Bill Hence remembers it as if it were yesterday.
His Souderton water polo team was playing Wissahickon for third place in the state tournament in front of a full house last fall when – with just over a minute to play – J.D. Schulte was given the opportunity to see some playing time.
“He jumped into the pool, and the whole place just went nuts,” Hence said. “It was so great.”Although the clock had actually expired in the game – an 11-7 Souderton win, everyone was still exhorting Schulte, who had the ball, to take a shot.
“Who cares about the clock,” Hence said. “He threw it in, and it was the loudest eruption because everybody knew J.D.”
The goal didn’t count, but that didn’t matter. Schulte, in his final high school water polo game, had gone out in style.
Several facts are unmistakably clear – everybody knows J.D. Schulte, and everybody loves him.
Next week, the 21-year-old Schulte, who is autistic/PDD, will receive his diploma from Souderton Area High School. His experience has been different than most but every bit as rewarding.
“He’s gotten better physically, just like any other kid who does after-school sports,” Hence said. “What he’s gotten socially – when I first got to know him, he was pretty much on his GameBoy sitting in the office, not communicating with other kids at all.
“Now I hardly ever see him with a GameBoy. He just comes right out on the (pool) deck, says hello to everybody. He’s gone from this shy kid to just another kid on the team. I think that transformation with anyone with special circumstances is truly amazing.”
Schulte’s story is an amazing one.
The son of long-time Souderton swim coach Jim Schulte, J.D. has been around the pool since he was born. He began taking swimming lessons at a young age, and Souderton swim coach Todd Bauer – just a few years Schulte’s senior – remembers him from his Harleysville swim team days.
“He was always the young man at the pool that everybody cheered for because everybody knew he had some special difficulties he was overcoming to swim,” Bauer said.
Three years ago, Schulte’s mother Karen asked then-coach Terrence Nesensohn if J.D. could be the manager of the water polo team.
Nesensohn did one better, inviting him to join the team. The Schultes, along with athletic director Tom Quintois, completed the paperwork and received the necessary approvals, and it wasn’t long before J.D. was seeing action in the jayvee game against a Pennridge team that was new to the league.
“The next game was against Wissahickon, and I said, ‘Terrence, he can really just sit on the bench because he just likes to be with the kids. He doesn’t have to go in and play because we’re looking at the next level up ability-wise,’” Karen Schulte recalled. “He played again in the jayvee game.”
The next game was against perennial powerhouse North Penn.
“When I got there, I went up into the stands, and it had just started,” Karen Schulte said. “One of the parents said, ‘Did you know Terrence made him captain for the day?’
“Sure enough, he played again.”
In that first year, Schulte scored eight goals for the jayvee.
“J.D. played closer to the goal instead of going back on defense because the swimming was just so much, and Dan (Yocum) would want to be in there to open up a pathway, so J.D. could try to score,” his mother said. “He also played in some varsity games.
“It’s been a wild ride with water polo.”
A wild ride that culminated last fall with Schulte receiving a special Commissioner’s Award from Pa. State Commissioner Rudy Ruth that is given to the individual who ‘despite their daily challenges has the ability to impact the game not just in the pool with their play but outside the pool with their heart.’
The award was presented to Schulte at the state tournament, which was held at North Penn. The response was overwhelming.“There were probably 1,500 people who stood and gave a standing ovation for him,” Karen Schulte said. “A parent from Cumberland Valley was so excited because she has a daughter with Down’s Syndrome who will be playing water polo next year.
“We kind of broke through. Every time we would go play against another team, they have been really, really great with him, giving him the opportunity to attempt to score. There were quite a few times that they tried to defend against him, and he still scored.”
J.D. also was a member of the swim team for the past three years.
“Before I was the coach, his parents asked if J.D. could get in the pool and swim since it’s good exercise,” Bauer said. “My first year of coaching I said to Jim, ‘Why doesn’t he just join the team? I can get him into a relay and get him a swim at every meet.””
From that point on, Schulte swam in one race at every meet and came to practice every day, and more importantly, he brought a refreshing perspective to the team.
“If kids are having a bad day or they didn’t swim well and they’re giving attitude or they’re throwing some form of a temper tantrum, they’ll look at J.D. and see him enjoying every minute of the meet,” Bauer said. “He’ll stand by the side of the pool and cheer when no one’s in the water. He’s just so into it. It makes me smile.”
The Indians’ coach goes on to recall a meet last year against North Penn when the Indians weren’t performing up to expectations.
“I was upset with a couple of the races because we didn’t perform up to par,” Bauer said. “I looked over at J.D., and he’s standing there cheering, jumping up and down, and it really helps me put things into perspective.
“Winning a meet isn’t everything. It’s the fact that some of these kids are having fun, and they’re learning a whole lot more than just how to swim fast.”
Dan Yocum has assisted Schulte over the years, but the Souderton senior doesn’t view it that way. 
“What I do for him is very minimal compared to what he does for me and the team – cheering and lifting everybody’s spirits,” Yocum said. “He’s always happy to be there, no matter what the outcome of the meet. If everybody is in a bad mood, he lifts the spirits of everyone.
“J.D. knows when we don’t win or if things don’t go right, but it doesn’t seem to affect him. He’s all about the team. He cheers even when nobody’s in the water.”
And that is what makes Schulte such an invaluable part of the team – and not only to the players.
“I think he might help the coaching staff more than anything,” Bauer said. “We’ll look at him in the middle of a meet, and we’ll just smile because he just loves it.”
Schulte is particularly passionate when the subject of North Penn comes up in conversation.
“One of his jobs is delivering mail in the high school,” Bauer said. “He’ll deliver it to my classroom, and the first thing out of his mouth will be the team we’re swimming next, or he’ll say ‘Todd, North Penn.’
“I’ll say, ‘What about them?’ He’ll said, ‘Boys beat them.’ He has this obsession with North Penn, and it goes well with us because we have a friendly rivalry with them. The North Penn guys and coaches are just great with him. The community has really embraced him.”
And Schulte has embraced the community.
“He’s just blossomed in swimming,” Karen Schulte said. “We always had trouble with him getting his face in the water, particularly with summer swimming because he’d want to watch the crowd cheer for him, so he’d have his face up or he’d be on his back.
“I remember times when he was little, and he would wave at people as he’d swim. He got to the point where last year he started to put his face in the water consistently, and this year he’s been doing flip turns and actually putting his face in the water. It’s been amazing. He has just flourished with the kids, and the kids have been so accepting of bringing him in.”
Schulte was the recipient of the prestigious Jack Ebert Award given to a senior swimmer/water polo player who most exemplifies Ebert’s qualities. Ebert, according to the plaque, was a ‘true team player, enthusiastic and willing to do or try anything for the success of his team. Jack was always eager to offer help, spirit and encouragement to his teammates.’
For the past three winters, Schulte has been the ball boy for the varsity basketball team.
“J.D. has been an invaluable part of our program for the last three years,” coach Perry Engard said. “We have never lost a ball on his watch…an accomplishment that no coach in our program can achieve.
“After every basketball victory, J.D. comes into the locker room and congratulates the players. Each time J.D. is then asked who he swims for, and he proclaims, ‘SOUDERTON,’ and our whole locker room goes into a frenzy. J.D. has been very inspirational to our whole program.
“Everything about J.D. says, ‘You can.’”
And J.D. has proven he can. Again and again.
“Communication has been tough,” Karen Schulte said. “The change with him being so involved with the different sports – he’ll take time to talk to the coaches of all the teams. They take time to let him try and verbalize his thoughts. They’re very patient.
“It’s just been such a fantastic experience.”
Last fall, Schulte was featured on NBC Channel 10’s ‘Game Changers,’ and while Schulte has changed the face of sports for his teammates, sports has been a positive experience for him as well.
“He’s always strived to do and be like the other kids,” Karen Schulte said. “His communication skills were really tough when he was little – he would just mimic behavior just to be a part of the kids because he didn’t know how to play with them.
“For him, it’s been a fantastic social event. It’s brought him out a lot more socially. He gets so excited about those different things. His speech is still tough, but it’s improved quite a bit.”
Schulte – who received special approval from PIAA to compete the last three years – turned 21 in September. He has used up his eligibility, but Bauer has already made plans to have J.D. stay on board as a volunteer assistant coach next year.
Before then, Schulte has some important business to take care of.
This week, he is competing in the Special Olympics summer games with his basketball team at Penn State, and he is just days away from accepting his diploma from Souderton. He leaves a different, more confident person than the one who walked through the doors three years ago – living proof that ‘you can.’
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