Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Dec. 12, 2022)
Participation trophies – everyone’s heard of them. Those trophies given to all the youngsters on a team, instilling the belief that simply participating is more than enough. It’s not unusual for coaches - especially the competitive ones - to be highly critical of participation trophies. If Mike Moyer is in that number, the Central Bucks West girls’ soccer coach might want to rethink his position because if it weren’t for participation trophies, he more than likely would not have had Jules Broskey in goal this past soccer season. Yes, the tougher-than-nails West senior was drawn to soccer by the lure of a participation trophy. “It all started at my childhood best friend’s house, and she was like, ‘Guess what I got!’ and showed me this tiny gold participation trophy,” Broskey said. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I really wanted one, so that day I walked into my house and right away told my parents I wanted to play soccer, and then from that day on I never stopped playing.”
And the participation trophy? “I had proudly hanging in my room for years,” Broskey said. “It’s crazy to think such a small thing impacted my life so much.” It’s also something close to crazy to try and imagine the 2022 edition of the CB West girls’ soccer team without Broskey in goal. If anyone personified the toughness, the grit, the determination, and – most of all – the heart of this year’s squad, it was Broskey. “Despite her shoulder injury, she took it upon herself and put the team on her shoulders,” Moyer said. “To go out there and do what she did – she was phenomenal in the postseason. She was phenomenal all four years, but this postseason with her injury and what she was able to do for us was just great.” What Broskey – despite her shoulder injury - and her teammates accomplished this fall was something close to storybook, earning the 26th seed out of 28 teams in the District 1 4A Tournament and advancing to the district semifinals and following that up with a trip to the state quarterfinals. “Our season started out a little bit rocky – we didn’t even think we would make it into the playoffs,” said Broskey. “We had one game left, and we were like, ‘If we don’t win this, we’re definitely out. If we win it, we might be in,’ so it was insane and crazy. We were all so surprised that we kept on winning and we kept on winning, and I think it gave us more and more momentum. With that much of a want from not just me but from my entire team wanting to keep winning, I think we had to put all of our injuries aside and do whatever we could to keep on going.”
Broskey started several varsity games sophomore year and was the starter as a junior and senior, excelling and earning first team All-SOL Colonial honors both years. “Jules’ biggest strength is her confidence, and that came because she works extremely hard off the field to be the best,” said Moyer, who coached Broskey the past four years in high school and on the club circuit with PA Rush. “She doesn’t feel pressure in any situation, and that’s what you need in your last line of defense. She’s strong and has the body of a keeper. She’s tall, long arms, athletic build and great hands.”
As for her future plans, Broskey has been accepted into her top choice – the University of Delaware – where she will major in chemistry with her sights set on a career in the pharmaceutical or medical field. Soccer will not be part of her future, marking the end of a marvelous career that began with a youngster’s wish to simply get a participation trophy. “I’ve always been told there comes a time in each athlete’s career when you know that your body can’t take it and that your time is up, and I think that time has come for me, especially with my shoulder and just with other factors,” said Broskey, who, according to her coach, spent more time in the training room than the practice field late in the season and played in excruciating pain. “I don’t think the collegiate level is for me. I don’t think my body will be able to take it anymore.” As for no longer playing a sport she loves, Broskey will undoubtedly handle it just fine. “It’s going to be definitely weird,” she said. “I have been playing sports since – I think I did gymnastics when I was two or three years old. I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but I think I’ll be able to enjoy my time and let my body recover from all these years. Also, I’ll still be in the sports atmosphere. I’ll be at football games, and I want to come back and see my old teammates play soccer too.”
To read Broskey’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/jules-broskey-00104104
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Dec. 12, 2022)
Ever wonder what Jason Kelce must have been like in high school? Spend a little time with Quakertown two-way senior lineman Vinny Pellegrini and you can get a sense. “I love him, yeah,” said Pellegrini of Kelce. “He is definitely one of my favorites.” Coach George Banas certainly sees the comparison. “I don’t think he has ever had a bad day in his life,” said the coach. “It’s crazy. I’ve been in football a long time, and he is the total happy-go-lucky offensive lineman. He has that type of personality. Fun-loving, big smile and just happy to be around. He jokes around with his teammates.” Banas was quick to add that Pellegrini’s pedigree is that of a first-team all-league choice and a dominant force at left tackle. “He just handles himself really well on the field, with his footwork and presence and just knowing what to do,” he said.
As gregarious as he is on the practice field and on the sidelines, Pellegrini is looking for the next “pancake block” from whistle to whistle. Then, in a totally disarming move, he’ll help his opponent up off the ground and joke about it. Before doing it all over again. “I always do that,” he said. “That’s my go-to move. I don’t celebrate. I’ll help them up, give them a pat on the head, tell them ‘good job’ and then keep balling out. I do it again and again and again.” The reactions from opponents tend to run the gamut. “This year, I got slapped in the face a couple of times,” he said. “Usually, they are cool about it. I’ve been described as a big teddy bear.”
Pellegrini may not look like the typical long and lean pitcher on the mound, but he is an imposing figure with an array of pitches at his disposal. He will be a four-year member of Quakertown’s varsity baseball team, although there was no spring season in 2020 when he was a freshman due to COVID. “He would have been on varsity out of the gate as a freshman, which is extremely rare in our program,” Quakertown coach Jon Pallone said. “He has a great personality - he is extremely charismatic and competitive. The first time I met Vinny was at our youth camp - we had the eighth graders come volunteer to help. The young campers loved him so much they were literally crawling all over him and having a blast. Over the years, he has pitched some big games for us – including district playoffs - and had some big hits as well. We look forward to him pitching more big games and having more big hits. He’s a great kid.” Added Banas, who used to coach baseball himself: “He is a heck of a pitcher. He throws mid-to-upper 80s with a lot of control and throws a bunch of different pitches. To look out there and see that kind of a pitcher coming at you, as a hitter, I would think is pretty overwhelming.”
At 6-2 ½ and 260 pounds, Pellegrini has the right size for the Division III level and is almost positive he will be moving on to play at Ithaca College. What has him most excited is the chance to work on just one sport. “I’m prioritizing football over baseball,” he said. “It’ll help me to take a huge step. I mean, I think I have already taken a big step in football while focusing on two sports. If I can just focus on one sport, it’ll be a whole new ballgame. It will increase my skill level a lot more.” As good as Pellegrini is, Banas is anxious to see his development at the next level. “He definitely has a lot of skill, and I definitely think he has a pretty high ceiling as far as developing that skill,” said Banas. “I still think he has tremendous upside. He is going to mature and realize how much the weight room can help him. When he gets to a program that implements that and he buys in just a little bit more, the ceiling for him is going to be really high.”
Pellegrini plans to continue his upward academic progression and major in business administration and/or marketing with the goal of being an owner/operator of his own construction company. “It was just like football,” said Pellegrini. “I started going to the tech school in my freshman year. I started going there for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning). Recently, this year, I actually switched classes to construction just to get a secondhand-type of knowledge that I could then expand on.” Pellegrini added that he had an uncle in the construction business and may work with him a bit in the summer in addition to some co-op via high school. “I’m looking to get more experience that way,” said Pellegrini, who is the first to admit he wasn’t always the most serious student but has come to realize how it important is for his immediate and long-range future.
To read Pellegrini’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/vinny-pellegrini-00104106
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