Tech’s Holcombe balances multiple commitments

Being a team captain can be a challenge under the best of circumstances, but at a vocational school, where work commitments often collide with game and practice schedules, the task can be even more daunting.The job requires someone who can keep all the balls up in the air and pass that juggling skill along to her teammates. Lynn Tech girls soccer captain Shaniqua Holcombe fits the bill nicely.Holcombe, who is heading into her senior year, plays soccer, runs track, works a part-time job in the off-season and stays on top of her schoolwork.”She’s a great example of somebody who has a lot of other commitments (and still manages to play a sport),” Tech coach Kerri Altieri said. “She’s in the National Honor Society. She gets her homework done. She’s first in her class. She’s proof that if you manage your time and kind of stick with things, you’ll succeed. Having her as a captain is really valuable for us.”Holcombe, who played in the Lynn Youth Soccer intramural program when she was younger, started out playing defense for Tech. Last year, Altieri tried her at midfield.”She was fantastic. She did really, really well,” Altieri said.Although the Tech girls soccer team hasn’t experienced much success in terms of wins over the years, that doesn’t seem to deter Holcombe.”It’s fun. It’s relaxing to go out there and play,” Holcombe said, adding that although she is “not that great” at track, she got into it to stay in shape and help out friends, because the numbers in the program are low.”It’s fun just being with friends and competing,” she said.Next year, Holcombe will be competing in the classroom on a much bigger stage when she heads off to college. Although she started Tech thinking she’d like to get into culinary arts, she shifted gears after her freshman year and switched to the marketing shop. When administrators decided at the end of last year to close out the marketing program, she had to adjust again, this time to computer tech. Her college plans, however, could take her in an entirely different direction because what she really wants to do is study forensic science.Holcombe has already started looking at colleges, including Suffolk and Northeastern. She’s also interested in UMass-Amherst, Bay Path and Towson University in Maryland, which tops her list right now.For the second year in a row, she spent six weeks at an Upward Bound program run out of the University of Maine at Orono. In the mornings, she and her classmates, including fellow Tech students Nikki Corzo and Adrianna Rodriguez, would focus on college prep academics and other college-related issues. The afternoons and weekends, however, provided the opportunity to explore the outdoors through activities like camping, whitewater rafting and canoeing.Holcombe didn’t slow down when she returned home. For the fourth year in a row, she’s learning about marine biology by taking part in the Coastal Ocean Science Academy run out of the Northeastern University Marine Science Center in Nahant. She found out about the program through her involvement in Girls Inc. She also works at Friendly’s in Saugus part-time.So what’s her secret?”During soccer, I focus on soccer. During the school day, I focus on schoolwork and on weekends I focus on work,” Holcombe said.”She’s continuously involved,” Altieri said. “She’s always looking to see what’s out there. She’s a go-getter, she really is.”