Football, Swimming, Baseball
Favorite athlete: Shaun White
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: My Swimming Senior night
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: False starting at Champs for swimming
Music on Playlist:
Sorry 4 The Wait by Lil Wayne
I by Kendrick Lamar
Heartbeat by Childish Gambino
Basement Jack by Steve Lacy
Future plans: Attend college at Arizona State University and study Global Health
Words to live by: “Loyalty over royalty”
One goal before turning 30: Go skydiving
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m descended from Italian royalty.
By GORDON GLANTZ
It’s as easy as riding a bike, huh?
Not for Cheltenham senior Anthony “Bo” Feeney, who does not engage – at all --in that American rite of passage.
We can forgive him, as there is pretty much nothing else he doesn’t do.
He plays three sports – football, swimming and baseball – for the Panthers and also does snowboarding and skateboarding.
He has even tried surfing a few times and would not rule it out in the future.
Before it’s all said and done, Feeney would absolutely like to add skydiving into the mix.
Oh, and for good measure, he also plays the piano at a fairly high level.
“My parents enrolled me and all my siblings because they thought it would be beneficial to my education,” he said. “I’ve been playing for about six years now and to the point where I can play most jazz and classical pieces well.
“I find it really calming and relaxing. When I play, it helps me not to think about anything else that’s on my mind.”
Call Me ‘Bo’
Tracing it back to a great grandfather, “Bo” ostensibly became Feeney’s first name, and it stuck, even with teachers and coaches.
And it’s certainly not a fancy moniker for someone actually descended from Italian royalty.
“Yeah,” he said, with a chuckle. “A couple of years back – I want to say my freshman year – my family and I took a visit to Rome. We went to a small town there and, as we were talking with relatives there, they told us that we were descended from Italian royalty.
“I doubt it is anything too serious, but it is still cool to hear.”
In other words, he didn’t let the discovery go to his head. Feeney is still a firm believer in the saying that loyalty comes before royalty.
“That was something one of my friends told me once,” he said. “He was one of my best friends, and still is. It basically meant that I put him over anything else, like over a personal gain, and it has just been something that has resonated with me forever now.”
Pay Dirt
Although he had never formally played football before, Feeney decided to strap on the shoulder pads and get into the mix for Cheltenham as an upperclassman the last two autumns.
He did not regret it.
“I never really even played football before last year,” he said. “But, it was really a lot of fun. It was one of the best things I have ever done. Not only did it help physically, but I also made a lot of great friends on our team.”
With swimming as his primary sport, the concern over getting hurt was legitimate, but he put it out of his mind and just played as a reserve linebacker.
“It wasn’t something that I really ever thought about,” he said. “I know, though, that several other people – my swim coach (Karen Wirtshafter) and my piano instructor (Monica Liggins) – were worried about it, but I never really had any concerns.
“My mom (Robin) was also real nervous, but my dad played football and he was supportive.”
As it turned out, baseball coach Kevin Hite was the defensive coordinator.
“We had a great relationship, and I think he’s a great coach,” said Feeney.
Added Hite: “He’s that kid that you don’t ever mind having on your team. People on the outside wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t understand, because he’s not front and center. The little intangibles, you know, everybody loves him.”
Making Strides
Feeney made it out in one piece and had a successful swimming career as a “sprinter” -- the 50 free, 100 free and the 100 fly.
While he just missed districts by less than a second, he made it on a relay team and garnered an All-League nod.
“It was frustrating for me,” he said of missing the district cut as an individual. “But, at the same time, I was proud of the progress I made since my freshman year.
“I started off at 28 seconds in the 50 free and now I’m leaving at 23.”
Wirtshafter has felt his impact.
“Bo has been on the team for four years and has been such an instrumental part in helping various new swimmers adjust to the team and to the practices,” she said. “He always enthusiastically cheered for his teammates.”
But, when it came time for his own events, Feeney was all business, she said
“He was prepared for practices and his races,” Wirtshafter added. “He had so many personal best times throughout the season in his signature events – 50 and 100 free.
“All of the qualities I described are why I chose him for the Coaches Award this year. He was extremely helpful to me and the team.”
And Feeney is now giving back to the sport.
“Swimming is my main thing,” he said. “I’ve been doing it since I was like 5 for all the summer leagues we have here. I swam for Glenside. All of my siblings swam. It’s a big part of my life.”
So big, in fact, that he is now coaching the sport to kids 5-15.
“It’s a team, but it’s also for people who want to learn to swim,” he said. “We have meets, and we swim against each other.”
In the Deep End
He has decided to follow that coaching instinct this spring by helping out Hite with a Cheltenham baseball team that is struggling a bit with a lot of younger players.
“Due to some unforeseen circumstances with one of my assistant coaches, I was left without a coach, and right on the day of a game, he was the first one to grab a helmet to say, ‘Coach, I’ll take first base,’” said Hite, who works in security at the school. “For the last several games, he has been out there coaching, helping me with the baseball team. He is just an excellent young man.”
It is woven into his DNA, as Feeney grew up playing on Little League teams coached by his father, Kevin.
“He always encouraged me to keep on playing baseball,” he said. “My role here is to coach first base and have some fun with them. We haven’t been having that great of a year.”
A future in coaching? Hite would not be surprised.
“I’ll sit and have some words with him and pick his brain, just to see what he’ll say,” said Hite. “He gives me good feedback, so he may have a future in coaching. I’m not sure. He’s in tune. He knows what is going on.”
Headed to the Desert
When it came to his college choice, Feeney chose Arizona State over schools as far ranging as in California and Miami (Fla.) and Pennsylvania state schools.
“When I did my visit there, it was a lovely campus,” he said. “I also found the people there to be really helpful.”
Feeney, who may look into the club swim team there, added Arizona State was a good fit for his intended major, Global Health.
“I’ve always been interested in helping others,” he said. “Even if that didn’t pan out for me, Arizona has always been known for its environmental science, so I could always take environmental science, which would mean ways to help stop climate change. Out in Arizona, they have a bunch of renewable energy – solar panels, wind turbines and that sort of stuff – so I would be spending my day trying to figure more efficient ways to save energy.”
Making It Happen
Feeney boasts a solid 3.5 GPA with a course load of AP and honors classes.
“You know, not the best and not the worst,” he said.
Feeney said he takes full advantage of any pockets of time during the day to get his work done.
“Cheltenham has something called a community lunch, where it is essentially a break for about a full hour in the middle of the day,” he said. “It is useful when it comes to getting school work done, and to catch up on anything while I’m eating my lunch and all of that. And, then, I never really had any problems, scheduling-wise.”
As far as extracurricular activities, Feeney and some friends are involved in the Blue and Gold Committee.
“It’s where we plan a school event, like our Spirit Night,” he said. “It was really fun to have the chance to do that.”
Following Emma, Dana and Ryan in a succession of siblings, he wanted to thank – in addition to his parents and Hite and Wirtshafter -- longtime friends and teammates Jude Fulmor and Alex Bogush.
“He’s just a great all-around kid,” said Hite. “Like I said, I’m in security. They call me ‘Mr. Cheltenham’ and I see him in the halls switching classes. He has never been an issue.
“In our first 11 games, he has played in maybe three of the games, but he is always positive.”
