Soccer, Basketball
Favorite athlete: Tie between Chase Utley and Tom Brady
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning any overtime game because everyone on the team is so excited and pumped up, and it’s a great feeling to come out on top in close games.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was younger, I always wanted to wear sunglasses in goal because the sun hurt my eyes, but as I got older, the referees wouldn’t let me anymore.
Music on iPod: Everything from country to rock to hip hop, but not much rap.
Future plans: Attend college and study abroad
Words to live by: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
One goal before turning 30: Have a family and a job that I love.
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to collect postcards.
Call her The Voice.
If you happened to go to a Wissahickon girls soccer game this fall, chances are you heard one voice shouting above all the others, giving instructions, yelling encouragement, and generally making an impression.
The person you heard was Rachel Stone, a vocal presence in the Trojans’ net.
“She’s always trying to rally the girls, getting them psyched up,” Wissahickon coach Shannon Franke said. “She has this voice that carries through the pitch. She’s able to capture excitement and move our team forward.”
Stone — a First Team All-Suburban One League American selection — is also one of the best goalkeepers in the area. She posted eight shutouts and had 99 saves in 17 games (5.8 per game) this season, helping lead the Trojans to a 14-4 record and a district playoff berth.
“I’ve been coaching 14 years and I really believe she has great natural ability as a keeper,” Franke said. “It’s amazing to watch her form and some of the dives she makes.”
Stone has been playing soccer since she was three or four years old, and she frequently has been in goal since fourth grade.
“I was playing on a travel team and they tried everyone in goal,” said Stone, now a senior co-captain. “I think I have quick reflexes and I can jump. I see everything on the field and direct the players on the field.”
It has been a difficult process to help get the Wissahickon program to the prestigious place it is today, but Stone prides herself on being fully engaged — in all walks of life.
“Her leadership doesn’t seem to stop at soccer,” Franke said. “She is very involved in a lot of activities.”
In addition to playing soccer, Stone is the point guard and a captain on the basketball team, co-editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and sports editor of the yearbook.
“Editing is so much different than just writing,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.”
Stone is an honors student, a member of the National Honor Society and a member of the French National Honor Society. And she is heavily involved in her church’s youth group. She goes on mission trips every summer and is looking forward to such a trip to Puerto Rico after graduation.
Her first trip was nearly four years ago. Initially her group was supposed to go to Mexico, but for various reasons, including violence among drug cartels, they went to Las Vegas instead.
“That was a really cool trip to go on because when everyone thinks of Las Vegas they think of glitz and glamor, but there’s a whole world of hurt there and people in need,” said Stone, who worked in a Vegas homeless shelter.
She has done other mission work, including home construction and helping in soup kitchens, in North Carolina and West Virginia, and also helps out locally every month.
“It’s kind of indescribable, you really have to be in the moment.” she said. “When you see people less fortunate than you, it makes you think that you might be taking things for granted and there’s so much you can do to help.”
Her hands-on approach has been vital to the growth of the Wissahickon girls soccer program.
“My years at the program were kind of difficult,” Stone said. “We had three different head coaches and three different assistants in four years, and never the same combination twice. It was a challenge and a blessing. But Coach Franke and Coach Kelly Ware are great.
“Kelly can play with us if she needs to show us things. And Coach Franke is so committed and provides good moral support and is passionate.”
This was Franke’s second year at the helm, and the team took a big leap forward. Ten players earned All-SOL American honors as the Trojans rose out of mediocrity to become one of the fiercest teams in the district.
“It was exciting this year,” Stone said. “Our first loss was to Quakertown and everybody was down at the beginning of the season. We thought it would be another .500 year. But as the season went on we realized we could compete with any team we played.”
Stone’s leadership and talent were at the heart of the success.
“She has a tenacity for her teammates, her teammates are very important to her,” Franke said. “She would email the girls to get them ready for a big game beforehand. She’s a pleasure to coach and she was a big help to me when I came in last season. She was instrumental in helping me get my head around the team and she’s been helpful ever since, with her opinions and her look at the field.
“And she has wonderful ability,” Franke said. “I remember a stellar game last year (against Upper Moreland) when she was defending a penalty kick. Not only did she save the penalty kick with a beautiful dive and knock it away, she pitched the ball forward for us to run it down the field for a score. That’s her caliber of play — save, then attack. You don’t see that type of skill every day.”
Stone is unsure if she’ll play in college, although she would like to. Her main focus is on academics. Among the schools she’s interested in are Washington and Lee University and Amherst. She might major in English but isn’t sure.
For now, her impact — her voice — has helped shape Wissahickon into a winner and has touched numerous lives off the soccer field.
