Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com is once again recognizing a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of Dec. 24, 2025)
PFH … stands for Pennridge Field Hockey. But as first-year coach Chris Chookagian attempts to instill a new culture in the program, those three letters took on a different meaning this season. PFH … Perseverance, Fearlessness, Humility. As part of the process, Chookagian set up a leadership team of two representatives from each class and had the team vote on three captains, who represent those traits of perseverance, fearlessness, and humility. It was no surprise to Chookagian that Suzan Eraydin was elected as one of the leaders. “Suz helped set us up for success by being a leader and a voice on the team,” the Lady Rams’ coach said. “We worked to redevelop the whole program culture during preseason, we’d have an on-field session and then an off-field session about, ‘This is the program now,’ and for the seniors, it was ‘What do you want the program to look like in 4 years?’ Suz stepped up as a leader in that aspect, being part of the heart of the team and uniting the underclassmen with the upperclassmen.”
Being a leader and helping lay the foundation of a new culture was no easy feat for the Pennridge seniors and returning players. Chookagian is the third head coach in three years for a program that has not had a winning season in more than a decade but saw a surprisingly high 48 girls come out for the team this year. While Eraydin was happy to answer the call to be a team captain, she couldn’t have expected what was to be asked of her on the field. Because while many of the team’s 48 players were not yet ready to log a ton of minutes at the varsity level, there was a player ready to step in at left midfielder. The problem with that – Eraydin plays left middie. But with the team needing help on the back line and knowing how experienced and versatile Eraydin was, Chookagian moved her to left back to help shore up the defense. “At first, she was a little bit apprehensive about it,” he said. “Over the season, you could see how she started feeling comfortable in that space. I loved her attitude to agree to play a new position and to work and get better at it.”
While Chookagian jokingly refers to Eraydin as a “ball magnet” during her time in the backfield, the three-year varsity player and two-year starter has the bruises to prove that she was just that. Eraydin sustained a ball to the forehead in one game and shattered her right thumb in another game in late September. She wore a splint on her thumb the rest of the season but said the injury didn’t affect her game or the way she held her stick. Eraydin didn’t only earn bandages and splints for her efforts, though. The Rams recognized her with the Fearless Defender Award at the end of the season. “Suz was not afraid to take a hit or make a stop,” Chookagian said. “For some reason, all the other teams really found a way to put the ball into her foot. She’d have people running into her and taking her out. A lot of players don’t want to do that, or once it starts happening, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ But Suz never complained. That’s the type of player you want on your team and the type of leader you want your younger kids to see.”
The Rams made their triumphant return to the PIAA District One tournament for the first time since 2019. It was a goal the team had set in those preseason talks, and though the 23rd-seeded Rams were dispatched 3-0 to 10th-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in the opening round, the experience was one that was both a culmination of the team’s hard work this season and, quite possibly, a taste of things to come.
While Eraydin does her best to be a leader on and off the athletic fields, she is also a prime example for the younger players that you can excel both on the athletic fields and in the classroom. The senior is among the top students at Pennridge High School, and her senior course load is packed with the likes of AP Calculus, AP Spanish, AP Government and Politics, and Honors Sociology. Eraydin is also a member of the school’s National Honor Society and the Sunshine Club. Eraydin doesn’t know exactly where she’ll be next year. She’s early in the process of applying to colleges and is leaving all options open in terms of size, location, and major. While she’d like to continue playing field hockey in college, she acknowledges that it will likely be at the club or intramural level.
To read Eraydin’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/suzan-eraydin-00122311
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Dec. 24, 2025)
Brendan Ryan’s story could read like every other story of a reserve who gets it right. And in many ways, it does. The Pennsbury senior averages only 3-5 minutes playing time a game, and while he’d love to see more, he doesn’t complain. According to his coach, he’s a positive addition to the team. Ryan is also an avid student of the game. “I look at his Hudl account and see how much he watches film,” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “He’s preparing like he’s a starter, and I think that just goes back to the kind of kid he is.” The fact that he sees limited action doesn’t factor into the equation for Ryan. “I like to be prepared personally,” he said. “I like to know what’s going to happen, who I will guard if I get in the game. I like to know what the other team is going to do because you can win by a couple points if you know the other team’s inbounds and things like that.”
When he entered high school, Ryan played for the ninth grade team, and the following year, he saw action with the JV team. As a junior, he was on the swing team, and this is where Ryan’s story differs from most. “I didn’t bring him up as a swing player to varsity because I was going to play him,” Emme said. “I was doing it because I needed to get the right guys on the bus. Guys that are going to bring something to the varsity team
that a 15th or 16th player aren’t going to do, which is be overly prepared, understand exactly what the game plan is, understand what we’re looking for in practice as we get ready to play opponents, and just be that guy at the end of the bench. He’s not the guy that’s going to be stomping his feet and doing cartwheels on the bench, but he’s going to be engaged, he’s going to talk to his teammates, he’s going to greet them when they come off with a coaching point or tip. He’s going to reaffirm all the things as coaches that we want, and that’s his greatest gift. It’s not that he’s going to ever lead us in scoring, but he’s going to be incredibly impactful in winning because of all the things he does off the floor.”
That’s high praise indeed for Ryan, who has his sights set on staying close to the game he loves as the manager of a large school basketball team. He has emailed coaches and programs and is interested in schools like South Carolina, UConn and Penn State, although he already has a position – if he chooses – at Virginia Commonwealth University. “There’s an interview process, and a lot of coaches said they’ll get back to me in spring or summer,” Ryan said. “But I went down to VCU, I met them, and they said I could do it there. It’s hard to say no to that.”
This year’s Pennsbury squad was 9-3 after 12 games and 5-0 in SOL play. Emme acknowledged the significance of having Ryan as part of this year’s success story. “Everything is about being unselfish, and he is the definition of being unselfish,” Emme said. “He’s a senior that plays 3-5 minutes, and I’ll never hear a peep about playing time. This is a kid that for four years has nothing but kept his head down, stayed focused and did all the other stuff. Now we try to reward him with minutes where we can, and he’s done a very nice job when he’s been on the floor being a connective player.”
From his earliest recollection, Ryan was spending time in the gym since his father, Sean Ryan, was the head coach at Friends Select and then Bishop McDevitt in the Philadelphia Catholic League. He is now an assistant coach under Frank Sciolla for the Pennsbury girls’ team, and perhaps no one better understands the value of a player like Ryan than Sciolla. “It’s impossible to succeed without a player like Brendan, and you simply will not have a championship level team without someone like him who is willing to sacrifice in the fashion that he does,” said the veteran coach, who has won his share of championships. “Brendan has maximized every physical tool that he has, and he augments his game with his intelligence. He serves as a consigliere for the younger players who are talented but at times have to deal with the ups and downs of emotions.”
An excellent student, Ryan is a member of the National Honor Society with plans to major in sports management or, if that major is unavailable, business. One thing is certain, Ryan plans to stay involved in basketball. “Brendan’s going to be part of a college basketball program in some managerial capacity,” Emme said. “I could see him being a coach one day just because of his intelligence because of how well he expresses the game and how he sees the game.”
To read Ryan’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/brendan-ryan-00122312
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