School: Council Rock South
Football
Favorite athlete: Brian Dawkins
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating Neshaminy High School this year
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Getting tackled out of my pants in eighth grade because I forgot to wear my belt!!!
Music on iPod: Everything punk rock, classic rock, rap, sublime
Future plans: Going to college and becoming a secondary history teacher and coach
Words to live by: “Take care of the little things, and the rest will take care of itself.”
One goal before turning 30: Graduate from graduate school with my Master’s Degree in education
One thing people don’t know about me: I am an untouchable wiffle ball pitcher.
Vince Bedesem calls Tony Checchia a ‘program kid.’
“He’s always been a kid that has been very instrumental in the program itself,” the Council Rock South football coach said. “He leads by example as far as his attendance in the weight room and his attendance on the field.
“He never misses practice. He has just been a kid that you could always rely on, always count on. He’s somebody that really has it all together and has it figured out at a young age. I tell our kids – he’s a great, great lesson and great model to look upon as far as what it means to be a South football player and a South student.”
Checchia is not only a mainstay on a football team that is this year’s Cinderella story, he is also one of the top students in his senior class and recently earned the distinction of being named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.
It’s a rare and unusual combination that allows Checchia to enjoy the best of all worlds.
“I have friends from school, and I have my friends from football,” the Rock South senior said. “It’s interesting because they can be so different.
“A lot of people are into cliques – either you’re a nerd or a jock, and I kind of bridge both. It’s kind of cool. A lot of guys with football didn’t realize I would be smart, and it comes as a surprise to them, and vice versa with my friends from school when they find out I’m a football player. It kind of takes them by surprise.”
Checchia’s story undoubtedly would have had a much different ending if he had not decided to walk away from soccer when he was in fifth grade.
“That is a dark part of my past,” he said with a laugh. “I played soccer up until fifth grade when I kind of outgrew the sport.
“I was always one of the bigger players, and I was a little too physical for the sport. Soccer is little guys running around, and I ended up getting penalties every game and putting them on their backs.”
Checchia is still putting opposing players on their backs, and he’s not getting penalties.
“It was a natural transition to go to football for me,” the senior captain said.
So eager was Checchia to become part of Rock South’s program that he petitioned the athletic director to join the team as a freshman. His request was turned down.
“I wanted to be part of the program as much as possible right from the get-go,” he said. “I’m really competitive, and I always wanted to compete at the highest level.
“I felt it would be a challenge for me to try to compete at the older level. It’s a big jump from middle school to high school. It’s an important transition, and I can see why they have a freshman team. It ended up being helpful to me.”
As a sophomore, Checchia saw action mainly on special teams and earned a varsity letter.
“It was kind of like reaching a dream,” he said. “You’re still enamored by the whole atmosphere, the Friday night lights, and you just want to help the team out any way you could.”
One year later, he was a fixture in the lineup. These days, Checchia – who sees some action at fullback - is a part of a linebacking corp that is the heart and soul of Rock South’s superb defense.
“He is one of our main run stoppers,” Bedesem said. “In this league you have to stop the run. In football in general – whether it’s youth level, pro level, college level, high school level, people always talk about stopping the run, and he’s very good at stopping the run for us.
“He just brings a consistency. He’s never really too up, and he’s never really too down. He just brings that calming influence defensively, and because he’s always doing his job and he’s a student of the game – a lot of times between him and our other linebacker, Hunter Shull, they’re coordinating the whole entire defense. It makes our job easier.”
So far, it’s been a magical football season for Checchia and his teammates as the Golden Hawks are on track to capture the school’s first-ever SOL National Conference title.
“Every year we have seen improvement,” Checchia said. “In our sophomore year, we thought we were good enough to be in the playoffs. We had a tough loss at the end of the year to Council Rock North that ended up keeping us out. That was a rough year.
“We came back last year, and we ended up winning eight games, and we were able to make the playoffs. You could just see the progression every year – missing the playoffs, making the playoffs last year and this year not only making them but making a run.”
If there was a defining moment in the season for the Golden Hawks, it came in week seven when they defeated perennial league and district power Neshaminy in their own house on Homecoming.
“That was definitely the signature win, and we are where we are now because of that game,” Checchia said. “It was an emotional game for everyone involved – the coaches and the players.
“We have had some real close games with Neshaminy in years past. We felt we could compete with them, but this was the year we really took care of business. No one really thought we would have a chance against them, and to be able to upset them at Heartbreak Ridge was just incredible. It kind of leaves you speechless. It was definitely a huge platform for us. All eyes seemed to be on that game.”
Making the year even more special, according to Checchia, is the fact that this year’s team is a tight-knit group.
“We hang out all the time,” he said. “We go out to eat after practice and will watch a Phillies game together. You have a real good relationship with everyone, and I think that’s really a key to our success.
“We have fun going to practice every day and working because we just enjoy being around each other.”
Checchia is involved in community service and each summer for the past three years he has volunteered his time to work with kids at St. Vincent dePaul’s Bible Camp, directing the outside activities. This past summer he volunteered at ATG Learning Academy in Warminster where his mother, Michelle Checchia, is employed.
For the past three years, Checchia has been actively involved with Athletes Helping Athletes. Last year, he volunteered to help out at an elementary school, and he helps coach his brother’s football team with the Northampton Indians, a program that gave Checchia his start in football.
“I really believe in giving back to my community,” he said.
Checchia somehow finds time to take a full course load of AP and honors classes. A member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society, he is ranked 15th in his senior class of 515 and scored a dazzling 2150 on his SATs.
“It’s a lot of hard work really,” he said. “It’s balancing sports and academics, especially at this time of year. You go to practice and whatever free time you can get between classes or in the morning – you try to keep up with homework.
“It’s a big workload, but my parents have always preached that school comes first. Everything I’ve gotten as far as school and football – it’s really just come from that work ethic. You can tell the work pays off.”
Checchia has already tested out of three AP courses – English, U.S. History and World History. It is his interest in history that has led to his choice of majors.
“I have always been interested in education, and I have always been interested in history,” he said. “My mother was a teacher as well, and being a history teacher would be pretty cool for me.
“History has been a natural. Growing up I would watch the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.”
The oldest of five siblings, Checchia enjoys babysitting and admits he feels like a ‘third parent.’ His close ties to his family are the reason he plans to stay close to home when it comes time to choose a college.
He hopes to continue his football career at the collegiate level.
“I’m looking at some of the Ivy League schools – Penn and Princeton,” Checchia said. “Their level of competition is obviously not like Penn State, but it’s still competitive, and I feel like I could fit in pretty well.”
Just as he has fit in perfectly as a ‘program kid’ at Council Rock South.
