TOWAMENCIN – Over the past 13 years, North Penn School District has brought senior Landry Holt to new friends, experiences, and memories. Whether she is dominating the soccer turf with her closest friends or being crowned 2020 Homecoming Queen, Holt has valued her time at North Penn and has accepted her newfound royalty with grace and humility. 

Growing up, sports were always a constant in Holt’s life. Always having a sporting event to go to on the weekends, she has always enjoyed being active. However, even at a young age, she tended to lean more towards soccer in particular.

“I was 5 years old when I started playing soccer. My parents decided to put me into all different sports to see what I liked as a kid and soccer was something that I enjoyed. I decided to keep playing because It was something I discovered I was naturally good at; and after that, I decided to start playing at more competitive levels,” Holt said.

Throughout her time in middle school, Holt not only participated on the co-ed soccer team, but she was also involved in many other activities at Pennbrook. Not wanting to limit herself to just soccer, Holt decided to dip her toes into a few other sports as well.

“I played basketball up until 9th grade, and it was something that I really enjoyed. I decided to play lacrosse for the first time in the Spring of my freshman year, and I had a lot of fun playing it. I really liked playing those sports, but I decided to not play in high school so I could devote 100% of my attention to soccer,” Holt explained.

She has always thought of herself as a very charismatic leader on and off the field, and has always held herself to a high standard in that regard. 

“My coaches taught me at a young age that whoever worked the hardest and wanted it the most, was going to succeed. My coach when I was younger, Brian Hearn, was really important in teaching me what it means to work harder than everyone else, and that is something that has always stuck with me. My High school coaches now, Coach Rio and Coach Klemmer, have also left a big impact on the type of person I am as well,” Holt said.

Holt’s leadership has always been one of her strongest qualities on the soccer field, and her coaches and teammates have acknowledged that by voting her as Co-Captain of the soccer team for her senior season. After being a part of North Penn soccer for the past 4 years and being on the varsity team for 3 of them, Holt feels she has seen and knows exactly what it looks to be an influential leader.

“I have always looked up to the past captains of the North Penn teams before me, so I know that I have some big shoes to fill. I am naturally outgoing, but they have shown me the right way to lead by example and as a team,” Holt explained.

The players are not the only ones who have taken notice of Holt’s leadership this season. Head coach Mike Rio has also been very impressed with the senior’s ambition.

“I have been able to coach Landry for the past 4 years here and just her growth as a player and a person, has really shown. Her technique on the field has definitely gotten better and skill wise she is one of our best players, and we are very confident in her abilities. As far as her leadership goes, she’s got so much energy, she is so energetic, and she can be so positive and motivational to especially the younger players. It is just good to be able to have that type of player on your team who is a strong vocal leader but also works really hard on the field. “Rio said.

With the end of her final season nearing, Holt will always be fond and reminisce on the great times and friendships she has made as a part of North Penn soccer.

“My absolute favorite thing about North Penn Soccer is that we are more than just a team. Every year our roster changes, but we never lose the feeling of belonging. Each season brings new excitement, memories, and friendships, and this program is by far my favorite part of high school, and I will always remember my times on the team,” Holt added.

With the daunting possibility of her soccer career slowly coming to an end, she has often thought about playing in college. However she holds her academic future to a high standard and as realizes that sometimes you have to pick one or the other.

“For a long time I wanted to play soccer in college, and I would still love to now, but I have set high standards for myself academically that I know that I need to put first before soccer. I want to attend a big division one school that really challenges me, but I would still love to continue to play competitive club soccer in college,” Holt said.

The women’s soccer program is not the only thing that Holt is involved in at North Penn. Being involved in a variety of different clubs and giving herself options on things to do is always going to be something that Holt takes very seriously.

“I am very involved in the Salsa and the Astronomy Club at North Penn, and I also will be running for the unified track team again this spring. Outside of school, I work at Rita’s water ice and I play club soccer for FC Delco. When I am not busy, I love to sit in the student section and cheer as loud as I can for all of the other North Penn Sporting events, especially the Boy’s soccer games. It is really upsetting to get that taken away this year, especially because It is my last year to go to the games,” Holt explained.

Being very involved in the North Penn community might have been one of the factors that got Holt nominated to the 2020 Homecoming Court. Surprised but honored by her nomination, Holt was very pleased with the way North Penn went about holding the ceremony considering the circumstances. 

“I think that North Penn approached Homecoming very cautiously, which is good. All of us on the court agreed that we were grateful to even be able to come to school for a ceremony and not sit at home watching on a google meet. Mr. Berger and Ms. Young worked really hard to get it to be as normal as possible and I think we all really appreciated any sense of normalcy,” Holt said.

Grateful for the experience, Holt was extremely pleased with the way the night unfolded.

“Overall, Homecoming was so fun for me, it was really cool to make new friends on the court and to be involved in the actual ceremony after watching it for years. It obviously couldn’t play out how we imagined, but what the school set up was a really fun and safe supplement. I did not expect to win at all. Everyone on the court was also really involved in activities and with the school, so I knew that they would have tons of people to vote for them too. I was very surprised that I won. ” Holt said.

Holt approached homecoming as she does with everything else: with an open mind. Just like on the soccer field, homecoming was not all about winning for Holt, but more about the memories and everlasting bonds and experiences she has made along the way.