School: Souderton
Basketball
Favorite athlete: Rafael Nadal
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Playing in the Perkasie summer league when I was younger was always very fun for me.”
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “Finding underpants in a practice pinny that had just been washed!”
Music on my iPod: “Pretty much everything except for country music.”
Future plans: “Hopefully attend the University of Maryland.”
Words to live by: “Life’s tough, get a helmet.”
One goal before turning 30: “Go skydiving”
One thing people don’t know about me: “Before every game, I eat a peanut butter power bar and have a fruit punch Gatorade.”
Monica Schmidt is a student first and an athlete second.
An honors student who is in the top five percent of her class, the Souderton senior was named a National Merit Commended Student.
Schmidt – who plans to major in international business with a minor in Spanish next year – admits she considered giving up basketball this winter but opted against it.
“It did cross my mind that I would be really busy this year, and because I’m not playing in college, the incentive wasn’t there for that,” she said. “I ultimately decided it was my senior year. I would feel like a horrible person if I had quit, and I enjoy playing.”
Coach Lynn Carroll is certainly glad Schmidt opted for one more go-round on the hardwood. During the Indians’ three wins last week, the senior center averaged 10.3 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
It is Schmidt’s play under the basket – she stands 6-0 – that has been the difference in Souderton’s 4-1 start.
“Coming into the season, we knew it was going to be tough for other teams to have guards that were as good as our guards,” Carroll said. “Our guards can compete with any guards on the court, but we weren’t sure how consistent our post play would be.
“With Monica leading the way this week, that’s now become a strength of ours, and it’s no longer up for question whether we need to be concerned about that.”
Schmidt admits she has put pressure on herself to perform.
“In our first game against Boyertown, I didn’t have that big of an influence because of the foul trouble I got into,” she said. “I definitely didn’t want to get myself in that position again because it hurts my team too.
“At the same time, Jess Bard is our sixth man, and she does just as good a job at my position.”
Schmidt has only been playing basketball since sixth grade.
“I actually really did not like basketball when I was younger,” she said. “My friends had a Perkasie summer league team, so they talked me into playing.
“I liked it once I started playing, and all my friends were playing, but when I first started playing, I was really horrible, so I didn’t really have many ambitions. I stuck with it, and things worked out.”
Carroll can still remember the first day she spotted Schmidt at an open gym.
“You don’t get many six-foot girls coming in as ninth graders,” she said. “Over the last four years, she has come into her own in terms of what she’s capable of and what her strengths are, and this year, she’s really, really using her strengths, which sets her apart from the way she’s played in the past.
“She’s learned she can be an offensive threat and not just getting the rebound and chucking it back up. She’s really being much more aggressive offensively, looking to be fouled.”
Carroll points to Schmidt’s response when the gets the ball down low as the biggest change in her game.
“In the past, she would get it down low, and she would either take a shot right away or two people were coming down and getting the ball from her,” the Indians’ coach said. “She’s learned how to kick the ball out, when to kick the ball out, and this past week she’s played way beyond my expectations of her this year just because I think she decided she wanted to.
“It’s been there. I think she just kicked it into a new gear over the last three games, and it’s something this team desperately needs. The team needs her to get 10 rebounds a game, six to eight points a game, get the other team’s post players in foul trouble. She’s so long under the basket. She gets three, four blocked shots a game, but it’s the other things we really need from her, and she’s doing it.”
That’s not to say Schmidt’s mindset has changed completely.
“I still feel timid when I get the ball, I’m not going to lie,” she said with a laugh.
Schmidt – elected captain by her teammates – also brings positive leadership skills as well as a sharp sense of humor to the team.
“Monica is one of the funniest kids I have ever coached,” Carroll said. “She really does have a witty, mature sense of humor that is enjoyable to be around.
“She has a strong personality that I think girls from ninth through 12th grade are looking for in a teammate, and her teammates are responding well to her.”
The Indians lost their first game on Tuesday night, but a 4-1 start is a vast improvement over last year’s 0-6 start.
“I think it’s a culmination of a bunch of different things,” Schmidt said. “It’s not one thing you can pinpoint exactly.
“We have a lot of experience on our team, a lot of people who have played varsity for three years. We’re all working really hard, and our league changed. A lot of things changed.”
Schmidt has high hopes for her final high school season.
“I definitely would expect that we would make the playoffs,” she said. “That would be our number one goal for the season, and I would like to see us do well in the playoffs, hopefully win our first game.
“It’s going good so far. It’s definitely something that was definitely worth the wait.”
As for next year, Schmidt will be hearing back from her colleges of choice in January.
“I will say I would love to be a Terrapin next year at the University of Maryland,” she said.
Whether she ends up in Maryland or another college of note, it’s a safe bet the Souderton senior will be adding yet another chapter to what has been a remarkable success story.
