Soccer
Favorite athlete: David Beckham
Favorite team: Manchester United
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring a bicycle for V.E. in the U14 semifinal game for states
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Well, not that I remember, but luckily, a parent got it on video. Last year, against Abington, I was tripped up just outside the box and got up to look at the ref when a ball comes flying in, hitting me square in the face. Watching the video, it is almost impossible not to laugh! I sometimes contemplate sending it to America’s Funniest Home Videos or some other show of that nature.
Music on iPod: My music spans across many genres and decades. I have every single song composed by Jim Morrison and the Doors while having every Slayer album. When doing homework, I tend to listen to Frank Sinatra or Led Zeppelin. Of course, in this day and age, however, it is hard not to enjoy rap artists, but I prefer older rappers like Big L.
Future plans: Right now I have a path planned out that leads me, one day, to the White House. However, I am excited to go day by day and let my adventure unfold. Going across the country to a foreign place is exciting, and my direction in life could change at any moment. Still, I have a strong desire to get into politics, and until America becomes a utopia, I will stop at nothing to become President and help the people of this great nation.
Words to live by: ‘Value is self-composed, not a societal dictation.’
One goal before turning 30: Have a son (only after marriage)
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a nerd at heart! Many people associate me as a jock or have the impression that I’m a modern day rebel, yet I enjoy most of my classes and am content being in school.
Ryan Eppley aspires to one day become President of the United States.
The William Tennent senior would be the first to tell you that his plan is subject to change, but it’s hard not to take him seriously when he talks about his goal of one day ending up in the White House.
“He’s very personable, but he’s not one of those kids that just talks a good game,” Tennent soccer coach Luke Gibson said. “In the classroom, he was a straight A student.
“He was involved with the Debate Club. There were so many programs that he took advantage of to put himself in a position to go to a really strong academic school like the University of San Francisco. He just has that thing that good leaders have. You listen to him and you believe it. It was fun for our younger guys to experience that as well.”
Eppley had a chance to put his natural leadership skills to use on the soccer field as a two-year captain of his Tennent squad, and he was not only an exemplary leader but also an elite player.
It didn’t take long for Gibson, who took over the helm two years ago, to realize he was inheriting a special talent.
“When I was asking about Tennent, I heard, ‘Oh yes, Ryan Eppley,’” the Panthers coach said. “I was familiar with his club team too, which was always regionally or nationally ranked, so I had an idea we had a pretty special kid there. After watching him play, I realized my expectations coming in were even too low. He was better than that.”
Eppley came by his love of soccer honestly. His mother and grandparents are from Manchester, England, and when both his parents worked fulltime, Eppley and his siblings spent considerable time with their grandparents.
“It was my granddad who was the soccer enthusiast,” Eppley said. “My sister and older brother didn’t really seem to like the little round ball that he got for each of us.
“Apparently, I liked it, so he would always sit out back with me, and I would kick the size 2 Manchester United ball he’d gotten me around.”
For as far back as Eppley can remember, he has been an avid Manchester United Fan. He lived out his dream five years ago when he attended a Manchester United game with his uncle while on a two-week visit to England that included a week at Bobby Charlton Soccer Camp and another visiting his cousins.
“My granddad said one of his best moments in life was going to his first Manchester United game,” Eppley said. “I might have to say the same for me in regards to one of the best moments in my life. Man, it was a different atmosphere. Everyone was on their feet the whole game. You could kind of compare it to an Eagles game against the Cowboys, but that doesn’t even describe the intensity.”
Eppley has been playing competitive soccer for as long as he can remember, beginning with the Warminster Mighty Mites.
“Then I progressed to Warminster, but I actually got kicked off my team at U10 or U11 because they told me I was too young,” he recalled. “I was playing up a year, and they told me that I was being unfair to the kids a year older than me because I beat them out for their spot on the team. They told me I had to go down a level, so I transferred to V.E. (Soccer Club), and that had a big impression on me.”
It was during his years with V.E. that he was coached by Ted Peckham, the father of former Central Bucks East standout Sean Peckham.
“He still is probably my favorite coach of all time,” Eppley said. “He’s been a big inspiration to me.”
When he moved to the U15 level, Eppley transferred to Philly Soccer Club (PSC) where he enjoyed winning state titles in 2009 and 2010 and a regional crown in the 2010 season.
His schedule has been a rigorous one.
“Two or three days a week, I would finish high school practice at 5 or 5:30 and drive straight to Philly to play with my clubmates,” Eppley said.
Soccer has taken Eppley around the country, including stops in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and California, and in two weeks, he will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in a national tournament with has PSC squad.
It was during his team’s trip to a national tournament in Alabama in November that Eppley caught the eye of the University of San Francisco coach. He recently signed a letter of intent to accept a scholarship to USF. According to Gibson, the soccer program has inherited a special player.
“He’s one of the players you see and you know from the get-go that he can do just about anything on the soccer field – pretty easily too,” Gibson said. “His presence on the ball is pretty remarkable. He’s a dynamic one-on-one player. On the offensive side of the ball, he’s almost an impossible mark. He’s fast with the ball, and he’s creative. He’s definitely the ideal playmaker for a team as an attacking center mid.
“Defensively, he works both sides of the ball, which you love as a coach. He’s physical and uses his athleticism in a very smart way. He’s always under control.”
While Eppley has found a home on the soccer field, he undoubtedly could have excelled in track as well. As a seventh grader, he broke the middle school record by running the mile in 4:56.
“My track coach told me, ‘I know you love soccer, but the national time is within 10 seconds of your grasp. If you train hard enough for eighth grade, you might have the middle school record of all time,’” Eppley recalled. “I looked him hard in the face, and I told him that I’d rather follow my passion for soccer whether I was successful or not. Luckily, I have been successful.”
Eppley has been equally successful in the classroom. An honors student, he has been a member of the National Honor Society since he was a sophomore and has been involved in numerous service projects with NHS. He also has volunteered his personal time to a local organization called ‘Clean the Streets.
Last year, Eppley took AP Chemistry and this year is enrolled in a pair of AP classes, including his all-time favorite class – AP Government. His interest in politics began well before that class, beginning in earnest the summer after his sophomore year.
“I wasn’t into the school reading list that they give you over the summer, but I did my own reading,” Eppley said.
One book in particular - The Great Conversation published by the University of Chicago– provided the foundation for his interest in politics.
“It illustrates the need for education,” said Eppley, whose bookshelves are lined with the works of Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. “It led me into believing how we should be governed and the entire philosophical aspect of government. It really drove my passion.”
Eppley, who will major in political science, has had interaction with Pa. Representative Bernie O’Neill and has also observed his father’s work as a lawyer with the New Jersey Environmental Agency, but he expects to expand his resume considerably in the near future..
“The head professor for politics at USF got his bachelor’s at Berkeley and got his graduate at George Washington,” he said. “There is a direct internship to George Washington from USF, and that would allow me to get into the Rolodex of those in Washington.
“I talked to the professor, and he said he picks students that he believes can make an impact and that deserve the internship. I’m going to study hard and hopefully in his eyes, I will deserve the opportunity. Once you get to Washington and do the work, good things will come your way.”
Eppley’s track record suggests he will succeed, and he leaves behind quite a legacy at Tennent.
“As a coach, he challenged you, and to have an opportunity to coach a guy like that was a lot of fun,” Gibson said. “Going forward, it’s a hole we can’t replace. We’re going to have to find a couple of guys who do some of the same things.
“To have a kid who could play attacking mid or defensive mid or forward and be the best player on the field wherever you put him – it doesn’t happen often. I tell everybody – he’s a heck of a soccer player, but he’s an even better kid. He’s just a great kid.”
