Volleyball
Favorite athlete: My favorite athlete right now is Jason Kelce. He is a great role model for what it means to be a good leader. He cares about the success of his team but also fights for causes outside of sports that mean something to him, such as the Eagles Autism Foundation.
Favorite team: For my entire life my favorite team has been the Villanova men’s basketball team. But, since Jay Wright left, we’ve had a touch and go relationship. Still, it’s my favorite basketball to watch, though.
Favorite memory competing in sports: I have so many amazing memories and am so grateful to be able to say that I look back on all of my seasons with a smile. This year, however, winning our first ever “Dig Pink” game was really cool. It was a very competitive environment but also was in support of such a great cause.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: It was my very first volleyball game for CYO and I was 10. I looked over to the stands to see my parents' faces to get a gauge on how I was doing, but all of a sudden I heard my coach, Coach Quinn, screaming my name, and she subbed me out. I walked over to the bench, she stopped me and told me that a good athlete never checks the score mid game. As I was in shock, I told her that I wasn't looking at the score, I was looking at my mom. A few years later I talked to her about this moment and that is when she told me that this moment was the only time in her coaching career that she was speechless on what to say to an athlete. We laugh about it all the time.
Music on playlist: I have a four-hour long playlist that has songs anywhere from Disney hits like Lemonade Mouth’s “She’s So Gone” to Billy Joel’s “Vienna” with some Noah Kahan, Aretha Franklin, Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre mixed in.
Future plans: I hope to go to college and major in Kinesiology with a minor in Sports Psychology. I want to work with athletes and help them both physically and mentally.
Words to live by: “You’re gonna go far” this a quote from a Noah Kahan song. It helps me to realize that even when I start to doubt myself and my abilities, I have a big future ahead of me.
One goal before turning 30: I hope that by the time I am 30 I have accomplished most of my academic goals. I want to be content with my life but still have goals for the future. I also hope that at that point I have traveled and seen the world outside of Upper Dublin.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m pretty much an open book. No secrets here. One thing I can think of is that my favorite hobby is crafting. A few years ago my Aunt taught me how to make baby blankets to carry on my great aunt's tradition of making them for people who are expecting. It’s a great stress reliever for me. When I’m sewing it gives my mind a break and I only focus on finishing that specific project.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Sports, particularly basketball, were woven into the nuclear family of Upper Dublin senior Shea Joyce.
Her dad, Tom, played high school basketball at Father Judge in Northeast Philly and went on to played collegiately at Gannon in Erie, Pa., before finishing up at Holy Family back in the old neighborhood.
The whole Joyce clan are also loyalists to the Villanova program, particularly during the Jay Wright era.
“We have a saying in our house that college basketball is real basketball, not the NBA,” said Joyce. “We also loved the way Villanova played, and the philosophy that Jay Wright had, so we just had a great time watching that team.”
Considering that she was 6-2 as a freshman at Upper Dublin, it seemed that Joyce was primed for the family business.
But something happened on the way to an easy layup.
That something was the sport of volleyball.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like basketball. It’s just that there weren’t enough hours in the day.
Her mother, Melissa, explained that the juggling act of both sports was just not going to be realistic as she entered high school.
“My mom sat me down at the counter,” said Joyce. “She was, like, ‘Shea, I love you and I love your sports, but it is time for us to manage your time a little bit better.’”
For Joyce, who still keeps in touch with her influential CYO coach, Janet Quinn, volleyball felt like the right fit.
She said: “I was excited every day to go to volleyball practice. I felt like I had autonomy in my sport because no one in my family had played it before. I said, ‘This is just my fit. It’s for me. My parents are learning about it, but they are not exactly in that world.’
“They were learning about it, too. There were so many different things, and I just fell in love with it. I decided that it was what I wanted to stick with.”
Pushing Through
This is not to say that there weren’t moments of doubt about her chosen sport.
Joyce made a rebuilding varsity squad as a freshman but she felt a bit steamrolled by the rigors of club volleyball.
“Going into my sophomore year, I had a (club) coach who made me feel worthless,” said Joyce. “It was a really tough season. I just didn’t know if I could do it. My
parents told me to stick with it – to just go to tryouts and see what it feels like and what the environment is like. If it didn’t feel the same as it used to, then maybe it was just time to hang up the shoes.
“Once I got back into the high school gym, it was like, ‘I got this. Let’s go.’ Of course, the next day, I dislocated my knee. But, after feeling that sense of community again, I knew that I couldn’t give it up.”
The dislocated knee came with a torn patella tendon, and they formed an unholy alliance that kept Joyce out of action her entire sophomore year, but she didn’t detach herself from the team.
“It was really a great learning moment for me,” she said. “I learned how to be involved in a team without actually being on the court. I wasn’t scoring points for my team, but I was still able to help them in different ways and still being a part of it.
“Going back onto the court my junior year was that much more special.”
She didn’t know how special it would be, as a dislocated shoulder and torn ligament sidelined Joyce for a large chunk of this past season.
Without their spiritual leader, the Cardinals were still the top team in the SOL American Conference and one of the best in the district, and Joyce put off surgery until Nov. 21 to be part of it down the stretch.
“I really wanted to finish out the season for my teammates,” said Joyce, a captain. “It’s my senior year. So, I finished out the three weeks of the season. That was amazing because we went on to win Suburbans for the first time.”
Upper Dublin coach Paul Choi appreciated the way Joyce clawed her way back into the fray as did her teammates.
“I’m glad she fought her way back and kept with it because she could have easily thrown in the towel,” the UD coach said. “She was no stranger to injuries. Despite her injuries, it was nice to see her climb her way back onto the court and finish out the season.”
Setting Standards
Joyce is the first to admit she is a bit of an anomaly.
“It’s kind of funny, or ironic, because I’m a four-year varsity player on paper but I’ve only really played two varsity seasons,” she said.
Still, in the time she played at middle blocker, Joyce was able to set a program record with 83 career blocks.
“She’s known for her defense,” said Choi. “She blocks very well.
“I think she progressed pretty well, considering everything that she has been through.”
The ultimate team player in every possible way, Joyce couldn’t resist using her long reach to pat herself on the back for a minute.
“It’s a cool thing to accomplish in two seasons,” she said of the block record. “I’m pretty proud of that one.”
Kind and Generous
Beyond her defensive play at the net, Joyce brought something else to the mix that cannot be tallied on the scoreboard.
Choi referred to her as a “gentle giant,” adding that she fit the definition of a true leader.
“She was our captain for a reason,” he said. “We call her our mom of the team. She takes care of everyone. She really takes the responsibility and load off of these younger players.
“Even when she wasn’t playing, she tried to contribute what she could off the court, just by using her voice and talking to players.”
Joyce can’t deny that she was a bit of a team mother.
“I’ve heard that a couple of times,” she said, with a chuckle. “I take my role on the team as being the person you can talk to when you are struggling a little bit. I’m a big believer in taking care of an athlete’s mental health.
“To me, obviously, you want to perform well but also, you want to make sure that everyone is feeling great. Feeling good mentally goes into performing well. I want to make sure that I’m there to provide a lift when my teammates need it.
“Being an athlete is more than just performing well. It’s about being a role model for those who watch you.”
This also included taking the lead on various team activities, whether it be a Spelling Night or embroidering sweatshirts, and also making sure that younger teammates had rides.
“She’s very involved with the team,” said Choi. “People know they can rely on her. Overall, in general, she is just a really great person.”
Creating Hope
Joyce carried over her concern for others by starting a club at Upper Dublin called Hope Squad, which focuses on peer-to-peer communication and learning about mental health before it hits a crisis point.
“It’s getting up on its feet right now,” she said. “You don’t need to be on the extremes before you value mental health and reach out for resources.
“For a long time, I felt like a lot of my friends were struggling with mental health. They weren’t at the point where they were thinking about taking their own life, but my whole thing is that you should get help before you are at that point.”
As for herself, Joyce has a simple way to deal with stress, and it is one handed down through her extended family.
It started with her Great Aunt Betty and then to her Aunt Tammy and then on to her.
“When I get stressed, my first outlet is to sew,” said Joyce. “I’m really into sewing. It makes me look like I’m a 60-year-old woman when I’m only 18, but it’s so fun. I tell people all the time how much fun it is. I just throw on a movie or a TV show in the background and I just sew anything I can think of.
“Right now, I’m really into sewing baby blankets. It was a tradition started by my Great Aunt Betty. She absolutely hated any baby blanket she could buy in a store because she thought it was too small for an actual baby.
“My aunt Tammy ended up teaching me how to make to these blankets. Now, when I know of anyone who is expecting, I make them a baby blanket as a gift.”
A Full Slate
It addition to leading the Hope Squad, Joyce is involved in several other activities – National Honor Society, Mini Thon and the Hope and Wellness Club.
For her Senior Project, Joyce is embroidering sweatshirts for the Horsham Clinic.
And her love of volleyball saw her serving as team manager of the boys’ team, also coached by Choi.
“I try to take any time I can to be around it,” said Joyce. “It’s one of those pieces in my life that just fits. It makes sense for me.”
Choi had no complaints but confesses that life without her won’t be the same.
“It’s going to be hard,” he said. “Whenever you lose somebody like that, it leaves a hole. You definitely hope that somebody can fill that role.
“I’m going to miss her. She has done a lot for me. She played for me, but she also managed on the boys’ side. I was with her for a good bit.”
It is highly unlikely that Joyce will play volleyball above anything above the club, intramural or recreational levels.
Sporting a 4.2 GPA, and with a plan to major in kinesiology and minor in sports psychology with an aim to become a physician’s assistant, Joyce has applied to nine schools and has already gotten into three – Alabama, Pitt and UNC-Charlotte.
“With my injuries in the past, I have been fascinated with sports medicine and athletic training,” she said. “I want to sort of blend those two for future career and focus on the whole athlete, and not just part.
“I don’t know if playing anymore is in the cards for me, but I don’t think that volleyball will ever be fully out of my life. I’ve done it since I was 9 years old. It’s just one of those things that just becomes a part of you.”
So much so that she still sees volleyball, the sport she chose over basketball, as always being in her life.
“I would love to be a coach one day,” said Joyce. “That’s my major goal. I want to help other athletes feel the same way about the sport that I have and see how amazing it is.”
Fond Farewell
As she looks ahead, Joyce can’t help but look back at all those who supported her along the way.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents,” she said. “The greatest thing that I would thank them for is teaching me about perseverance. If they hadn’t taught me to push through the hard times, then I don’t know – after all those injuries – if I would have still played volleyball. They always told me to never give up on what you love and to stick with it because there are better times ahead.”
Joyce gave a shoutout to her extended family, which came out in full force on Senior Night, and also to her older sister, Delaney, a sports statistic fanatic who is studying to be a teacher at Penn State.
“She’s the best role model that a younger sister could ask for,” she said. “She is so driven in her goals. She will always fight to get where she wants to go. I love her, and she’s just the best.”
In addition to her teammates, there was the coaching staff – assistants Meg Walsh and Bruno Vargas and, of course, Choi.
“He’s just one of those coaches who lets you know that he always believes in you,” said Joyce. “It’s hard to have an athlete who is out for two seasons, but he believed in me enough to put me on the team again, even after being out a full season, and that meant a lot.”
For Choi, the pleasure was all his.
“She’s a really good kid,” he said. “She has a really big heart. She’s very responsible. She’s the type of kid that you would want.”
