Basketball
Favorite athlete: Reed Kessler
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Placing 10th at Nationals in Florida with my Renegades basketball team.
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Last year, two of my teammates would eat a piece of garlic before each game because it was supposedly a good luck charm.
Music on iPod: All Time Low and a mix of alternative
Future plans: Major in Secondary Education and become a teacher
Words to live by: “Do what makes you happy.”
One goal before turning 30: Own a horse
One thing people don’t know about me: I get cold really easily
By Mary Jane Souder
Angie Pomponio – who measures in at 5-5 - is hardly an imposing figure on the basketball court, but don’t be fooled.
The William Tennent senior, according to her coach, is defined by her toughness.
“She’s a tough kid,” coach Paul Veltre said. “There are a lot of attributes that come to mind, but she’s one of the toughest kids.
“She’s banged up a lot, and she never says anything. She will simply not let us know. In her mind, it’s – I’m going to play no matter what, so what’s the point of me voicing that I’m a little banged up and sore. I like that kind of toughness about her.”
Pomponio has started every single game since she stepped onto the court as a freshman. She’s needed every ounce of toughness she can muster this season.
“My left knee has been bruised since our first league game against Council Rock North,” she said. “But it’s not like it’s going to be a serious issue.
“It’s not going to get better, and it’s not going to get any worse, so let time heal it and just keep playing.”
It’s not the first injury Pomponio – Tennent’s ‘iron woman’ – has endured along the way.
“I don’t want to say I’m used to it, but it does happen a lot,” she said. “Play through pain – that’s my motto.”
Giving Pomponio the starting nod as a freshman was not a tough decision, according to Veltre.
“She’s always been able to handle the ball pretty well,” the Panthers’ coach said. “That was the gift she had in the time she was playing with us.”
With an absence of height on his roster, Veltre moved his point guard to the three position last season.
“I have been a point guard since I started playing,” Pomponio said. “Playing the three position instead of being the one was a brand new concept to me because I’m usually the one that brings the ball up.
“That’s my job, that’s what I know, that’s what I do well. It was something I had to adapt to.”
Although Pomponio – who is averaging close to 11 points a game - no longer mans the point in most offensive sets, there’s no mistaking that Veltre wants the ball in his senior captain’s hands when opposing teams apply defensive pressure.
“She’s undersized for the conference we play in especially,” Veltre said. “She really has scored many of the points in her career from the free throw line, and her ability to shoot from the free throw line and the way she can handle the ball were what she is really good at.”
Pomponio has been playing organized basketball since she signed up to play in the Warminster rec league as a seven-year old. Two years later, she began playing for the Renegades, an AAU team out of Hatboro-Horsham, and she never left. She also played soccer up until her freshman year but gave it up to focus on basketball.
She reaped the dividends when she earned a spot in the starting lineup as a freshman.
“Oh, I was nervous,” she said. “I’m sure anyone would be, but I also was excited and extremely happy I made the team.
“It felt as though all my hard work did some good.”
As senior captain of a young team, Pomponio has fallen effortlessly into a leadership role.
“I don’t want to say they’re inexperienced, but on a varsity level they are,” she said. “It’s just a faster paced game than what they’re used to. You just have to be patient.
“They understand quickly. It’s not like they’re incapable of playing at this level – they definitely are, but it might take two or three times instead of getting it on the first try.”
Much as Pomponio loves basketball she is equally passionate about horses.
“The whole equestrian thing – (assistant coach) John Senske always uses the phrase that her face lights up when she talks about it,” Veltre said.
Pomponio is employed at Timber Edge Farm where she cleans stalls, feeds the horses and helps younger and new riders tack up their horses. She also rehabilitates injured horses.
“I have the best job,” Pomponio said. “My trainer (who also owns the farm) pays me for working and then I pay her right back for lessons.”
Pomponio began riding with her older sister when she was seven. She continued until she was 11 but gave it up for four years, beginning again when she was 15. Pomponio has competed in several local competitions in the hunter discipline.
“Now that I’m older I can work for it, and I appreciate it a lot more,” she said. “I just love it.
“It’s not the competition side. I am competitive, but I don’t compete that much. I just love being around these animals. I think they’re awesome.”
Although her plans are not finalized, Pomponio plans to combine her love of horses and her passion for basketball next year. Kutztown University – which has an equestrian program - would afford the Tennent senior the opportunity to do both.
An excellent student, Pomponio is enrolled in two AP and three honors classes. She plans to major in secondary education but is uncertain of her area of concentration.
“I’m stuck between English and Math,” she said.
Pomponio is involved in Student Government and is a three-year member of the school’s athletic council. She participates in Tennent’s Black and White spirit competition and Powder Puff.
But it’s basketball that has been the centerpiece of her high school experience.
“I have made a lot of friends on the team, really good, close friends,” Pomponio said. “As the years go on, we just keep getting closer.
“It’s incredible how close you become. You all share the same love for the game.”
