The end of the 2010s is upon us. (Yes, we see your decade pedantry, and we don’t need it today.)
A lot of Delco sports have happened since the calendar flipped from 2009 to 2010. You could catch an NBA game featuring Delco natives Derrick Jones and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, both All-Delcos this decade. The 2020 Olympics are nearing, where Delco natives like Shane Ryan and Darrell Hill are poised to make return appearances on the world’s biggest athletic stage after competing in Rio four years ago. Who knows which stars of the 2010s could end up joining them? The number of NCAA championships won by Delco players in the last decade is, frankly, incalculable, so take our word when we say it’s a lot.
One of the projects that marked our 2019 was the All-Delco Database, an accounting of some 80 years of accomplishments by players we’ve deemed All-Delcos in 20-plus sports. (The original database has been updated with the fall 2019 All-Delcos, bringing the number of honorees over the 8,000 mark.) That collection of data from the last 10 (and a half) academic years offers a window into what a decade it’s been.
For instance, Shane Ryan is one of six athletes in the last decade to be named an Athlete of the Year on three occasions. Three of those six are swimmers, with Ryan and Baturka joined by Haverford School’s Alex Boratto.
Haverford School also produced a three-time wrestler of the year in L.J. Barlow – and the decade ends with Sun Valley’s Hunter Catka, who has been named Wrestler of the Year twice, vying for a third nod as a senior. The other two are track stars: Grace Forbes of Strath Haven, a two-time track AOTY and once the cross country runner of the year, and Olivia Arizin, twice winning in cross country and once in track.
READ: Introducing the All-Delco Database
The race for the schools with the most All-Delcos since the start of the 2009-10 academic year was decided by a scant one spot: Garnet Valley had 211 athletes named All-Delco in the decade, one more than Episcopal Academy, in its first full decade within county limits.
Take a look through the other schools’ All-Delco outputs this decade at the view below:
Interestingly, neither of those most prolific providers of All-Delcos created the largest number of players of the year this decade. EA was third, with Garnet Valley tied for fifth. Instead, the honor went to Haverford School, with 27 POYs.
The driving force for the Fords was their swimming team, garnering six athlete of the year nods, followed by five from its vaunted lacrosse program. It’s not a bad haul considering that Haverford’s girls sports have, well, lagged significantly behind.
Below, you can scroll through the All-Delco database, sorted to show all the honorees in the last decade. As a special visualization, take a look at how the proportion of All-Delcos have morphed by school by year with the pie chart animation (use the arrows at bottom right to toggle between years). The map of All-Delco honorees is also updated for the last decade.
