Soccer
Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan
Favorite team: FC Barcelona
Favorite memory competing in sports: Conversations with Sam Sergi
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Teammate showing up to practice with green socks, a tank top, and a 70s headband!
Music on iPod: Alternative and Rap
Future plans: Pursue Actuarial Science
Words to live by: If you’re not first, you’re last…
One goal before turning 30: Visit every continent
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to play piano.
By Craig Ostroff
In a traditionally low-scoring sport such as soccer, playing on the defensive end of the field can be a very pressure-filled task. Make one mistake, and the opposition can make you pay dearly.
“Defense can be hard,” said Central Bucks West senior captain Brady Boylan. “In a way, it can be like being the kicker on a football team with the game on the line – you win it or the game is over.
“In soccer, we’re the last line between the other team and our goalie. On offense, you can miss a shot and everybody tells you, ‘Good try.’ Mess up on defense and it’s over.”
Add a freshman goalkeeper into the equation, and that can be quite the burden for the back line (though frosh netminder Dylan Smith’s stellar play thus far has gone a long way toward alleviating much of that). But if there’s anyone that Bucks’ coach Stefan Szygiel trusts in high-pressure situations on defense, it’s Boylan.
“Brady is the center of our defense,” Szygiel said. “He plays there for a reason. He can read situations. He’s not the biggest, strongest guy on the field, but he makes up for that with the way he’s able to process the game. It’s a pleasure to watch him play. He very rarely makes mistakes. He has an amazing ability to read the game, and players like that can be difficult to find.
“We have four captains this year, and I trust them all, but Brady and I are attached at the hip a little bit. I have more conversations with him than anybody.”
Of course, Boylan is no stranger to high-pressure settings at CB West. Two years ago, he was the lone sophomore starter on a team loaded with seniors. Despite being an underclassman on a team full of experienced players, Boylan had little difficulty finding his place among his teammates.
“We had 15 seniors that year, a very talented class,” Szygiel said. “He was the only sophomore who was a starter, and he was essentially given the keys to the castle as a sophomore. We saw strong soccer ability, strong cerebral ability, strong leadership abilities, even as a sophomore. And he had a very successful sophomore year. He didn’t struggle at all. He played a ton, he started every game.”
“I didn’t feel like I was an underclassman,” Boylan said. “As one of the younger kids, I knew I had to earn my spot. No one was going to hand it to me – you have to fight for it and prove yourself to your coaches and teammates. But when you’re on the field, everyone is on the same level. You don’t see different grades or ages when you’re all playing as a team.”
After being named a captain in his junior year – a season in which he also earned All-Conference honors – Boylan finds himself on the other side of the coin in his senior season. Now he’s the elder statesman on a team that is both talented and experienced, but which also boasts a large group of newcomers.
“We have a very, very strong freshman class, so it’s important to have a guy like Brady,” Szygiel said. “He’s grown as a leader the past two years. He’s a lead-by-example kind of guy. He can get the younger guys fired up. He’s not the type of guy who’s going to break someone down – he’ll build them up and encourage them.”
“I think my first year as captain, I was trying to learn from what the other captains did,” Boylan said. “This year, I had to be the voice of the team – all the captains have to. Having been on the other side, it made me realize I have to be that guy who’s comforting others, making sure they’re not feeling intimidated. Because if they can play, they can play. And we need to make sure they feel like they’re a part of this team, so we can all be on the same page.”
So far, that approach has been working. The Bucks finished the week at 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the SOL Continental Conference.
“The preseason was very productive for us,” Boylan said. “We’ve got a very good freshman class, and the returning guys know their roles. We’re clicking early and we really got off and running.”
Knowing that this will be his final campaign with the Bucks has Boylan and the rest of the senior class extra motivated.
“I think there’s a responsibility to finish your senior season year with a bang, and we have a large senior class,” Boylan said. “Our goal is to go as far as we can.”
Of course, that approach also applies to Boylan’s academic career. Ranked near the top of the senior class, Boylan is taking five AP classes this year and has participated in the school newspaper and student government at Central Bucks West. He also works part-time as a financial advisor’s assistant at Compass Financial Solutions in Doylestown, though he said he’s had to take a leave of absence in order to devote the necessary time to the soccer season and his schoolwork.
Academics have always come first for Boylan and his sister, Bryn, a CB West junior who is establishing herself as a standout on the hockey and lacrosse fields (and about whom Brady says with an sense of awe, “She is so far ahead of me in the sports she plays”). He credits his parents, both of whom were high school student-athletes (part of a multi-generational legacy, Boylan’s grandfather coached at West as well), for ensuring that he and his sister have their priorities in order.
In Brady’s case, it’s all preparing him for a college with a strong business school, where he plans on majoring in Actuarial Science.
“My mother helped me find that major back in eighth grade, and it’s still looking good,” he said. “My parents have always been very supportive of us. They always make sure we have everything done before we go to bed. They’ve always told us, academics first, because if you don’t have your academics in order, you can end up ineligible to play, and then you’ve got neither.”
And with such a large group of underclassmen this season, seeing someone excel on the soccer field as well as in the classroom is an invaluable asset.
“Brady is an example that it’s all about how you perform in the classroom,” Szygiel said. “If you happen to be a darned good athlete as well, that makes you more well-rounded. Whether Brady ends up playing soccer in college or not, at the end of the day, he’s going to end up somewhere where he’s going to get a top education, and four or five years from now, people are going to be working for him.
But that’s still a long way off. Right now, Boylan’s focus is on the new soccer season and helping his team achieve its goals and surpass its expectations.
Those goals include at least one victory over archrival Central Bucks East, an extended run in the district playoffs, and a ticket to the state tournament.
“We were so close to going to the state playoffs in my sophomore year,” Boylan said. “That would really be a great way to end my senior season.
“To do that, we have to take one game at a time. We have to get as many wins as we can, get seeded well, and just focus on one game at a time and continue to work hard every game. And it’s up to the captains and the seniors to make sure we stick together as a team, play like a West team, and keep focused.”
That’s exactly the kind of answer Boylan’s coach would expect from him.
“If Brady makes All-Conference again this year, he deserves it,” Szygiel said. “If he gets some kind of individual accolade, it’ll be because he deserves it. But I think at the end of the day, he’ll define his success by his team’s success. That’s just the kind of kid he is.”
