Softball
Favorite athlete: Mike Schmidt
Favorite team: University of Alabama softball
Favorite memory competing in sports: The atmosphere of games and wins at home with all of our friends, families and other sports teams there to support us.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My sophomore year, which was my first year on varsity, we were at one of our very first away games, and my coach told me that she was going to put me into the game. I was really surprised and admittedly very nervous, and I actually asked her, “Are you sure about that?” My coaches didn’t think it was funny at the time, and I was so embarrassed for asking, but we laugh about it now remembering how timid I was when I was first on varsity.
Music on iPod: John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Luke Bryan
Future plans: I hope to enjoy college at Kutztown University and start to find out what I love to do as a Communications Design major.
Words to live by: “Be all in or get out. There is no halfway.”
One goal before turning 30: I want to graduate college and then travel a little. Hopefully, I would begin to start my family and establish myself as a successful graphic designer.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m actually a Georgia peach! I was born in St. Mary’s, Georgia, where my dad was stationed in the Marines.
By Mary Jane Souder
Jessica Paley is a rare and special athlete.
How else could you explain the fact that coach Ellie White chose to name the Abington senior a captain even though she was not a varsity starter until her senior year.
“I have never named a non-starter a captain,” said White, who has been coaching for 21 years. “Jess didn’t really play much in 10th grade, and in 11th grade, she ran for me sometimes, but she’s such a good kid.
“You could look at her, and you just trust her. You trust her with the younger kids, you trust her with the team, so I decided to make her a captain. The kids look up to her, the players look up to her. She’s just a great all-around kid. She’s one of those kids everyone just wants to be around.”
Paley’s positive attitude is underscored by her response when she was moved up to varsity as a sophomore but saw limited playing time.
“Honestly, I did not like being on jayvee, so any opportunity I got to be on varsity – I was ready to go,” she said. “It didn’t matter to me that I didn’t get playing time.
“It probably killed my dad a little bit to see me sit on the bench, but I was just so happy to be there. It’s such a good team to be a part of. I told coach White – ‘Put me where you need me. If you need me to run, I’ll run. I don’t care.’ Other girls were complaining about not playing, but I really could have cared less.”
Pinch running was basically Paley’s role as a sophomore. Last season, she saw some playing time in the field late in the season when a teammate was injured, but her primary role was serving as a courtesy or pinch runner.
This year Paley is the starting first baseman, a spot she earned after considerable work in the offseason at open workouts with White on the high school field.
“I knew we were losing our first baseman, and I wanted to grab that spot because I wanted to be somewhere I knew I would be needed,” Paley said. “(Coach White) took care of the field all summer – it’s beautiful because she took such good care of it.
“We would go once a week every week in the summer for two hours. We worked on first base stuff all summer. That was my way to make sure I was good to go for the season. It was me and a bunch of girls. (Coach White) loves to do it. She’s great, she’s so dedicated.”
And it was White that Paley went to when she heard the devastating news that her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the start of her junior season.
“As soon as I found out, I went straight to her,” Paley said. “She was my soul sister, my confidant.
“She was really great. I could tell her anything. It was really stressful in the beginning because it was very shocking. My family and I were pretty devastated.”
The story has a happy ending – Paley’s mother is doing well, but recently, her father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It’s crazy because this week last year is when my mom was diagnosed,” Paley said. “It’s like one-two punches.
“There’s a good prognosis for him. It’s extremely treatable, and we’ve very hopeful.”
Softball has been a respite for Paley during difficult times.
“It takes the pressure off for a little while and have fun,” she said. “The girls knew but they wouldn’t talk about it, but they would always be there – ‘Hey Jess, we’re here for you if you need to talk.’
“They’re all just a really good group of girls, and it was really awesome to have them as a support system.”
Paley, according to her coach, has handled the tough times with class.
“You would never know anything was wrong,” White said. “Jess didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. She was strong, courageous and caring while trying to help our team in any way she could. She’s a hard-nosed, tough kid and never has an excuse for anything.
“She’s one of those players that isn’t the most talented on the team but makes up for it in so many ways. She is a great leader and an even better person.”
As a youngster, softball was not Paley’s sport of choice.
“I actually started off really into karate,” she said. “I did karate up until I was probably 12 and cheerleading before that.”
A black belt in karate, Paley became involved in softball when she was in middle school.
“A bunch of my friends started playing, so that’s when I got into it.”
Paley played travel for the Blazers out of Southampton for several years and also was involved in rec ball out of Ardsley-North Hills.
Her journey from rec ball to captain of an Abington squad that is off to a good start this season has been anything but typical, and coming as no surprise, she takes her role of captain very seriously.
“We didn’t have captains two years ago, and last year was the first time she had named one in a couple of years,” Paley said. “Last year we all clicked better, so I feel I have that responsibility to keep everyone together and on the same page.
“If girls are slacking or not on the same page as everyone else, we never have as much fun. You have to be able to read each other. I feel like I have the responsibility to make sure everyone is in it together. That’s most important to me.”
Off the softball diamond, Paley, who is in the top 10 percent of her class, is a member of the National Honor Society. She is enrolled in several AP classes, including AP Studio Art where she is able to nurture her passion for art.
“I love to paint, I love to draw with pencils,” Paley said. “I have always been good at it.
“The past couple of years at the high school – the program has been really strong, and they’ve given me lots of opportunities to express myself through art more than I have before.”
Recently, one of Paley’s acrylic paintings was part of the PSEA Art Exhibit at Arcadia University.
“That was really exciting because it had to be juried in, and it got accepted, so it was pretty cool to have that happen,” she said.
It is her love of art that has inspired Paley to pursue a possible career in graphic design. This fall she plans to attend Kutztown University where she will major in communications design.
“I’m actually not even into graphic design right now,” she said. “I just think that’s something I’d be interested in as a career choice because I can’t see myself as a painter or a sculptor as a living,” she said.
As a member of NHS, Paley has done community service at her elementary school, Overlook Elementary.
“I also did my senior service project there – I taught an art class with another one of our students,” she said.
Wherever she may end up in the future, Paley – according to her coach – will be a positive presence.
“She always took being part of the team seriously, so it was almost a natural thing to name her a captain because I knew she was what I wanted for Abington softball,” White said. “She will represent Abington softball in the best possible way.
“She is the type of daughter every mother wishes they had. This is my 21st season coaching, and I have yet to come across a person like Jess. She is the complete package.”
