By Alex Frazier
Highlighting…Kayla Joseph
Quakertown’s Kayla Joseph knows how to be a team player.
After all, she’s grown up with 13 siblings.
The Joseph’s could field their own soccer team and have enough left over for three subs.
That’s if you don’t count Steve Joseph, who has coached all of the children.
The siblings range in age from Richard, who is 30, to 10-year old Samantha. And there’s not a single set of twins in the group.
“People wonder how we do it,” said Mellinda, who is about midway in the succession, “but it just seems normal for us. Not all of us lived in the house at the same time. The most that lived in the house at once may have been 11 or 12; right now there’s 10 that live at home.”
It all gets rather confusing even for the children. Brianna, a sophomore at Quakertown, admitted she sometimes stumbles over her siblings’ names.
“Most of the time I get names mixed up,” she said.
And birthdays?
Forget it.
It was actually Mellinda, a 2004 Quakertown graduate, who got the ball rolling, so to speak, for the girls.
She played four years under Mike Freed, contributing six goals and seven assists, mostly at midfield.
She went on to East Stroudsburg and this year returned to Quakertown as a first-year science teacher at the freshman center and as a volunteer assistant coach.
“I didn’t know that I wanted to teach until ninth grade,” she said. “I had earth and space science, which I teach now, and I loved it, and I knew from then that was what I wanted to do. My goal was to come back and teach, and it worked out.”
She already knew many of the girls on the team because she had coached them as a senior project when they were on a U-13 club team.
“I always definitely wanted to coach,” said Mellinda. “I’m really happy because I hurt me knee twice in high school so I couldn’t play after I graduated, but I’m glad I can still be a part of it.”
Among the girls she is coaching are sisters Kayla and Brianna.
“My two sisters and I get along really well,” said Mellinda. “It’s really fun.”
“It’s very interesting to see days when, coming into practice, there’s the three of them walking in together,” said Freed. “They seem to have a very good rapport.”
Brianna, who has been playing soccer since she was five, tore her ACL in August playing for the Quakertown Soccer Club and has to sit out the season.
“I hyper-extended my knee,” she said. “The girl was coming at me and I tried to stop my body really fast and it kept going forward.”
She had surgery in November and shed her big brace in January.
But she’s staying involved, serving as manager and is in charge of stats.
“It’s really hard,” she said, “but I’m still part of the team. It makes me want to be out there more.”
Kayla, the only four-year starter on the team, is finishing her last season at Quakertown. A forward, she has three goals so far in five games this season for a total of 17 career goals and 13 assists.
“She’s our most dangerous player,” said Freed. “She’s the main offensive threat. We know teams are going to key on her.”
Kayla has been all-league for three years, last year making the first team.
This year she was elected captain, which she likes.
“The girls don’t act differently towards me,” she said. “I pretty much encourage all the seniors to step up.”
Coming from such a large family also helps her in dealing with different personalities on the team.
“It helps me to tolerate everyone and control my stress,” she said.
“We’ve noticed some differences in her approach now that she’s a captain,” said Freed.
Next year, Kayla will be going to Lackawanna College in Scranton on a full scholarship. It is a junior college with a Division One program. Like Mellinda, she is also interested in science, but is leaning more toward the medical field.
“A lot of it had to do with money, but a two-year school will help me settle in for the whole college atmosphere,” she said.
Naturally, Mellinda serves as a role model for her younger sisters.
“She was the first person to go to college right after high school,” said Kayla. “Just her doing that helped me set a goal for myself.”
Mellinda also gives Kayla advice in soccer.
“She’s very competitive and not everyone in high school has the same drive, so sometimes I have to talk to her about that,” said Mellinda. “It’s not the premier team (Bucks-Mont United) she plays for where everybody puts in 110 percent all the time. She gets very frustrated with that.”
Besides soccer, Kayla is also heavily into dance, which she considers a second sport. It’s not unusual for her to leave soccer practice and go to a three-hour dance class. She started dancing about the same time she started soccer at age six.
“I’ve taken every class except point,” she said, adding that she likes contemporary dance the best.
For the past four years, she’s been teaching seven classes a week.
In June there is a recital and after that a competition.
She doesn’t plan on giving it up just because she’s going to college.
“When I go to Lackawanna, I’m going to see if they have a studio and take a class,” she said. “I’ve been doing it for so long, I can’t give it up just yet.”
Dancing has been helpful to her in soccer as well.
“I guess I’m a graceful soccer player,” she quipped. “It definitely helps with your balance.”
And, besides excelling in sports, Kayla is also a straight-A student.
Freed is happy to have a family like the Joseph’s on his side. After all, with the exception of one year between Mellinda’s graduation and Kayla’s freshman year, he will have a Joseph on his team for 15 consecutive years.
In two years when Brianna is a senior, Jenna will be a freshman.
And two years later, Sammy will join her.
Four years later, Freed may be looking toward the next generation of Josephs.
They’ve got attitude – Attitude.
A team can have some of the best technical players in the league, but if they don’t get along and can’t play together, they aren’t going far.
Like Central Bucks South last year.
South finished third in the National Conference a year ago, but the fifth-seeded Titans were knocked out of the playoffs by No. 12 Souderton in the first round.
This year brings a new season and a new attitude, which coach Joe Bocklet says is making all the difference.
“What’s held us back in the past is the cohesiveness of the team,” he said. “This year the girls respect each other. They want to win; they’re determined to win. They train hard; they train with focus. It’s a lot easier to get things done.”
Besides attitude, it also helps to have talent, which the Titans are long on.
Six of eight seniors have accepted scholarships to play sports at the collegiate level - Brittany Middleton (midfield), Julie Goldsworthy (forward/midfield), Sarah Hassan (right halfback), Ashley McKenna (forward), Meredith Fox (midfield) and Sam Wood (goalie). Hasson will be playing field hockey. Juniors Casey Walsh and Melanie Keer also have their sights set on playing in college.
“Compared to the last four years, there’re a lot of girls that are going to continue on to the next level,” said Bocklet, “so they’re real intelligent about the game, very athletic and smart girls.”
Bocklet also noted the strong play of sophomores Molly Grove (forward), Ashley Saylor (left defender) and Lauren Hensel (right defender) as well as junior sweeper Melanie Keer.
“She’s been phenomenal,” he said of Keer. “She has to be the fastest girl in the league.
“That group right there is important to our success this year. But overall, from top to bottom, I’m lucky to have the talent. I’m fortunate the club teams are doing a nice job with the girls that are coming. Without the clubs we probably wouldn’t be as successful as we are.”
Right now the Titans are 4-0 with key wins over Neshaminy, Hatboro, Council Rock North and South.
“It’s still early to tell,” said Bocklet. “In any of the last three years we had a chance. Of all those years, this year I’m the most confident that we can go very far.”
Even when this year’s group of seniors graduates, Bocklet believes the program will flourish, maybe even be the next C.B. West.
“It’s really building into a very strong program,” he said. “Hopefully we can have the success they (West) have had. I have a nice mix of different classes. We’re set to keep the ball rolling from year to year.”
Ulrick falls, but not to worry – Council Rock South sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Ulrick tore her ACL in the Hawks’ game against North Penn. Ironically, it was right after the team voted her underclass captain.
“It was a tremendous blow to the team,” said South coach Tim Keddie. “She’s a fantastic goalie. She’s been an integral member of this team for two years. She’s that good of a player that she can be a force on the field as well as in net.”
“She was by far the best goalkeeper I’ve seen in a while,” said C.B. South coach Joe Bocklet.
The injury, ironically, came when she was playing on the field rather than in goal. On a seemingly innocuous play, Ulrick turned to chase a ball that flew over her head and tore the ligament, which apparently was partially torn when she began the season.
“It was just one of those unfortunate things,” said Keddie. “There was nothing spectacular about the play. There was no hard foul.”
Fortunately for Keddie, his goalie pool is deep and talented. And that’s not to diminish the gravity of Ulrick’s untimely injury.
“I feel for her,” he said. “She’s a leader on the team and she’s a phenomenal soccer player.”
A six-year professional goalkeeper himself, Keddie not only trains his keepers but is also a good judge of talent.
Replacing Ulrick in goal is Jess Levy, a junior, who has already orally committed to the University of Delaware.
“I’m replacing a very, very, very good goalkeeper with a very, very, very good goalkeeper,” said Keddie. “Unfortunately it comes as the result of someone’s injury.”
Behind Levy is sophomore Lola Bonomo, whose sister Gina was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in goals against and save percentage at Boston College.
Junior Jackie Webber, who is listed as a forward, is also a goalkeeper, and there are also two freshmen. One, Liz Egan also tore her ACL before the season began, and Sam Lawson plays in goal for the jayvee and comes up to the varsity to play on the field.
Around the league – The league is heating up. William Tennent sits atop the National Conference, undefeated at 4-0. But the Panthers face a huge test Wednesday when they travel to undefeated Neshaminy (3-0-1), which has a tie against Council Rock South. The Golden Hawks are also unbeaten in league play.
In the Continental Conference, Pennridge holds down the top spot by virtue of games played. A 2-1 win over Souderton Monday gave the Lady Rams a 4-1 record in the conference, while C. B. South remains at 3-0. And don’t forget C.B. West. The Bucks’ lone loss came against Pennridge.
Upper Dublin should cruise through the American Conference. The Flying Cardinals are now 4-0, but Plymouth Whitemarsh and Upper Merion, which are only a game behind at 3-1 are surprising some people and will probably duke it out for second place, which is not to count Wissahickon (3-2) out of that mix.
Top Five SOL
1. Central Bucks South
2. William Tennent
3. Neshaminy
4. Pennridge
5. Council Rock South
PSCA / ANGELO'S SOCCER CORNER POLL
Week of April 12
Teams are ranked using input from coaches around the state and compiled by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. The number in parenthesis is the district the team competes in. Honorable mentions are listed alphabetically.
Class AAA
1. Hershey (3) previous rank 1
2. Central Bucks South (1) 2
3. Penn Manor (3) 4
4. Cumberland Valley (3) 5
5. Wilson (3) 6
6. Emmaus (11) 7
7. Red Land (3) 8
8. Manheim Township (3) HM
9. Pennridge (1) 9
10. Neshaminy (1) 10
Honorable Mention: Council Rock South (1), Hempfield (3), Nazareth (11), North Penn (1), William Tennent (1).
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