To view photos of Friday night’s celebration of Katie O’Donnell Night at Wissahickon, visit the Photo Gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
The following Q&A’s were part of a press conference on Friday night conducted by Wissahickon senior Jess Scannapieco with Katie O’Donnell prior to a ceremony retiring the former Trojan standout’s number. To view the complete press conference, please click on the following link: http://wsdtube.mciu.org/videos/209/katie-o%27donnell-press-conference-1-14-10
Advice for student-athletes looking to select a college:
Katie O’Donnell: “Don’t pick a school for the coach. Definitely go for the academic part and your teammates. Your teammates are the people you have to spend every minute with. Those are the people you have to get along with best, so make sure you get along with your teammates. That’s what absolutely brought me to Maryland – the people I got to play with every single day.”
Advice for aspiring young athletes trying to emulate O’Donnell:
Katie O’Donnell: “Don’t try and be like me – be like yourself. That’s the best advice I could give.
“Go out and enjoy what you do every day, and if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, go and do something else. If your friends are playing and you’re just playing for them and not enjoying it, don’t do it because your friends are doing it.
“If you enjoy painting and no one you know enjoys painting, paint anyway. Do what you love to do because when you look back on your life you want to absolutely love every moment of it.”
LOWER GWYNEDD – Katie O’Donnell is the ultimate competitor.
So it was hardly surprising when – as she was nearing the end of her brief closing comments at a ceremony in her honor – the former Trojan superstar glanced at the Wissahickon and Upper Dublin girls’ basketball teams watching from the sidelines in their warm-up gear.
“Sorry to delay your game,” O’Donnell said. “I know being an athlete you just want to get all of this over with and step on the field and compete.”
If anyone knows about stepping on the field and competing, it is O’Donnell. Few have ever done it better in the sport of field hockey than the diminutive Wissahickon grad, who has reached the kind of heights reserved only for the truly great ones.
O’Donnell’s list of accolades could fill a book.
A two-time All-American during her high school playing days, the former Trojan star was named the 2010 Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year, adding her name to a prestigious list that includes basketball stars Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi and Sheryl Swoopes, soccer star Mia Hamm and tennis players Serena and Venus Williams.
“I was among athletes I have idolized ever since I was younger,” said O’Donnell, who was honored at a special ceremony in November at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria. “To be among the list of these athletes now – I don’t have any words for it.”
And that award is just the tip of the iceberg.O’Donnell led her Maryland field hockey team to a 2010 NCAA National Championship and won the 2011 Honda Sports Award in field hockey, designating her the top collegiate female athlete in that sport. She was the 2010 National Player of the Year and is a four-time First Team All-American. She holds Maryland’s single season points record with 87 and set an NCAA championship single game record with nine points in Maryland’s semifinal win.
A member of the U.S. Senior National team since 2005, O’Donnell became the youngest athlete to earn an international cap for the United States at the age of 16.
On Friday night, Wissahickon recognized its brightest athletic star by retiring her familiar number 16. It is the first time an athlete has had their number retired in school history.
Prior to the ceremony that was held between the boys’ and girls’ basketball games, O’Donnell was honored at a reception and then was recognized at a formal press conference.
“This evening we honor and celebrate a hometown superstar,” Wissahickon Principal Lyn Fields said. “Katie O’Donnell has been described by many for the way she has dominated her sport for a number of years.
“The Katie I know is a young woman who is so proud of her family. She has always been compassionate, she has always been smiling, happy, competitive, positive and a sincere young woman.
“Who else would comment about the most memorable moment at the Women’s Sports Foundation banquet but to say, ‘When Michelle Kwan asked me about my shoes.’ That’s Katie. Understated, smart, talented, warm, fun and someone whose smile makes you smile.”
For those curious about the shoes O’Donnell wore to the banquet – the 5-2 dynamo wore five-inch red glitter heels.
“I was like, ‘You’re never going to do this again. Just go out and buy something you would never ordinarily wear and just wear it,’” she said. “That’s what I did.”
O’Donnell also was recognized with proclamations and presentations from a list of local dignitaries that included Superintendent of Schools Judith M. Clark, State Representative Kate Harper, Lower Gwynedd Commissioner Ed Brandt and Whitpain Commissioner Joe Palmer.For an athlete who is unfazed playing hockey in front of thousands, the discomfort began mounting as the plaques began accumulating.
“Some people gravitate towards the spotlight, and others shy away from it, but I feel she doesn’t even know it exists,” close friend and former teammate Chelsea Rosiek said. “She’s ambivalent in the best way to all the accolades she’s achieved.
“It’s really amazing. She’s always been a very strong Christian girl with upstanding morals. How can a young woman not see her and truly feel like she’s the embodiment of what a woman athlete should be? That’s what she is.”
O’Donnell values the opportunity to spend time with her former teammates and friends.
“Something I learned from my (high school) teammates is just to have fun,” she said. “A few of them are sitting in the back, and they’re people when I come home from college – we get together and have fun.
“We rarely ever talk about field hockey, and it’s something I love about my high school friends. To them, I’m more than just a field hockey player. I’m actually just Katie to them, and I love them for that.”
Trumping even friends for O’Donnell is a family support system that runs deep. It begins with parents Kathy and Buddy O’Donnell and includes siblings Joe, Kelly and Jen as well as nieces and nephews whose affection for their aunt is apparent.
“Sometimes I have to stop and think, ‘Did she really win that? Did she really accomplish this?’” said Kelly Esposito of her sister’s accomplishments. “To me, it’s almost like I’m in a daze, and it’s not reality, and I have to pinch myself.
“The things she has accomplished are amazing. I’m most proud of the fact that she’s so humble about all of it. I’m more proud of that than of all the accolades.”
Wissahickon Assistant Principal Tom Speakman and Associate Principal Tom Andrzejewski presented a plaque honoring O’Donnell.
“Before I knew Katie as a field hockey player, I knew Katie as a person,” Andrzejewski said. “The humility in which she approached relationships with people and her schoolwork really always impressed me.
“That groundedness is still something I see in her today. Katie, keep your feet on the ground. Thank God it’s Wissahickon ground.”
The Katie O’Donnell Scholarship Fund was introduced by the Wissahickon Parent-Teacher Council. The scholarship will honor a graduating senior who embodies the same competitive spirit as well as academic and athletic leadership as O’Donnell.
A banner was presented by the Wissahickon Student Council recognizing some of O’Donnell’s many accomplishments.
Trojan senior Jacquelin Coupe - who wore the number 16 for the final time last fall – presented O’Donnell with a bouquet of roses just before her framed uniform was unveiled by Fields and former Trojan coach Lucy Gil.
“It’s an honor, for the first time, to retire a number at Wissahickon,” Fields said. “Number 16 may no longer be worn by anyone. Sixteen is now officially retired.”
The ceremony concluded with the reluctant superstar stepping to the podium to a standing ovation.
“I’d like to thank everyone who helped create this amazing day that I will never forget,” O’Donnell said. “You would think coming in – I’ve gotten all these awards, but to me, I’m still a normal person just like every one of you, so to me, this is a little too much, but I appreciate it and all the time and effort everyone put in.”
On Sunday, O’Donnell will leave for California to begin training with her national team for the 2012 Olympics. Not a bad ending for an athlete with decidedly modest expectations entering high school
“As a freshman, I was afraid I wouldn’t make the varsity team,” she said with a laugh. “To come out and be in competition to play for the Olympics for my nation is something I absolutely never dreamed of.
“Still to this day, I hope it comes true, but there’s nothing written in stone.”
Except for the fact that no one anywhere will compete harder for a coveted spot on the Olympic team than the former Trojan star.
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