NY1 selects Tigers’ Hom as Scholar Athlete  

“She checks off all the right boxes,” said Fort Hamilton High School flag football coach Lynn Beraldsen upon learning that her senior quarterback Abby Hom just earned Spectrum News NY1’s Scholar Athlete of the Week Award. “Abby is a two-sport athlete, an honor student and the senior class president; and she even bakes cookies for the team as well.”

Hom said that after her freshman year she finally found herself when she embraced teachers and fellow students as her high school family.

Beginning in her freshman year, Hom played two years of JV basketball and finished as a four-year member of the swimming team and the flag football team. This year she particularly shined in flag football, earning the Yankees’ Pinstripe Bowl Award as one of the top players in the PSAL. Playing quarterback for the first time, Hom threw 16 touchdown passes and scored three times herself during the team’s 10-game regular season.

Besides her athletic ability, Hom gets around the whole school as one of its yearbook photographers to shoot school events as well as sports. As class president, Hom sees her job as helping to plan successful events for all students to be welcomed and to be included.

When asked by Principal Kaye Houlihan what was the most important lesson that she learned at Fort Hamilton, Hom said, “I learned how to keep my life balanced with sports, activities and school work and to stay off my phone. I kept my priorities straight and showed up for others.”

“Good grades set you up for a better future,” said the Bay Ridge resident.

As a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.9 GPA, Hom will be entering St. Joseph’s University in the fall on a nursing scholarship. In addition to her studies, Hom will also continue to play flag football for Brooklyn’s St. Joseph Bears. 

According to Christine Russo, the school’s coordinator of student activities, “Abigail Hom is a unicorn. She is extremely rare. When you meet her for the first time you are fascinated by her many talents. Not only is she the Student Organization president but she is the captain of the swim and flag football teams. She uses her passion for photography to capture sports and school events, highlighting them in the yearbook and on Fort’s social media. She is in the Leadership Program, volunteers both in school and outside in the local community, and she is a member of the National Honor Society.”

On a personal note, Russo concluded, “Abigail does it all and then some. The most beautiful part about her is that she flies under the radar and doesn’t want to take credit for what she does unless everyone else is included. She is kind, compassionate and silly, and has a heart of gold. She also has the ‘The Eye of the Tiger’ and is driven and hardworking, and has grit to get the job done. She is a rarity and Fort Hamilton High School is a better place because of her.”