Montclair Kimberley Academy’s Brodie Snyder, No. 12, of South Orange, stiff-arms Immaculate Conception’s Jordan Jenkins.
SOUTH ORANGE – South Orange resident Brodie Snyder, a senior wide receiver and defensive back at Montclair Kimberley Academy, was recently honored as the Cougars’ Essex–Hudson Scholar–Athlete during the annual dinner held by the Essex–Hudson Counties Chapter of the National Foundation and College Hall of Fame at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.
“Congratulations to MKA varsity football co-captain Brodie Snyder ’22, the recipient of the Essex and Hudson County Chapter of the National Football Foundation ‘Scholar-Athlete Award’ for his academic excellence, leadership and citizenship as well as his play on the field,” said MKA Athletic Director Todd Smith. “He is a special young man who we are very proud of here at MKA.”
Snyder, a football and lacrosse standout at MKA who will attend Tufts University in the fall where he will study engineering, was thrilled to be part of the Essex–Hudson football scholar-athlete dinner festivities.
“It was really cool to be honored with the Essex–Hudson Football Scholar–Athlete award,” said the Cougar senior standout. “Being a student-athlete is a multi-faceted experience that requires a lot of time and commitment, so it was nice to be honored for this hard work.
“MKA is a rigorous school and it is an impressive task for all student-athletes to balance both academics and athletics, but being able to do so is what sets apart and develops our student-athletes.
“Receiving the award and attending the banquet also gave me an opportunity to meet some amazing student-athletes around the area, and additionally to be able to meet some of the kids from schools like Newark Academy and Montclair Immaculate that I’ve been playing against these past four years for the first time.”
It wasn’t an easy senior football season for Snyder, who had to withstand an early-season injury that sidelined him for part of the fall campaign, but did not stop him from staying with the team each day and eventually returning to action on the field in late October while helping the Cougars split their final four games to finish a respectable 4-6 on the year.
“It was great to be able to have Brodie as our Scholar–Athlete award winner as he did an excellent job in the classroom, on the field, and as a leader and captain for our team this past season,” said MKA head football coach Anthony Rea, who also attended the Essex–Hudson Scholar–Athlete dinner. “He was a great representative of the resilience of our team this year. He was injured in our season opener and it was possible he was not going to be able to return to play again during the season. However, Brodie was at every practice and meeting and continued to lead the team even while injured.
“He was able to surprise everyone by returning from his injury incredibly quickly and provided us a spark down the stretch of the season as we had key victories over Greenwich Country (Conn.) (27-20, Oct. 23) and Palisades Park (26-12, Nov. 6) and made the MIFL league playoffs.”
Photos Courtesy of Gene Nann
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