Soccer, Basketball
Favorite athlete: Ben Simmons (76ers)
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite sports memory: Going to watch the Eagles practice at the stadium for the first time. I was overwhelmed with joy – one of the best things that happened to me.
Funniest thing that has happened in sports: My last basketball game when the news came and watched and videoed me at my game…seeing me on TV was funny.
Favorite music: Country
Future plans: Working with sports and getting a house
Favorite saying: “Go Bears!”
One goal before turning 30: Learn to drive
One thing people don’t know about me: I like to work out.
By Mary Jane Souder
Roll back the calendar to Feb. 6, 2018, Senior Night for Upper Moreland boys’ basketball.
Emotions were running high, and a new face in the Golden Bears’ lineup was creating a buzz. Darius Bostwick was making his varsity debut, and the response from the full house when the senior made his first ever basket will not soon be forgotten by anyone in attendance that night.
“It was a pretty special moment – it was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard the gym here at Upper Moreland,” said UM coach Sean Feeley, then in his first year at the helm. “It was emotional, I certainly teared up. It was so neat to see how happy he was.
“Darius started the game, he was introduced, and he did his little warm-up dance that he likes to practice. It was awesome how the fans cheered him on and how the kids interacted with him and were so thrilled. That was also Senior Night for six other kids, and just how that was the highlight of their Senior Night, how they were embracing him. There were hugs all around when he came out of the game. It was just a really, really cool moment.”
Ryan Coyle was a senior teammate of Boswick’s on that special Senior Night.
“I remember we were playing Wissahickon,” Coyle said. “We tipped the ball off, got it right to Darius, and he went down and scored a layup.
“It was actually awesome. At the end of the game, Darius was able to go back in, and he got two more baskets. It was just great to see.”
At the mention of that Senior Night, Bostwick’s face lights up.
“I had a good time,” he said. “I was happy about all the fans, the fans were hyped up for me.”
Bostwick, a special needs student, introduced himself to Feeley seven years ago on his first day on the job at UM as a health and physical education teacher.
“He loves sports,” Feeley said. “My first year coaching three years ago, he approached me and told me he wanted to try out for the basketball team. He went to practice every day, did the drills with the guys.
“I couldn’t be more happy and proud with the way our kids incorporated him. They were incredible with him. He certainly was a part of the team. He was expected to be at every practice, he was expected to maintain his grades and have good behavior in school, all of which he did. He dressed for every home game. It was a special year.”
That memorable Senior Night was just over two years ago, but Bostwick has remained a part of the basketball team, serving as a manager. He is also a manager of the girls’ soccer team. To say Bostwick is a beloved part of the UM community would be an understatement.
“He has a smile that lights up the world - he’s always happy, he’s always smiling, he’s getting guys all jacked up,” Feeley said.
“He’s always upbeat,” Coyle said. “He was always supporting the team. He was a guy where if you did something bad and came out of the game, he would always still be high fiving you or making a joke. If people were upset, Darius would always be there to give some encouragement.”
“One thing I’ll say – he’s never the type of guy to be down,” said UM senior Jahaire Johnson, a member of the basketball team. “I’ve actually known him before I came to high school. He and his brothers would come to a local park near my house, and we would play basketball together.
“He’s always excited, he’s always caring for someone. If you miss a shot, he’ll say, ‘Good shot.’ You come off the court onto the bench – he’ll shake your hand and tell you good job. There are a lot of things he does to encourage us to keep our heads up.”
It’s the same story in soccer.
“Especially this year with COVID and everything, it was really discouraging with everything going on, so having him around – I know personally, it really just brings joy to me,” said UM senior Kaiya Herb, a captain of the soccer team. “During practice, he would always cheer us on.”
“He’s the best,” said UM girls’ soccer assistant John Kolla, a special education teacher at the high school. “I never taught his class, but I was there when he came along, and he’s very personable, he’s somebody who gets along with everybody.”
“Darius is one of a kind,” UM girls’ soccer coach Lisa Benvenuto said. “His contributions are always positive. He’s always looking to motivate girls in the way he knows best.
“When we got into districts two years ago, Darius is who is in the middle of our picture. He loves sports, he loves Upper Moreland. He doesn’t care if it’s a girls’ sport or a boys’ sport. He really is the Golden Bear.”
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Bostwick’s love of sports as well as his upbeat personality have made him a perfect fit as team manager.
“It makes me happy helping them out,” Bostwick said. “I like being around the teams. I cheer them on, I get them hyped. I tell them to try their best, play hard, and I give them a high five.”
Although he loves all sports, Bostwick is especially fond of basketball and has competed in the Special Olympics and with the Rockets.
Bostwick’s favorite shot in basketball?
“Three-pointer,” he says without hesitation.
“He definitely likes to chuck them up like Steph Curry,” Feeley said of the Golden State Warriors’ star who is one of Bostwick’s favorite players.
Bostwick took a three-pointer in his Senior Night debut.
“Yes and I missed it,” he said.
“He missed it, but got his own rebound and scored it,” Feeley said.
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Coyle recalls returning to UM to help out at a basketball practice during winter break after he graduated.
“At the end of practices the night before a game, everyone on the team would take a half court shot, and Darius would always go last,” Coyle said. “I remember Darius made the half court shot the one time, and everyone went crazy. It was just a half court shot at practice, but everyone was so excited for him.”
Small wonder Bostwick enjoys his role with the team.
“I love to run, practice shooting,” he said. “I like to be around my teammates. Coaches are funny.”
Asked if he tries to calm Feeley down during games, Bostwick said, “I don’t do that kind of stuff.”
Perhaps not, but he does have a calming effect on the UM coach.
“When I coach, sometimes I get a little anxious, a little nervous,” Feeley said. “’Next play’ is a motto we use, and he will remind me of that, or he’ll put his arm around me and say, ‘It’s okay coach, it’s all right.’
“You could have a bad game or maybe I didn’t coach my best game or we had a bad loss. He would be the guy the next day at practice – he’s smiling, he’s happy, he’s getting guys all jacked up. It’s special to see.”
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Bostwick’s involvement in soccer got its start through one of UM’s former players, Sydney Bachmayer who was part of Athletes helping Athletes with him.
“We asked him if he wanted to help out. Darius’ answer was ‘yes’ emphatically,” Benvenuto said.
Six years later, Bostwick is a fixture on the UM sidelines and a valued member of the soccer squad. According to Herb, Bostwick will go to great lengths to support his teammates.
“During preseason, we do a lot of sprints, a lot of running,” the senior captain said. “There was this one day where he actually ran with us.
“That’s one of the things I’ll always remember because it’s very hard. Our coaches never run with us, so to have someone run with us and cheer us on – that really warmed my heart so much.”
The sprints were the length of the soccer field.
“Those sprints are hard, and it’s hard to speak and run at the same time, but he was still cheering us on and saying, ‘Come on, girls. You got it’ 
while he was running up and down the field,” she said. “In games, as soon as you came off the field, he was always first person who would give you a high five or a fist bump.
“Balls would go out of bounds, and he would sprint to get the balls, and he just really cheered us on. He always had an uplifting spirit even if we messed up or anything like that.”
Benvenuto and Kolla can’t talk about Bostwick without acknowledging his tremendous growth over the years.
“When we started out with Darius his freshman year, he would come to everything he could get to,” Benvenuto said. “He took his responsibilities of being a team manager very seriously.
“As we continued through the years, we have given Darius more and more management responsibilities. Sometimes he was at practice telling the girls to start their warm-ups. Sometimes he would be setting up cones for me, sometimes he would want to take some time in the beginning of practice to talk about the game we were preparing for.”
Bostwick’s talks to the team cover a wide range of topics, according to Benvenuto.
“It would depend on what we were doing at practice,” the UM coach said. “If at the beginning of practice or warm-up we were going right into conditioning, Darius would speak about how important it is to take care of your body – ‘Remember to hydrate, remember to stretch.’
“If we were talking about the game and let’s say it was after a loss, Darius would say to somebody on the side – ‘You did really good though.’ He was always looking just to raise the girls up. If we were at practice and doing something within the practice session that was really good, he’d say ‘Coach, that looks great, this is great, coach.’”
“As he grew, he matured,” Kolla added. “He took on more responsibility. When he first joined the team, he was always just around and he would take a backseat. He would help out, but he would just kind of stay quiet.
“As the years have gone by and especially the past few years, he’s definitely a vocal leader. One of his big lines is, ‘On the hop.’ Every time we say something, he screams out, ‘Come on, on the hop.’ He brings such good energy to us. He’s one of a kind, and he really is great.”
Bostwick, according to his coach, is part of the soccer memories of UM players past and present.
“If you went through the years all the way back to my first year of freshmen all the way up to last year, they could tell you about Darius,” Benvenuto said. “He’s kind of been the cornerstone of our program, one of our little pillars.
“It’s been magnificent to see him grow over the years from when he started out not wanting to share too much about himself to now he’s confident. I think he knows he found his place, he feels safe around the girls, and they absolutely adore him.”
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These days Bostwick is assuming more responsibilities in both the building and the athletic arena.
“He took on a big role in the high school – he’s like a junior administrator,” Kolla said. “He dresses up – a button-down shirt and tie. He helps monitor the cafeteria, he helps out the football team, he’ll do security. He’s a big member of the basketball team too. Ever since he graduated, Sean has taken him under his wing, and he’s taken on that assistant type of role. I’ve never seen a student like him.
“I can remember him as a freshman – just way he would walk around. People loved him, but he had that air like he owned the building. It kind of continues, but not in the same way. There’s more maturity about it, but he still says hello to everybody. Everybody loves him. He’s always walking around the cafeteria talking to everybody. When we’re in school, I walk by him every day. He always gives me a high five or elbow bump. He just always has a smile on his face. He lights up my day.”
“It’s always great to have someone like Darius around,” Johnson said.
“He’s really like the spirit emblem of our school,” Herb said.
On a quiet morning recently with snow in the forecast, Feeley and Bostwick – both wearing masks – are socially distanced in the UM athletic director’s office, their bond unmistakable .
“Darius, we preach family here,” Feeley said to Bostwick. “We’re so glad you’re part of the soccer family and the basketball family but also the Upper Moreland family.”
And that’s something that won’t change.
“As long as I’m the coach and he’s in school, he’ll be a part of the team,” Feely said.
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