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. 3, 2013)
Jenna Joseph understands the importance of being a team player. Unlike many of her peers, the Quakertown senior developed an understanding of the value of teamwork outside of the athletic arena – as the third youngest in a family of 12 children. “I just love it,” Joseph said. “I’m not used to being with only one of us. It’s hard to be with only six of us now because I’m so used to having 12 in the house.” Joseph grew up in a soccer family – all of her siblings played at one time or another, and she has been a fixture in the Panthers’ backfield at left back. “I think she’s as good of a 1 v 1 defender as you could find anywhere,” coach Michael Koch said. “That’s definitely her strength. She’s also very good at winning the ball and playing it to good areas after she wins the ball. She’s very athletic, and she just has a great sense of timing of when to tackle the ball. She doesn’t commit too early, and she doesn’t delay too long, which is what happens with some players. She has good soccer instincts – (knows) where to play the ball.”
Joseph is willing to sacrifice for a sport she loves, and when she isn’t on the soccer field, she can be found serving ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. “She definitely does sacrifice,” Koch said. “Long before the season started, she e-mailed me and said, ‘I need the game schedule so I can schedule my work schedule around it.’ We were in summer league up in Lehigh, and she made almost every game.”
Joseph, it turns out, had to grow up in a hurry when her father, Steve Joseph, lost his battle with cancer in June of 2012. “He’s the one that got me started in soccer and always watched my games and always made me want to do better,” Joseph said. Through that difficult time, Joseph continued to attend all of her team’s practices. “She’s definitely overcome some difficulties that may have knocked other kids down,” Koch said. “She has had a lot to overcome, yet she continues to strive for excellence.” As difficult as it was to lose one of her biggest supporters, Joseph didn’t go through the experience alone. “It’s a lot easier when you have 12 people there for you instead of having one sibling,” she said. “We are really close, and even though some of (my brothers and sisters) don’t live with us, they still stop at the house after work. We see each other every day.” Three of those siblings meet Joseph every day after school on the soccer field. Younger sister Samantha is a sophomore on the team and older siblings Kayla and Melinda are assistant coaches.
In the classroom, Joseph has a course load of honors and one AP class. She hopes to continue her soccer career at the collegiate level and has visited East Stroudsburg, DeSales and Moravian. She plans to major in nursing with her sights set on a possible career as a neonatal nurse.
To read Joseph’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/jenna-joseph-0036878
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of Sept. 3, 2013)
Jake Zolna is hardly an imposing presence behind center. The Harry S Truman senior is 5-7 and weighs in at 150 pounds, but what he may lack in size, Zolna more than makes up for in smarts and strength. The Tigers’ quarterback can bench over 200 pounds and squat over 300 pounds, and orchestrating an option offense where quick reads are paramount, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Zolna, who has been the team’s starting quarterback since midway through his sophomore season, is ranked near the top of his class academically. “He’s one of the mainstays in the weight room, and he’s one of our stronger kids despite being a little guy,” coach Ed Cubbage said. “With our offense, he’s making decisions on every play. He’s a kid who’s always looking to learn and pick up new things. He puts the time in to study, and he always wants more. Being a kid who’s good academically, who puts the time and effort it, it just translates into football as well. It makes it easy on me having a kid who’s that bright who can pick up everything we’re trying to teach him.”
The fact that Truman has a football program is a tribute to Cubbage and his coaching staff as well as determined student-athletes like Zolna. It was during Zolna’s freshman year that then head coach John Ianucci quit the team the week prior to the season opener. “It made my heart sink,” Zolna said. “We were at practice. It was the week of our very first game, and at the time, I was down there practicing with the freshmen. None of us knew what was going on. He (Ianucci) walked off. After practice that day, we started hearing we might not have a team anymore, and that’s when I started getting scared.” That’s when Cubbage came to the program’s rescue, stepping in to take over the helm. “Thanks to him, we still have a team, and it’s been growing ever since,” Zolna said. “He makes sure he gets down to the middle schools and gets those young guys to come up. Me and our other captains, we try our best to make sure they’re doing everything right so they can have better seasons as the numbers continue to grow.”
Zolna also excels in the classroom where he takes all honors classes, but he admits it isn’t always easy. “It takes a toll on you – coming home at six o’clock after a long day at school and then working out, you’re just physically exhausted,” he said. “Having to actually push yourself to not go to bed and then do homework is pretty tough. There have been some long nights, but I’ve gotten through it with some good grades.” Zolna says he’s in the top 10 of his class, his coach says he’s top five. “He’s without a doubt a role model for the other guys,” Cubbage said. “He’s one of those natural leader types. He leads by example, and he’s more of a positive vocal guy than anything else.” Zolna hopes to pursue a career in the field of physical therapy and sports medicine.
To view Zolna’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/jake-zolna-0036891
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