back solidified a back line that also included AJ Kollie, Brian Birmingham and Mark Andreyeu. “Matt preferred playing attack, but he had some experience playing in the back for us,” Foley said. “We were just looking for one guy to solidify our right side in the back. We gave guys auditions back there and finally sensed that we were going to try him back there. As soon as he was back there, he was reading the play real well, he stepped in front of a lot of balls. He was just a natural player back there, and he did a great job. He was a little hesitant at first to go back, and after the first day he went back there, he said, ‘Boy, that was a fun game’ and not sarcastically. He really enjoyed it. He did an awesome job.”
“The selfish part of me was hesitant but then I agreed to it because I wanted to do what’s best for team, no matter what,” Diamond said. “The first game back – the four of us in the back – there was no going back. “I knew that’s what needed to happen, and I loved it. We went on a stretch with nine shutouts in 11 games. The four of us and (goalie) Dan (Raivitch) and our central defensive midfielder, Damien Castro – we were really on lockdown, and it was fun. Most people get excited from all the goals, and everyone after the game asks who scored, but it was great to have the common theme of seeing zeros. It was really exciting for us to be able to do that.”
Diamond went on to earn first team All-SOL Patriot Division recognition for his efforts.
An excellent student, Diamond, who takes honors as well as some AP classes, boasts a 4.38 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society. In the spring, he is the manager of the baseball team and keeps the squad’s stats. As for a major, Diamond has not made a final decision. Although Diamond is opting to not play collegiate soccer, Foley believes Diamond would be an asset to many teams. “He could certainly play at a nice Division 3 school,” the Redskins’ coach said. “He’d definitely add something to the mix. He’s a great teammate, he reads the game really well. His size would hold him back from going much higher, but he certainly would be a contributor to a nice established Division 3 team. He did a great job on the field both as a forward and as a defender for us.”
To read Diamond’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/matt-diamond-00115893
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