Soccer, Track
Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan
Favorite team: Philadelphia Union
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing as a forward for the last high school game of my senior season and scoring a goal.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Sophomore year, our soccer team was on the bus to a night game at Souderton, and one of our teammates in the back of the bus threw somebody’s sock up to the front of the bus. It landed on one of the girls, and instead of tossing it to the back of the bus, she looked back, extended her arm out of the bus window, and dropped the sock on to the side of the road. For all I know, the sock very well could still be on the side of Horsham Road.
Music on iPod: Pop, Alternative
Future plans: To attend Lehigh University and play collegiate soccer, while studying bioengineering.
Words to live by: “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.”
One goal before turning 30: To travel the world and experience many different cultures.
One thing people don’t know about me: When I was younger, my family and I lived in Belgium for two years. We lived there because of my Dad’s job with Johnson & Johnson, and got to travel all throughout Europe in our time there.
By GORDON GLANTZ
When the late Steve Jobs said, “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do,” Hatboro-Horsham senior Miranda Royds was surely one of the “ones.”
Or as Bruce Springsteen wrote and sang, back in 1975, “she’s the one.”
She’s the one who helped elevate the school’s girls’ soccer program from obscurity to competitiveness.
She’s the one who joined the track team and became a standout.
She’s the one who was as surprised as anyone to hear her name called as Homecoming Queen, a true testament to the impact she had on her fellow students as a stellar citizen of the school’s community.
“I’m still trying to figure that one out,” said the daughter of Maureen and Brian Royds and older sister of 12-year-old twins, Martine and Jackson, before adding that she will hold onto the accompanying Homecoming sash as keepsake to show her kids and grandkids one day.
“I never pictured myself as a homecoming queen,” she said.
Call it a byproduct of how the Univest Female Featured Athlete took the leadership skills she developed as a student-athlete and spread them throughout the entire school, where her list of efforts include the founding of a much-needed Spirit Club.
It may be a while until she can change the world in her chosen field of bioengineering, but she has successfully changed the culture of Hatboro-Horsham -- affectionately known as “H-H” – to the extent her presence will be felt while she is up the road a ways at Lehigh University next fall.
“As far as coaching her, it has been an honor and a pleasure to work with her. She is a great athlete and a better person,” said H-H soccer coach Ike Onyeador. “She has helped to set the standard for the level of commitment, desire, and ability that we would like to see in our program. She has the respect of her teammates and most, if not all of the student body. Without question, she always strives to be the best she can be and we will be hard-pressed to find a player who will have a bigger impact on our program.
“In terms of what makes her a better person, it would be her willingness to help in any aspect that she can and her desire to put others before herself. As a senior captain, she embraced the role, and in a time where so many people are comfortable delegating responsibility, she embraces accomplishing things herself and will never ask of another what she cannot/will not give of herself.
“As far as respect from the student body. Her being voted Homecoming Queen is testament enough.”
Onyeador’s sentiments were far from isolated. They were enthusiastically echoed by track coach Anna Baker.
“Not only is Miranda a top-class athlete, captain and team leader, she also takes this leadership into the classroom and other extracurricular activities,” said Baker. “She is the Student Council President at the high school and leads numerous community service, fundraising and school events. She is a captain for the annual Red and Black school competition and she was just crowned as this year’s Homecoming Queen this past fall. Probably all things she will not mention because another one of her best qualities is her humility.”
Spirits in the Night
Royds, a standout student with a weighted GPA around 5.0 who chose Lehigh over Penn and Dartmouth, clearly has her priorities in order.
“Academics are super important,” she said. “That’s the end goal. I narrowed my college choice down to what I wanted to major in, and then I narrowed it down further and looked to see if I could play soccer there.”
Nonetheless, she did not spend all her free time with her nose buried in a book.
She attended H-H sporting events and was somewhat appalled at what she saw.
“I looked around at other high schools in the area, especially the bigger schools, like CB East, and they were all so supportive of each other,” she said. “I felt like our school didn’t have that.”
The idea of a Spirit Club took shape.
“We proposed the idea to the principal and blasted it all over social media,” she said. “It’s crazy, the effect it has had.”
An example of the success was last year when the boys’ basketball team had a deep playoff run.
“We had six buses go to a game in Chester,” she added. “I felt like the whole school community came together.”
In addition to being the president of Student Council, Royds’ long list of extracurricular activities ranges from fundraising to mentoring freshmen to serving as a peer mediator.
“It’s a student assistance program, and it’s really cool, being able to help out students,” she said. “Sometimes they have issues with other students. When you can solve them, it makes their day, which is so awesome.”
While some would take on all the extra responsibilities to pad their college application, that is not what Royds is about.
She could easily have narrowed her college choices to Lehigh and two Ivy League schools just on academic and athletic achievements alone.
Translation: Royds is not along for the ride. She is the ride, and in the driver’s seat, forcing others to keep pace.
Something that is somewhat hard to believe, considering she was on the timid side when she walked through the doors of the school a few years ago.
“In ninth grade, I was very shy,” she said. “I could never see myself as a leader.”
That slowly began to change with the help of a senior, Simal Ali.
“In my sophomore year, I started to get more involved,” said Royds. “I worked with the (then) student council president, Simal Ali, and she mentored me. That helped me get out of my shell more. It helped with my decision to run for other offices.”
And it helped form an outlook that there should be no regrets when she turns the page from the H-H chapter of her life.
“There is nothing I would take back,” she said. “It has all been such a great experience.”
“I have enjoyed Hatboro-Horsham. I has made me the person I am today. I have definitely grown as a student and as a leader.
“Personally, it is frustrating for me to see people who wasted their time and choose not to take advantage of opportunities. You need to make the most of it.”
Love at First Sight
Although she spent some pre-school years in Belgium when her father was transferred there for two years, Royds began playing soccer as a grade-schooler on back on American shores.
And like most, she wanted to score goals.
“When I first started, I loved playing up top – or midfield, anywhere in the field,” she recalled. “When I was 11 years old, they needed a goalie and they just kind of threw me in there. I fell in love with it.”
Through middle school, she remained a three-sport athlete, also playing softball and basketball.
At H-H, though, she dropped those sports to turn being a soccer goalkeeper into a vocation.
“I decided to focus in on soccer because I knew that’s what I wanted to play in college,” she said. “From there, it was history.”
The soccer life included joining forces with other elite players in the area and playing for Continental FC, which trains out of Conshohocken – three times a week for two hours a day, often in the late autumn chill, before engaging in a rigorous game schedule up and down the East Coast in the spring.
“It’s been such an amazing experience,” said Royds, who is ecstatic that two of her cub teammates -- Elizabeth Andrews (Spring-Ford) and Mackenzie Anton (Exeter) -- are going to Lehigh, adding “it’s definitely going to be a bonus. All three of us, we have a strong bond. It’s exciting.”
At H-H, with Royds the last line of defense, the Hatters have been the type of team opponents would rather not face.
“The program has grown so much in my four years,” said Royds. “In my freshman year, we were not very competitive. All my teammates were great. We pushed each other. We all bonded, on and off the field. The results showed.
“We missed the playoffs, but we worked hard.”
Onyeador credits a lot of that to his goalie and two-year co-captain, who he rewarded in the team’s final game by letting her play forward.
She responded with another memory – a goal.
“As a player, Miranda, our starting goalkeeper, was the fittest player on the team,” he said. “She also has a tremendous soccer IQ, as evidenced by the fact that in addition to playing in goal, there were times she played on the field for us and raised the standard of play. She even scored a goal in her last high school match, a far-post curling finish that would be the hallmark of a veteran goal-scorer let alone a goalkeeper enjoying a runout in the field.”
Recalled Royds: “They kept trying to pass me the ball. It crossed into the circle, and I chipped it over the keeper. Then, the celebration.”
In Her Blood
With softball and basketball off her plate, Royds turned to track – a familiar athletic endeavor in her family.
“When I dropped the other sports, I picked up track,” said Royds, who found her niche as a middle distance runner. “My dad ran track at Drexel, but he never influenced me to follow in his footsteps.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been different, coming from soccer. It’s been a nice change of scenery.”
It was a natural fit, pretty much from first time she jettisoned from the starting blocks.
“Miranda joined us for the winter season her freshman year in December of 2013 and has not stopped working towards her goals since,” said Baker. “She began her journey as an average runner for us and has turned into one exceptional athlete who will leave H-H as one of the best track athletes to ever come through our program.”
She did that the way she does everything, by setting goals and working toward them.
“Each year she put in the hard work, stayed positive and always learned from her experiences,” said Baker. “She has dedicated herself to not only be one of the top soccer athletes in our area, but one who is now a school record holder, in the top five times for the 400, 800 and mile, received all-league honors for the 800m and 4x400m relays, district qualifier in the 800m run and 4x400m relay and has led our team to state performances in the DMR and mile run.
“It has been an honor to coach her these past four years and see her transform and grow into the athlete and woman she is today. I'm so proud of all her accomplishments and hard work and know she will continue to shine in all she does.”
Royds enters what will be her final athletic season with one major goal in mind, one larger than what a stopwatch can measure.
“I just want to make the most of every opportunity,” said Royds, who will fall easily into the role of one of Baker’s captains.
Added Baker: “When I think of the word team leader, Miranda Royds is always one of the first people I think of. She is truly a unique athlete who works hard, is passionate and driven, and motivates others to also work to their full potential. She leads by example and her positive energy is contagious. Our program as grown over the past five years into a team of strong, hardworking and dedicated athletes, and Miranda Royds is a huge contributor to this change and will always be a big part of our program long after she graduates.
“I expect Miranda to make the most of her final months as a Hatter and know she will make us all proud. I have never doubted that Miranda would not give 100 percent into everything she does. I know she will finish her senior year off on a strong note, competing at the highest levels and never settling for anything less than her best. I have full confidence that this will be her best season yet and she will leave with even more accomplishments to show for her hard work.”
Baker shared a story, detailing the level of dedication Royds had to track, proving it was far more than just her “second” sport.
“There are many Miranda Royds stories but one of my favorite Miranda stories is from last spring season,” said Baker. “Miranda had just competed in the Continental League Championships at CB South in the 800m, finishing in 4th with a district qualifying time of 2:18.6 and a PR (personal record) of four seconds. Then she helped her team get to districts in the 4x400m with a time of 4:04.8 at the end of the meet. The team was so excited to be going to the district meet with one of the largest squads we have had qualify in the last eight years. I get a text from Miranda on Sunday night, stating that she has bad news and she sprained her ankle in her soccer game that Sunday afternoon. I was devastated for her and also for the team, as I figured she would be out for the rest of the postseason. Miranda shows up to practice the next day with crutches and in an air cast, retelling the story as we were all in shock.
“Although, Miranda had other plans for the rest of her postseason, she -- along with her mother, one of the best physical therapists around -- worked hard to get her ankle back to full strength in just a few days. She returned to practice the next day with a little more mobility and states she feels she can run. Transitioning to a more mobile ankle brace, Miranda is able to get through a workout on Wednesday never once complaining about pain or the fact that something was trying to hold her back.”
After the next day’s practice, Baker turned to an assistant coach and said: “I think she might be superhuman.”
How did it all turn out?
“Miranda finished her season with no regrets as she ran a new PR of 2:17.4 at the District 1 championships that Friday and qualified for the finals,” said Baker. “This is just one example of her resilience, determination and drive she has to never give up and what makes her Miranda Royds.”
Feeling Grateful
The transition to track was aided by the bond Royds formed with Baker.
“She’s awesome. We’ve grown so close in four years,” said Royds, who is weighing the pros and cons of taking on the challenge of adding track to her plate at Lehigh. “She’s been a great teacher and a great friend. She’s just such a great woman.”
Baker certainly feels enriched from having coached Royds, and has learned from her as well.
“Miranda is just one of those people who is easy to get along with and is always so encouraging and positive that I have loved getting to know her,” she said. “Not only does she work hard and never complains, but she is so thoughtful and appreciative of those around her. We are always laughing about something, talking about life or discussing what goal she is going to tackle next. She will truly be missed at HH and I am so excited to see all she accomplishes next year at Lehigh.”
Royds also thanks the school’s higher-ups -- like principal Dennis M. Williams Jr. and AD Louis James -- and teacher/advisors Jim Greenberg and Joe Grady.
And then there is her family.
“We’re all super-duper close, and we’re all involved in sports,” said Royds.
Maureen, who can often be found on the field at games taking pictures, added soccer to basketball during her playing days at La Salle.
The twins – who Royds says are “so much fun” – do it all. Jackson plays lacrosse, soccer and basketball.
At the end of the day, win or lose, they all support one another.
“They are outgoing, energetic and all involved in sports, she said of her family. “My parents have been extremely supportive, driving me anyplace I need to go. They have all done so much for me, on and off the field.
“I can’t thank them enough for everything. There is no way I would be where I am today without them to bring me up when I’m feeling down.”
