SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete for week of April 26, 2022.
On the wall of the bedroom of Joelle Williams hangs the Langston Hughes poem “See It Through.” It was given to her by her father, Ralph, who pledged into the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Kean University by reciting the same poem about not giving up. Williams, despite a class rank of 4th and a weighted GPA of nearly 5.2 at Cheltenham High School, was sometimes unsure if she could achieve the goals she laid for herself by applying to more than 25 of the best colleges in the nation for pre-meds. It turned out the two-time softball captain batted close to 1.000 in the application process and found herself in the driver’s seat. Her final choices came down to likely destination Harvard, as well as Yale and Duke.
She knows she got there on the shoulders of many, beginning with her father and her mom, Leslie. “My parents have always been my biggest supporters and my biggest fans,” she said. “I owe a lot to them. They always pushed me and always believed in me, even when I haven’t always believed in myself.” In addition to her parents, Williams mentioned her siblings – brother, Jordan, and sister, Gianna. “I have received nothing but encouragement from my family, and I’m really appreciative,” she said.
The inherent family support system has been put to the test, as Gianna has a heart condition that required the family to work together on being vigilant. That is what inspired Williams’ interest into not only medicine, but into becoming a cardiologist, a field that was further cemented after interning at Abington Hospital during the summer. “The only thing that was in my way of being sure was to see it in person, so that really solidified things for me,” she said. As for narrowing her college choice to the final three, she was looking for schools that went beyond the laboratory. She said: “Since I want to be a doctor, I was able to narrow it down to the schools that I felt had the strongest pre-med programs and also be in an urban environment where I could get involved in shadowing and volunteer opportunities. But I didn’t want just a super science-heavy education. I really like the liberal arts approach that Harvard, Yale and Duke have. I was able to narrow it down to those three pretty quickly.”
The onset of COVID-19, which she realizes has not been conquered, has also influenced how and why she wants to study medicine. For better or worse, she is a child of the pandemic. She figures she may as well face it, head on, and learn from it. “We’re still in the pandemic, but after the pandemic started, it kind of opened my eyes,” said Williams. “There are more than just biological determinants of health. It’s not just one’s body and genetic makeup that predisposes them to certain diseases. That is real interesting to me, learning about how the environment can impact one’s access to resources.”
To talk about Williams – the class president, president of the Spanish Honors Society and vice president of the Women in Science Club – her lifelong involvement in softball cannot be ignored. Williams has started four seasons at Cheltenham, primarily at shortstop (she mostly is in center field on her travel team). The Panthers have won just one game, so far, since then. Still, she has yet to put her head down. She sees a big picture, and with that Langston Hughes poem etched in her soul, she presses on. “Honestly, it’s been hard, with the losses, but I still see pleasure in the journey,” said Williams. “I enjoy practicing and I just feel like, despite the losses, that I’m personally improving, and I can see the team improving. Even though it hasn’t really manifested in our record, we are leaps and bounds from where we started my freshman year.”
Head coach Alicia Maiorano, affectionately known as “Coach H” to her players, is eternally grateful for Williams and her positive influence on the team, not just as a player and a leader but as a student-athlete. “Her education is very important to her,” said the coach. “I know it comes first. She has managed it very well with softball. She is the kind of a kid who I trust to take the lead on her own. I will ask her what she thinks. She will not only come back with what she thinks, but she will have a plan for it. I can see how the girls look up to her, and how they will follow her and listen to what she says. Joelle is a good example of what a student-athlete should be.” According to Maiorano, her shortstop seems shocked to receive any well-deserved accolades. “One of my favorite things about Joelle is her humility,” said the coach. “She is always surprised (about receiving honors). She is just such a good student, and always trying her best, and is just always so surprised. That’s definitely one of my favorite things about her.”
To read Williams’ complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/joelle-williams-00100350
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of April 26, 2022.
Kyle Wilson has lived in the Ambler area most of his life, so he was surprised years ago when someone approached him to inquire about a kid who had the same surname that he did. Did he know this boy with the first name Morgan? Were the two related? “My dad is one of eight, so there are a lot of Wilsons in this area,” said Kyle, the head boys basketball coach at Wissahickon High School. “Morgan first moved to this area when he was 5 or 6 years old, and he went to sign up for youth football, someone said to him, ‘You must be related to Coach Wilson.’ He’s new, so he’s like, ‘Who?’ Then when he’s 6 or 7 he comes to sign up for my (basketball) camp, and I tell him ‘You must be the Wilson I’m not related to.’”
Morgan attended the same middle school where Kyle teaches, and later would play basketball for him once Morgan got to high school, so it’s safe to say that Kyle has been somewhat of a father figure in Morgan’s school life, even if the two are not blood relatives. And while Kyle Wilson is certainly a fan of Morgan Wilson the athlete, he’s an even bigger advocate for Morgan Wilson the person. “He has always been such a tremendous young man,” Kyle said. “Morgan is just one of those kids where he will always be a better human, citizen, neighbor and community member than an athlete. He’s just that good a kid.”
Kyle Wilson isn’t the only coach who has been left amazed and awestruck by Morgan’s natural leadership abilities. Andy Noga is the head baseball coach at Wissahickon, and his immediate impression of Morgan as a freshman was how energetic and enthusiastic the kid was to play baseball. Then, Noga realized that Wilson was energetic and enthusiastic to do pretty much anything. “My second impression of Morgan was how unselfish and unconcerned he was with his individual success,” Noga said. “These are the type of players I like a lot, and Morgan just grew on me with his infectious personality. His teammates love being around him and playing with him. He’s a captain for us this year, and easily could have been last year given how he carries himself and holds himself and the team accountable on and off the field. What I really love about him is if he sees the energy dipping in the dugout, he gets them together and right back into the game. If something is wrong on the field, he calls time and calms everybody down. A typical high school senior might look down on freshmen because of the grade barrier separating them, but whenever I’m around Morgan, he’s quick to include everyone. He doesn’t leave anyone out, and it’s never anything I tell him to do. It’s all on his own.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Faikish is the head boys water polo coach at Wissahickon, and initially he wasn’t sure what to make of this senior who showed up to tryouts expressing a desire to play the sport for the first time. Even if Wilson’s reason for being there was that he was egged on by some baseball teammates to try out, Faikish knew he needed a goalie, mostly for jayvee but perhaps for some varsity games too, and he was impressed with the 6-foot-2 Wilson’s length and athleticism. Faikish quickly discovered that this was not just a novelty act that Wilson was pursuing as a goof. “He was a fantastic addition to the team from day one,” Faikish said. “The thing that truly became so great for myself and the team was that Morgan was a very positive and motivated player and helped build up the team around him with continuous positive comments and encouragement. He quickly became a leader of the team, for jayvee as well as varsity. While his main focus was helping out as the jayvee goalie, he also ended up taking minutes in varsity spots whenever needed. The best was that without hesitation, he was ready to jump in and help. He was truly a coach's player and someone everyone would want on their team.”
Wilson considered enrolling at the University of Maryland or Penn State, but after his experience as a Wissahickon ambassador, being a small fish in a big pond suddenly wasn’t as appealing. So, recently, he had finalized his decision to attend the University of Delaware, where he will pursue a double major in Marketing and Sports Management. Wilson chose marketing because communicating with people is one of his biggest strengths, and sports management because, well, the kid signed up for water polo for a year just to show people he could. Sports will always be a part of his life, even while pursuing other endeavors. Maybe he’ll become a sports agent, or a vice president for a professional sports team. Wilson isn’t sure just yet, but he trusts his own instincts, so odds are that he made the right decision in choosing Delaware over Penn State or Maryland.
To read Wilson’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/morgan-wilson-00100360
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