PHOENIX — We have encountered some truly awesome people while ‘On the Road’ for Friday Night Fever’s 33rd season this past fall. But one trip in particular brought us to a great young man out in Surprise at Valley Vista High School.
The Monsoon have a bunch of multi-talented athletes on their football roster, and over the Christmas holidays we caught up with one member of the team, who is truly a Renaissance man in his own right.
“For me, singing and playing sports is, like, my free space,” Valley Vista Junior Stephen Neal said. “(It’s) somewhere where I can just relax and be myself.”
Neal is 16 going on 17, but his voice has been taking him all around the world as a member of the Phoenix Boys Choir for the last seven years.
“I’ve been to France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Czech Republic, (and) Poland,” Neal said. “We’re going to the (United Kingdom), Scotland, and Ireland, so that will be a great thing to add.”
Not only is Neal a talented tenor, but he also plays baseball, where he is an outfielder, and football, where he is a quarterback, for the Monsoon.
“They’ll have me sing the National Anthem and then go out there and play center field,” Neal said.
All this while maintaining a 3.958 GPA.
“This young man is masterfully doing athletics and arts simultaneously,” Phoenix Boys Choir director Herbert Washington said. “And a commitment to that level of excellence is very difficult for a young man of his age.”
Neal said he started singing at the age of 9.
“I was singing at a funeral for my uncle and somebody said, ‘he has a really good voice and potential,’” Neal said. “That’s when my dad got me in the choir and I was singing from there.”
Neal’s passion for performing was on full display during the Phoenix Boys Choir holiday concert series in December as a featured soloist.
“In this day in age to be able to play football, and baseball and be a soloist in the choir is just very unique,” Joshua ‘Jelli’ Ellison, one of Stephen’s baseball coaches, said.
And Neal isn’t bothered by having a full schedule throughout the year.
“I don’t really have an offseason,” Neal said. “Either you’re playing the sport or you’re performing or you’re training for that upcoming season, so, no days off, as they say, for me.”
Neal is drawn to the bright lights of the playing field and the stage.
“There’s always a little bit of jitters before, but once I really got on stage and started singing, all that went away and I just let the music speak for itself,” Neal said. “Like my dad always says, once the lights come on you have to perform, so that’s what I try to do.”
And those around him said he’s a young Renaissance man with the crescendo of his life still to come.
“I just want someone to sign him to a record, someone sign him to the field because he is such a team player, he is humble, very talented, but I love his humbleness,” Washington said. “When you talk with him, (he’s) very poised, he is very professional. People are blown away when they have a conversation with him. He’s going to be successful in any avenue he chooses in this lifetime.”
“I always want my guys to achieve whatever their hearts desire,” Ellison said. “It would be (Stephen) playing Division I baseball, (and) him being able to continue his education to the profession of his choice. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s our next Kevin Johnson of Phoenix, you know, a mayor or governor of a city, wherever he chooses to live,” Ellison said.
Johnson played for the Phoenix Suns from 1988-2000 (with a 1-year retirement from 1998-99). In 2008, Johnson was elected as the mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and served in that role for two terms before leaving office in 2016. Johnson is a 3-time NBA All-Star and his #7 is retired by the Suns.
“For those young kids out there who feel like they have to decide on what they do or can only pick one thing, just know that if you truly want to do all the things that you can, do it,” Neal said. “It will take time and it will take motivation, but you can get it done and you can accomplish it. So, just don’t give up.”
Neal said he doesn’t plan on deciding between the arts and sports anytime soon and will hopefully do both in college. Neal added he doesn’t have any offers yet, but USC and ASU are his top schools.
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