Football
Favorite athlete: J.J. Watt (Houston Texans defensive end)
Favorite team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Favorite memory competing in sports: This year, beating Montclair (NJ; 37-31 in the season opener). The excitement during the game, and when we won, everyone ran on the field. It was a great rush of emotions – especially after last season. We were like, ‘How’s this going to go?’ We came out and really fought.
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Against Abington, (quarterback) Mason Jones ran for a touchdown. He kept the ball and (the offensive linemen) all were running to congratulate him, and he sort of ran behind the uprights. He turned and all of us slipped and fell.
Music on his iPod: I’ve got a little bit of everything. I like rap, country, alternative.
Future plans: I really want to be an infantry officer. After I go to Ranger school, I want to be in the 75thRanger regiment.
Words to live by: “Always value everyone’s opinion, and know the value you earn.”
Goal before turning 30: To be a successful officer in the army.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m pretty hard on myself. I don’t like to blame anything on anybody else; I look to myself first.
By DAN DUNKIN
His nickname on the Neshaminy football team is “Lieutenant,” and Parker Minotti just might earn those stripes and even higher ranks on the United States’ most important team of all: the military.
The bright, well-rounded, personable and community-minded senior aspires to attend the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. It’s been his dream since he was in elementary school, and it could become a reality based on his great academic record and extensive extra-curricular resume.
Minotti, an athletic 6-4, 225-pound offensive guard and defensive end, embodies the elements that comprise the model student-athlete, and is this week’s Univest Featured Athlete. He ranks in the top 10 percent of his class and likewise gives 100 percent on the football field and in the community.
“When he’s in a room, he brightens the whole room up,” says Neshaminy head football coach Steve Wilmot. “He’s not the type of kid that’s going to sit in the background and do nothing. He’s going to give everything he has to everything he does. He has such a positive attitude about everything that he does.
“From day one, he was a very likeable kid. He’s not afraid to talk; he puts himself out there. He has a lot of positives.”
The idea of serving his country germinated in elementary school. West Point became his focus. His first visit there at a camp in the seventh grade sealed it.
“I like physical challenges and I like to be outdoors,” Minotti said. “I always wanted to help people, and I love military history.
“I really saw myself being a cadet and as being on the same wavelength as them. Everyone up there is a hard charger; they really care about what they do. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Minotti has built an impressive list of credentials that can help him get in West Point against a highly competitive field. He is seeking a Congressional appointment through Pennsylvania’s 8thDistrict represented by Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.
Nationwide and regionally, the number of applicants is daunting relative to the number of freshman spots open.
“Each incoming class is limited to 1,200 spots,” Minotti points out, “and they draw from all across the country. It’s extremely hard to get in up there - especially in my district for a Congressional nomination. It’s one of the toughest districts, especially with the re-zoning, and there are about 90 (candidates from the 8thdistrict).”
Minotti’s high energy on the football field is equaled by his dedication to schoolwork – he has an unweighted GPA of 3.95; weighted, it’s 4.2 - and to his community involvement. He’s participated in Keystone Boys State, joined the Middletown Fire Co. 21-22, has been involved in the Challenger football program helping kids with special needs, likewise with Athletes Helping Athletes. On Oct. 17, Minotti, the president of Neshaminy’s Model United Nations, took part in a Model UN conference at Temple. There, in charge of a committee communicating with other countries in a futuristic war situation, he received an outstanding delegate award. He’s also a member of the Future Business Leaders of America and a school community service club, Interact.
“They do a comprehensive overview of each candidate,” Minotti says of the US Military Academy’s assessment process. “They want to see that you can handle your schoolwork, that you can lead, and you’re an athlete. They want to make sure you’re giving back to your community. They want people who are well-rounded and can balance their time extremely well.”
“They keep you in the dark,” he adds when asked if getting a feel for his chances of admission (he hopes to find out around February). “I like to think I’m in a good spot.”
Minotti, who participated for an intensive week in West Point’s Summer Leadership Experience, would like to also play football there. He has gone to two West Point football camps.
Listed as an offensive “quick guard,” Minotti has helped solidify the Neshaminy offensive line the past two years after graduation depleted much of the offense from the 2013 District I Class AAAA championship club. After a disappointing and rare non-playoff season last year, the first season in 20 without head coach Mark Schmidt, Neshaminy is in a strong position heading down the stretch, holding a 3-1 record in the Suburban One National Conference right behind North Penn and Pennsbury, and sporting a 5-2 mark overall under first-year head coach Wilmot, who’s been with the program 21 years.
“It was a disappointment, obviously, last year,” Minotti said. “Now it’s senior year for a lot of us and we really want to leave our mark.”
Minotti started playing football in seventh grade, working at offensive tackle until his junior year, when he was switched to guard.
“I was a little apprehensive,” he said, “but it was the best decision. I love pulling and using my speed out there.”
And Wilmot greatly enjoys using Minotti’s speed and agility to clear paths for ball carriers.
“The offensive line is a process. The one thing about Parker now is I think he understands the whole process,” Wilmot says. “There are a lot of different variables that can happen on any given play. I think Parker understands everything now. He’s a great communicator with the kids around him.
“He’s an extremely good athlete. So when we run our off-tackle play, he’s the guy pulling through the hole. He can get through that hole pretty quick. He’s tall, he can get leverage on people. We try to use his athleticism as much as we possibly can.”
Minotti, who was named Neshaminy’s offensive player of the week in a win over Abington, says the O-line has really come together.
“In the offseason we worked of course on getting stronger, because Neshaminy’s always been a big weight-lifting program,” he said. “We also worked a lot on our agility and speed with coach (Chuck) Lumio. Running’s my favorite thing. In the off-season, we had some O-line workouts, and we really put in a lot of ‘pre-preparation,’ which I thought was a great thing, because we had a lot of returning guys and we were getting into great shape.
“Summer camp went as most Neshaminy summer camps go – they were really hard on us, as they should be, and I think we really grew. One of the major transitions I’ve seen on the offensive line, from the summer camp to now, is the amount of communication we have is remarkable.”
Minotti also has played more at defensive end recently.
“I love not coming off the field,” he says.
The busier, the better for this impressive young man who, for his school and his country, represents all the right stuff.
