By Alex Frazier
In this notebook, I am recognizing the Players of the Year for each of the Suburban One League conferences.
National Conference – Jeff Pio, William Tennent
William Tennent’s Jeff Pio is one of those rare athletes that can excel in two sports in high school.
Many kids have abandoned other sports to concentrate on one by the time they reach their junior year.
Not Pio.
Besides being named Player of the Year in soccer, Pio was also Tennent’s MVP on the basketball team last year and will be a two-year captain just as he was in soccer.
Pio was actually surprised that he was selected as the Player of the Year, given that the Panthers finished fourth in the conference.
“I came in this year to reach that goal,” he said. “I played four years on the varsity, and this year I just wanted to push myself to achieve the top goal. From past years, I recalled that the team that finished first supplies the player of the year. When I found out it was me, I was actually surprised.
“And being in a new conference and playing against teams that we didn’t play that much before, it was pretty surprising. It does feel good.”
Coach James Barry, who coached at Council Rock North last year, wasn’t surprised since his team played against Tennent’s when they were both in the Continental Conference.
“He’s just been a very consistent player throughout the year,” said Barry. “That’s why he was recognized by all the coaches. In every game he was a presence and played at a very high level. To get the votes from the other coaches, you have to play well against each team twice, and that’s something Jeff did.”
Besides being named to the First Team all-league, Pio was also named to the all-state team.
Those honors, he said, helped pick him up after the Panthers lost in the second round of the district playoffs for the third straight year.
“He does his defensive duties real well,” said Barry. “He’s good in the air and takes up good positions to help out the defense, and he’s also good going forward as well creating and scoring goals. He’s a complete midfielder.”
And he’s also a good leader. He was captain both his junior and senior years.
“He’s got good leadership skills,” said Barry. “He’s well respected by the players. He always works hard in practice, and as well as being a well-spoken leader, he’s also a role model.”
Barry, in fact, relied on him to help make his transition to a new team easier.
“When I was coaching North and we played Tennent, he was very dangerous,” he said. “I did place a lot of responsibilities on him this year to run my midfield.”
Soccer has always been Pio’s No. 1 sport. He credited his father, who was all state in high school and all-American in college, for getting him started.
“He’s the one that put the soccer ball in my hands,” he said. “I would always kick it around and play with it. As I got older and older, I got better. It’s just been a lot of fun.”
Currently Pio plays on the VE U-18 club team.
Like most youngsters, he started out playing all over the field, but gradually settled into center midfield, both on attack and defense.
“The defensive role came to be my strong part,” he said.
After playing for Joe Duffy for three years, Pio and his teammates had to adapt to a new coach this year.
“He (Duffy) was an inspiring coach,” said Pio. “He really gave me the opportunity to prove myself as a freshman and kept me on the field in big games. It definitely helped me a lot.
“This year was different with a new coach, but we clicked at the beginning of the season.”
Ironically, the Panthers finished in fourth place, one spot ahead of Neshaminy, which they beat twice during the season. The Redskins, however, advanced all the way to the state semifinals after finishing second in the district.
“They’re a good team and they’ve always played well in the playoffs,” he said.
Basketball has also been a big part of his life. “Basketball is my No. 2 sport,” he said. “I play it because it’s a lot of fun.”
In order to play hoops, he has given up the chance to play in the Olympic Development Program.
“That interferes with basketball,” he said.
Pio plays point guard for the Panthers. It’s a position much like center midfield in soccer.
“I control the team,” he said. “I bring the ball up. I like having the ball in my hands. I like being the one to call the plays, distribute and be the leader.”
More than once, Pio sat down with his parents to discuss the reality of playing two sports.
“In the end, it came down to where I could trust myself to manage my time well to go along with the sports and school,” he said. “For the past four years, it’s worked perfectly. I’ve been able to play soccer for school and then transition that into basketball and also play basketball to go along with my club team and also get all my work done in school. It’s been very hard, but I’ve managed to get through it, and it’s been fun.”
Last year Pio even tried volleyball in the spring, just to make his life a bit more complicated.
“I wanted to try something different, but that didn’t work out too well,” he said. “This year I decided for the spring just to focus on club soccer.”
Pio is planning on continuing soccer in college. He’s considering LaSalle, Temple and Mount St. Mary’s and wants to major in elementary/special education. He is in the top half of his class at Tennent and carries a 3.3 GPA.
“It’s still open,” he said. “I’m still searching. Right now I’m not 100 percent.”
Continental Conference – Sean Peckham, Central Bucks East
Player of the Year honors are nothing new for Central Bucks East’s Sean Peckham. This year he is again the MVP of the Continental as well as first team all-league, all state and a probable repeat as regional all-American.
Achieving the honor for the second year in a row is no easy task.
As coach Mike Gorni said, “Sean was game-planned for by every team that we played against. Everybody knew him. Teams were man and zoning him, and he still ended up being one of the leading scorers in the area, obviously against legitimate competition.”
Peckham finished the season with 12 goals and 18 assists. It is the latter that he takes more pride in.
“When a bunch of kids score, I get a good feeling,” he said. “It feels good to have other kids score.”
Peckham is obviously a team player. Coming into the season, he wasn’t thinking about repeating as Player of the Year. He was thinking team.
“I was trying to think about the team because I knew we were going to have a good team back,” he said. “I knew if we did good, a lot of our guys would get recognition.”
Peckham was more relaxed this year, having made his college decision before the season started.
“It took a lot of pressure off,” he said. “I didn’t have to worry about calling coaches. I could just have fun and try to make it as far as we could.”
Gorni doesn’t hold back praise for his elite center midfielder.
“He’s literally a complete soccer player,” he said. “He doesn’t have any phase of the game that he’s not very strong at. He’s a great defender individually, he is technically sound. He has a great first touch, he’s an excellent passer of the ball, he shoots well. His job from his position in the midfield is to be a catalyst. If we’re more proficient in finishing, the kid probably has double the number of assists.
“He makes every player on our team better. He’s simply a complete soccer player.”
Gorni noted that other coaches have commented on Peckham’s ability to change speed seamlessly.
“He’s actually one of the few players that’s faster with the ball than without it,” he said. “He’s kind of unassuming. He’s extremely smooth, and so all of a sudden it doesn’t look like something is happening and then – ‘Oh my goodness,’ he’s set up or scored a goal.”
Although East made it a round further—to the state semifinals—this year before losing to Peters Township for the second time in two years, Peckham was still disappointed.
“We could have won that game,” he said. “We probably would have won it four out of five times if we played, but we had a good season. We were healthy this year, so I thought we had a better chance in the playoffs.”
Peckham will look back with fondness and pride in his last two years at East.
When he was a freshman and sophomore, the Patriots bowed out in the second round of districts.
“I always thought the teams that made it on were so good,” he said. “I always wanted to be like those teams, and then we ended up being just as good or better than them. It’s a good feeling to make it far in the playoffs.”
Peckham has already verbally committed to Lafayette and will ink his letter of intent as soon as the signing period begins (possibly February).
“It’s nice his parents and family will be able to see him play,” said Gorni. “They’ve had a great two years in recruiting. They have a great freshmen class this year, and it seems like they’re going to have a great freshman class next year. That bodes well for what’s going to be his years there.”
American Conference – Ian Smith, Upper Dublin
For the fourth year in a row, Upper Dublin claimed a Player of the Year. This time it is Ian Smith.
“It’s an honor to receive the award,” said Smith. “Probably a couple more players in the conference could have won it. I was lucky it was me.”
After a successful sophomore year in which he made first team all-league, Smith wasn’t sure what to expect this year, except that he wanted to make first team again and lead the team in scoring.
He did that and more.
After scoring 14 goals and two assists as a soph, he netted 15 goals this year to go along with eight assists. He was also named to the first team all-league and as Player of the Year made the all-state team.
“Last year I had a good season, and I was just trying to improve on last season with this new season,” he said. “I’m happy with the outcome.”
Smith was particularly pleased that he had more assists this year.
“I was helping my team out a little more and I was doing more off the ball, helping my team score,” he said.
“He’s very good on top of the ball,” said coach Rick Schmidt. “You see some guys are distance shooters - it’s not his style. He’s real tight in. Most of his goals are from relatively short range. He’s a very good technical player.”
Smith has decent speed, but doesn’t rely solely on it.
“He’s got a real good mind for the game,” said Schmidt. “He knows where he needs to be. He works well with the people around him. He’s a smart player.”
Like Tennent’s Jeff Pio, Smith is also a two-sport athlete—actually three when you consider he runs indoor track in the winter and outdoors in the spring.
Smith started running track in grade school in the CYO. Every Saturday his team would compete. In eighth grade, he won the 800 in the city championship, and he also did well in the mile.
Last year at Upper Dublin, he ran the 800 leg in the distance medley relay that placed fourth in the state.
This year he’s hoping to repeat that as well as place in the top three in the state 4x800, both indoors and out.
And like Pio he has had to forego the Olympic Development Program, which he is discovering might hurt his chances for getting into the college of his choice as he begins his exploration of colleges.
“They keep saying, ‘What’s your ODP experience?’ and I don’t really have any because I’ve been doing track,” said Smith. “I definitely think it will hurt me because a lot of that stuff is what colleges look for.”
But quitting track to focus on soccer isn’t really an option for him.
“I’d like to quit track, but I’m good at it,” he said.
On the positive side, track gets him in good running condition for soccer.
“It helps me a lot,” he said. “It makes me in better physical shape and makes me stronger so I can go the whole game.”
Smith grew up playing travel team for the Upper Dublin Devils from U-9 through U-15. Then he moved up to FC Dublin and now he’s playing for PA Rush, which is a higher-level program.
Though it’s not ODP, he will have the benefit of going to college showcases this winter in North Carolina and Florida. And he hopes to attract some attention. He’s already e-mailed a few coaches to let them know where he will be playing.
“I might need a little more than that,” he said.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Rankings
(Through Nov. 9)
1. Downingtown West. . . 24-1-0
2. Neshaminy. . . 16-6-2
3. Central Bucks East. . . 19-4-1
4. Lower Merion. . . 18-3-1
5. North Catholic. . . 16-2-3
6. Father Judge. . . 15-3-1
7. Strath Haven. . . 15-3-2
8. Pottsgrove. . . 17-3-0
9. Christopher Dock. . . 17-3-3
10. Haverford School. . . 12-1-2
11. Pennsbury. . . 14-5-1
12. Archbishop Wood. . . 19-2-1
13. Holy Ghost Prep. . . 16-3-2
14. West Chester Henderson. . . 13-5-0
15. Council Rock North. . . 13-6-2
16. St. Joseph's Prep. . . 13-5-0
17. Upper Darby. . . 14-3-3
18. La Salle. . . 11-8-0
19. Shipley. . . 20-2-0
20. Germantown Academy. . . 13-5-1
Others receiving votes: Washington, Abington, Octorara, Radnor, Pennridge, Owen J. Roberts, Hatboro-Horsham, William Tennent, Bayard Rustin, Fels, Upper Dublin, Lansdale Catholic, Delco Christian, Conestoga.
NSCAA/adidas® Region III National Rankings
(Nov. 11)
1. Downingtown West (Downingtown, Pa.) 24 - 1 - 0
2. St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) * 20 - 1 - 0
3. The Pingry School (Martinsville, N.J.) 15 - 0 - 1
4. Rancocas Valley (Mt. Holly, N.J.) 19 - 1 - 1
5. Ramapo (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) 13 - 0 - 2
6. Central Bucks East (Doylestown, Pa.) 19 - 4 - 1
7. Harrison (N.J.) 19 - 1 - 0
8. Columbia (Maplewood, N.J.) 18 - 2 - 2
9. Peters Township (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 19 - 5 - 0
10. Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pa.) 18 - 3 - 1
11. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 18 - 3 - 0
12. Neshaminy (Langhorne, Pa.) 16 - 6 - 2
13. Manheim Township (Lancaster, Pa.) 21 - 5 - 2
14. Mount Lebanon (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 19 - 2 - 0
15. Ocean City (N.J.) 16 - 1 - 3
* State champion
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