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 (Week of Sept 26, 2017)
Just keep trying. It’s a simple phrase, but to Cara McCausland, it means everything. The Souderton senior is a lethal goal scorer and one of the top forwards in the entire Suburban One League. She’s clutch too, with a pair of game-winning overtime goals already this season. To McCausland, everything she’s achieved, what she’s overcome and all that she will go on to do is because she just kept trying. “It pushes me through every game,” McCausland said. “The drive makes me want to play better. When I’m playing better, you’re winning games and that just helps the whole team.” Souderton coach Chris Felber has known McCausland since she was 10 years old and coached the forward at Towamencin Soccer Club before he took over the Indians in 2014. He knew right away that McCausland had all the tools to be as good a player as she wanted to be. Felber also knew early on that he wouldn’t have any trouble trying to motivate McCausland to realize her talent. “Determination is definitely the word I would use for her,” Felber said. “She’s very committed, she’s very determined. She knows what she wants and she works hard for it.”
A starter since she was a freshman, McCausland’s junior season began with high expectations until just four games in, it came to a crashing halt. The forward tore an ACL, sidelining her for the rest of the season and leaving a void at the top of the attacking six. The injury ended up costing McCausland 10 months of recovery and rehab, but she continued to be a constant presence for Souderton. Her teammates voted her a team captain, which Felber said summed up everything that needed to be said about her commitment after being hurt. The Indians’ coach knew there was no reason to expect anything less than a full recovery. “It’s who she is,” Felber said. “She’s just a very determined girl and there was not doubt in my mind she was going to come back just as strong. She just had such enthusiasm every day to make sure she would be back.”
A fighter since she was born, McCausland underwent open heart surgery when she was two years old to correct a congenital heart defect after it was discovered that her heart wasn’t pumping blood to her lower extremities. “The doctors originally thought I wouldn’t be able to play competitive sports when I grew up,” she said. McCausland has been proving that prognosis wrong but does make annual visits to the cardiologist to make sure everything is in order. “My lungs tend to not hold as much oxygen, but I don’t let it stop me,” she said. “Every cardiologist I see is surprised how well my heart works and how much I can do despite my heart not working normally like everyone else’s. I have full clearance to play, but I am fully aware that by playing sports, I will likely need surgery when I’m older to correct the deformities.”
Ironically, getting hurt showed McCausland what she wanted to do when her playing days were over. “My rehab from my ACL tear is what made me decide I really wanted to pursue physical therapy,” she said. McCausland is planning to play soccer in college and has narrowed her options to Quinnipiac, Towson and Arcadia, schools with well-regarded physical therapy programs.
To read McCausland’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/cara-mccausland-0072870
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 26, 2017)
Council Rock North senior Michael Welde – although not wanting to sound like a braggart – admits he inherited the family skill of being a “talented” artist. “Yeah, I am,” he said. “It kind of runs in the family – my brother, and my dad too.” For Welde, whose work has appeared at art shows, his niche is drawing portraits of people. “I try to make it as real as possible,” he said. “I enjoy challenges, so it makes it interesting.” Welde has taken the interest in facing challenges into the sports realm as a football player each fall and a sprinter come winter and spring. Through it all, he challenges himself academically – and in the school community – and now finds himself with exciting choices to continue on as a student-athlete at the college level.
Coming off a junior year in which he set five individual school records and two relay records while earning two state medals in the winter (fourth in the 400 and 400 relay) and another in the spring (sixth in the 400), along with an academic scorecard that shows a 4.1 weighted GPA and a 33 ACT score, opportunity knocks loudly. “I wish I could say it came naturally, but my parents (Joel and Michelle Welde) are firm believers that you have to have that balance,” said Welde, a member of the National Honor Society as well as the Math and Social Studies NHS. Schools seeking his services – as a track athlete – include Penn, Cornell, St. Joseph’s, Lehigh and Villanova. Football offers for the 5-6, 160-pounder – who aspires to a career in the business realm – are also starting to come. This as Welde carried the rock for upwards of 20 times per game and is finding ways to stand out for a team that has struggled through six games at 1-5.
Putting himself in position to find the best situation - via his well-rounded resume – is part of a larger lesson he tries to share with younger teammates and the freshmen he encounters heading the Rock Ambassadors Club. When is comes to work habits on the practice field, the senior captain sees the need to lead by example. “He is a captain for our program, and the players rally around him when things have not gone so well for us,” football coach Matt McHugh said. “He thoroughly enjoys being a leader and helping the younger players get better. This does not only apply to the field. During freshman orientation day, you can find Michael walking the new students around, helping them get accustomed to the building. Michael is a tremendous leader, respectful, and what I find most important, a coachable football player. His work ethic is demonstrated through his 4.0-plus average in the classroom, and his dedication to the school is shown through his presidency of the Student Executive Board and many other clubs. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for him.”
To read Welde’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/michael-welde-0072919
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