SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Nov. 12, 2015)
Niyah Rhoades grew up listening to people say she was a ‘natural born leader.’ “To me, that only meant little kid things – like standing in line,” she said. The William Tennent senior might not have taken those words to heart when she was a youngster, but they turned out to be prophetic. Rhoades was born to lead. The president of her senior class, she is an officer in the National Honor Society and an editor on the yearbook staff. Rhoades is a member of Tennent’s Athletic Council and is active in student government. She also finds time to compete in field hockey as well as winter and spring track and field. “As I got older, I really started to believe in myself,” Rhoades said. “I’ve always taken the lead – not in a controlling way but just in a more effective way. I know if I’m in charge things are going to happen. I like people, so I don’t have a problem taking that role.”
People also like Rhoades, and her selection as Homecoming Queen this fall is a testament to the high regard she is held in her school community. At the hockey team’s recent year-end banquet, coach Kaitlyn Rauchut described her senior forward as professional. It’s not the kind of term usually thrown around about a high school athlete. “Niyah is professional on the field, she’s professional off the field,” the Panthers’ coach said. “She’s everything that William Tennent represents – integrity, pride, sportsmanship. She’s intelligent, she leads by example, she’s very kind, she’s funny, she’s very well liked by her teammates. She’s an excellent role model.”
Rhoades admits her story could have had a much different ending. “Unfortunately, when I was younger, I just had the mindset that I could do whatever I wanted,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I was a bad kid at all, I just occasionally made dumb decisions.” That’s hardly unusual for a teenager, but what is unusual is the impetus for her turnaround. “I completely turned things around solely because I wanted to be better,” Rhoades said. “I wanted to become a better person so I changed my mindset. I’m not nearly the person I was before. I am so much more positive and I’d say that my positivity has played the most influential role in my transition.”
Hockey became Rhoades’ passion for reasons that go well beyond her enjoyment of the sport. “A lot of it has to do with my team,” she said. “As far as Tennent, we’re the closest team, hands down. I also like playing. I look forward to games. I like winning. I like being out there with my team. Even when we lose, we lose together.”
Next year, Rhoades plans to major in health sciences and then pursue a master’s degree in occupational therapy. “I like helping people a lot, and I’ve always been interested in the body,” she said. An excellent student, Rhoades is enrolled in honors and AP classes. She is a member of the German National Honor Society and is the hostess at Perkins but still volunteers whenever she has a free minute.
To read Rhoades’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/niyah-rhoades-0057490
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Nov. 12, 2015)
When Branden Mack first started playing Pop Warner football, he used to cry about going to practice. He didn’t see the point of lining up against your own teammates in drills. Then his team, the Enon Eagles, played a game. And he was hooked. Practice was not a crying matter anymore. Now Mack, Cheltenham’s dual-threat quarterback and free safety, makes the opposition feel like crying. The same goes for the schools – private high schools and Division One programs – who vied for his services. He stayed loyal to Cheltenham, a choice that led to him getting on the college recruiting radar sooner and leading to a scholarship offer from the geographically closest Division I program, Temple. Mack readily accepted.
Coach Joe Gro called Mack up to the varsity squad as a freshman and made him a two-way starter by his sophomore year. “He worked through everything,” the Panthers’ coach said. “I’m proud of him. I think of some of the best kids I’ve had through the years, and he is as fine as I’ve had. He is our most gifted player, but he also exemplifies what we talk about. He leads everything we do.” According to Mack, it points to how he was raised by his parents – Darryl Sr. and Nicole – as the words “never give up” are not just a saying for Mack. They are a way of life. “I used that every day,” he said. “In every practice I have. In games, I do the same thing.”
Mack refers to himself as a ‘big brother’ to his younger teammates, just as many seniors were to him as a promising sophomore, and he uses his status as in inbound recruit to a Top 25 program to prove a point. “I wanted to prove I could make my own way and prove you can still stay at a public school and get a good education and still get a scholarship,” he said, adding that the ‘never give up’ mantra is carried over to the classroom. “Without education, you can’t do anything in life, period,” he said. “If football doesn’t work out, at least I know I’ll have my degree. My mom and dad have always pushed me to better myself. If I get a B, they tell me to get an A the next time.”
Gro is notorious for a coaching approach akin to a drill sergeant at boot camp. He will yell at a player, but it is only because he wants to bring out the best in him. “The most amazing thing is when I want to reprimand a kid, he took it all on himself,” Gro said. “He covered the kid up. He said, ‘Coach, I’m the one who is supposed to make that work, and I didn’t make it work.’” The future Owl now has the coaching staff from the nationally ranked program on North Broad Street already talking about him. “I love competition,” Mack said. “Anything I can do to help the team, I’m willing to do.”
To read Mack’s compete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/branden-mack-0057494
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