When talking about athletic excellence in Malden High School, one name comes to many people’s minds: Peyton Lightbody. Multiple-time all-star in field hockey at goalie and pitcher in softball, two sports she’s been playing before high school and through all four years in high school; this year she has also picked up indoor track this year to add to the mix. Now this is just a brief overview of Lightbody’s athletic career, but the more you look into her, you see how much of a lasting impact Lightbody will leave for not only being an amazing player but for also being an amazing teammate and leader.
Lightbody started playing sports at a very young age as her father, Michael Lightbody, always had her around them. “She was at field hockey games when I was coaching and tagged along when her brother started playing baseball. She’s just always wanted to get in and do all those things. So when it was time for her to play and was old enough we just let her play.”
Playing sports at such a young age taught Lightbody a lot and allowed her to meet new people. “Being a student-athlete growing up has taught me how to be who I am. My teammates through the years have been some of my best friends and I think if I never did sports I would be a whole different person.” One of the people she’s met along the way has been her close friend, junior Jayden Caplis.
“I first met Peyton my freshmen year playing softball with her on the varsity team and as a teammate she was a happy and positive player. She was always there to cheer you up no matter what,” Caplis said.
A majority of Lightbody’s maturity on the field has to do with the exceptional leadership skills that have been instilled in her since the start. “That’s something that you always want to just teach kids anyway. A lot of it is just so that they’re self-advocates and sometimes you try to tell them to try to show them to take charge and sometimes you know, you want them to be able to make their own decisions, and that’s how I think they go into leadership roles,” Lightbody continued talking about his daughter by complimenting how she’s, “a very competitive person, so it seems to come naturally to her wanting to always do well. She just always tries to drive those folks around her to meet those expectations as well.”
Lightbody echoed this sentiment by saying how she always enjoyed being a leader since she was little. “I loved being a leader, when I was younger I was told I was always told to be a leader so when I got to high school it was just second nature for me to lead people and I loved being the person that my team could look up to and ask questions and just someone that is always there for me.”
Caplis always felt the reach of Lightbody’s leadership and noted how “Peyton affects me both on and off the field every day, especially being friends with her for three years now. Her personality definitely rubbed off on me in a positive way where I can always have personal conversations with her as well as her being able to confide in me. She is a person who will always check up on you and make sure you’re okay even if she’s down herself. Her jokes have definitely made my high school day much easier even seeing her friendly smile.”
Lightbody attributes a heavy amount of her success to her father for “always pushing me to go to pitching lessons or to go hit or just anything. He always pushed me and told me not to get comfortable and always do better.” He wanted to make sure that his daughter would have a big impact on the teams she played on which led her to pick the harder positions to play. “I’ve always picked the roles like goalie and pitcher that usually other people don’t tend to play, but I feel that I worked hard and did my best to take on those roles.”
After hearing what his daughter had to say about him, Lightbody was flattered and commented on how “I’m so proud that she always applied herself to all her passions and found all the things she wanted to do.”
When talking about athletic excellence in Malden High School, one name comes to most people’s minds: Peyton Lightbody. Multiple-time All-star in field hockey at goalie and pitcher in softball, two sports she’s been playing before high school and through all four years in high school, and picked up indoor track this year to add to the mix. Now this is just a brief overview of Lightbody’s athletic career, but the more you look into her, you see how much of a lasting impact Lightbody will leave for not only being an amazing player but for also being an amazing teammate and leader.
Lightbody started playing sports at a very young age as her father, Michael Lightbody, always had her around them. “She was at field hockey games when I was coaching and tagged along when her brother started playing baseball. She's just always wanted to get in and do all those things. So when it was time for her to play and was old enough we just let her play.”
Playing sports at such a young age taught Lightbody a lot and allowed her to meet new people. “being a student-athlete growing up it has taught me how to be who I am, my teammates through the years have been some of my best friends and I think if I never did sports I would be a whole different person.” One of the people she’s met along the way has been her close friend, junior Jayden Caplis. “I first met Peyton my freshmen year playing softball with her on the varsity team and as a teammate was a happy and positive player. She was always there to cheer you up no matter what.”
A majority of Lightbody’s maturity on the field has to do with the exceptional leadership skills that have been instilled in her since the start. “That's something that you always want to just teach kids anyway. it a lot of it is just so that they're self-advocates and sometimes you try to tell them to try to show them to take charge and sometimes you know, you want them to be able to make their own decisions, and that's how I think they go into leadership roles.” Lightbody continued talking about his daughter by complimenting how she’s, “a very competitive person, so it seems to come naturally to her wanting to always do well. She just always tries to drive those folks around her to meet those expectations as well.”
Lightbody echoed this sentiment by saying how she always enjoyed being a leader since she was little. “I loved being a leader, when I was younger I was told I was always told to be a leader so when I got to high school it was just second nature for me to lead people and I loved being the person that my team could look up to and ask questions and just someone that is always there for me”
Caplis always felt the reach of Lightbody’s leadership and noted how “Peyton affects me both on and off the field every day especially being friends with her for three years now. Her personality definitely rubbed off on me in a positive way where I can always have personal conversations with her as well as her being able to confide in me. She is a person who will always check up on you and make sure you’re okay even if she’s down herself. her jokes have definitely made my high school day much easier even seeing her friendly smile.”
Lightbody attributes a heavy amount of her success to her father for “always pushing me to go to pitching lessons or to go hit or just anything. He always pushed me and told me not to get comfortable and always do better.” He wanted to make sure that his daughter would have a big impact on the teams she played on which led her to pick the harder positions to play. “I've always picked the roles like goalie and pitcher that usually other people don't tend to play, but I feel that I worked hard and did my best to take on those roles.”
After hearing what his daughter had to say about him, Lightbody was flattered and commented on how “I’m so proud that she always applied herself to all her passions and found all the things she wanted to do.”
Going back to her high school career, Lightbody feels that it’s important that high school sports exist.
