School: Central Bucks South
Field Hockey, Basketball
Favorite athlete: Simon Gagne (#12 Philadelphia Flyers)
Favorite team: New York Giants Football Team
Favorite memory competing in sports: “I have two amazing memories. During basketball season last year, I hit the winning shot as a junior against North Penn in their gym with two seconds left, and we ended up winning! My second memory was this year during field hockey when we won the conference, districts and made it to state semi-finals for the second year in a row.”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “I’d have to say the most embarrassing thing that happened to me was when we were at our Christmas tournament in my sophomore year of basketball in Hanover. I got a bloody nose during our game and I yelled to coach “My nose is bleeding!” She didn’t see my face and said, “Keep going, and don’t stop!” The girls kept saying, “Coach, Kate’s face is all bloody!” My nose was bleeding so much that they had to stop the game and clean up the floor. It ended up my nose didn’t stop bleeding for another three hours after that. Then, at our banquet at the end of the year, the girls got me a lifetime supply of cotton balls.”
Music on I-pod: “I listen to all kinds of music. But if you look at my iPod it’s a lot of rap like Lil Wayne and Drake along with a lot of country mixed in with it like Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum.”
Future plans: “Still undecided where I’m going to college but I have some options: James Madison University, Drexel University, Clemson University and University of South Carolina. I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of schools as well. I hope to major in biology in one of these schools.”
Favorite motto or words to live by: “Everything happens for a reason.”
One goal before turning 30: “I want to be involved with a career that I love (hopefully dentistry) and have a family. I also want to have traveled to a couple of countries overseas in Europe.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I am petrified of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Katelyn Schneider has a passion for life, and the Central Bucks South senior knows only one way to live – all out.
“She does not have an off button in her life,” basketball coach Beth Mattern said. “There’s no off button.”
Whether she’s competing on the hockey field, on the basketball court or in the classroom, Schneider gives it everything she has. The results speak for themselves.
Schneider was a captain and key player on a Titan hockey team that won both conference and district titles and advanced to the final four in the state. She also was the captain of South’s basketball squad this winter.
Coming as no surprise, Schneider – a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society – also excels in the classroom.
“You can’t put Katelyn into one category,” Mattern said. “If I only referred to her as an athlete, I wouldn’t be doing her academic achievements justice. 
“If we only look at Katelyn as a student, we are missing so many of her other qualities. It is hard to say enough positive things about Katelyn because there are so many. There are many days when I wonder how Katelyn keeps her life in balance and is successful in all that she does.”
To say Schneider is successful would be an understatement, but in her case, success is not measured by numbers or statistics.
On the hockey field, Schneider wasn’t a goal scorer, and she didn’t play any of the glamour positions. As a matter of fact, she rarely found herself in the spotlight as the reliable right defensive back for the Titans, but that didn’t diminish Schneider’s value to her team.
“Kate was an integral part of our success,” coach Christina Ford said. “She was a strong force in the backfield, and she was always trying to push our team up for scoring advantages.
“She was able to lead our younger players who needed to step up into bigger roles. She’s a role model student and player, and I believe because of her leadership as captain and her attitude on the field, she really was the glue that held everyone together.”
It was the same story in basketball.
“She just brings a tenacity that you can’t teach someone – that will and drive to win,” Mattern said.
Schneider admits she hates to lose, but it’s much more than that.
“I am probably one of the most competitive people around in anything – grades, school, intramural sports, just anything,” she said. “I love the feeling you get when you know you have given it your all and left everything on the field or court. That intensity and energy - I live for that feeling.
“I don’t like to let people down. That is a really big thing. That is probably one of my biggest pet peeves- letting people down.”
Schneider has been competing in sports for as long as she can remember. Her athletic career began with gymnastics, but she gave that up in fifth grade when she began playing basketball and field hockey.
It was a decision she never regretted as she began a journey that would lead her to remarkable success in both sports, but ask Schneider what she will remember most about her high school athletic career, and she doesn’t so much as mention the games.
“By playing sports, I have established such good relationships with people,” she said. “I have met some of my best friends through sports.
“It’s a shame it’s all coming to an end. Sports have been such a big part of my life. I would never have imagined sports dictating my life this way, but it has allowed me to grow as an individual and experience leadership that I’m going to need to carry for my entire life.”
Bring up the subject of last fall’s district championship in hockey – the program’s first, and Schneider’s pride is unmistakable.
“It was such an accomplishment, and it was an honor to be part of a team like that,” she said. “We went to camp at ODU back in July, and we worked our tails off.
“All those sprints every day in practice meant something, and to win and feel that you accomplished something - it was such great energy, and it just fueled me.”
Schneider’s positive approach to the game and her unending supply of energy also fueled her team.
“Her teammates can rely on her always giving 110 percent, always giving her best every day in practice and in a game,” Ford said. “What makes her a leader besides her work ethic is her positive attitude that just catches on with everyone.
“She’s very caring and thoughtful of her teammates, looking out for their best interests also. She’s a friend to everyone, she leads by example, and she has the true respect of her teammates and coaches.”
During the basketball season just completed, the Titans were in a hunt for a conference crown as well as a state playoff berth. Schneider – a superb three-point shooter – came up big when it mattered most, scoring 15, 13 and 17 points in consecutive playoff games.
“She was huge in the playoffs,” Mattern said. “In the Cheltenham game when we were not playing well, she kept us in it in the first half for as long as she could.”
Schneider’s success could be directly attributed to her work ethic.
“Although I think everyone on my team works hard, no one works harder than she does to be where she’s at,” Mattern said. “It’s that tenacity and internal drive that she has. It’s something you wish you could copy and paste into other players, and it’s just innate in her.”
Ask Schneider to name her favorite sport, and she cannot choose.
Everyone always asks me, ‘Do you like basketball or field hockey?’” she said. “You know – I have never given an answer to that question. Never. And honestly, I don’t think I ever well.
“They’re both sports I love. I don’t complain about playing them ever. Now I’m upset – my high school career is over. I never thought the day would come, but the saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ is really true.”
Although her high school athletic career is over, Schneider still has plenty to keep her busy.
A member of South’s student council – Titan Council – Schneider also has been involved in community service. She helped organize this year’s highly successful Coaches vs. Cancer events, and whether it’s playing bingo with the elderly residents at Neshaminy Manor or collecting gifts for the Titan Council’s annual Christmas trip to Camden for the Shepherd Project, Schneider always finds time to give to others.
“The Shepherd Project has really touched me,” she said. “It really put my life into perspective.
“Those children live for every single time we come down there, and it’s the greatest feeling to see them so happy.”
Schneider’s college list is a lengthy and impressive one.
She has been accepted at Clemson, James Madison and Drexel and just this week received her acceptance letter to the University of South Carolina. She is waiting to hear back from NC State, Providence, Chicago and UNC.
“If I have a chance to play (sports) for a D-2 or D-3 team, I would jump on that offer like crazy,” she said. “If not, I’m looking to play intramural sports to keep myself active, keep up with my basketball and field hockey.
“I just really want to go to college and experience the thrill of being there for four years.”
Schneider will major in biology with her sights set on one day becoming a dentist. She shadowed her own dentist – Dr. Robert Scarazzo of Doylestown – for three months as her graduation project.
“I’ve wanted to do something in the medical field, and I love working with people,” she said. “I was like ‘You know what – this might be something I want to do.’
“I loved it. I loved going to his office, I loved getting to know the patients. I just loved the environment he worked in. I had a chance to learn so much.”
This is one student-athlete who has gotten their money’s worth out of their high school experience.
“I just love getting involved,” Schneider said. “I’m excited to go on and see where college takes me, but I’m definitely going to miss the high school years. I’m going to live my last couple of months as a high schooler to the fullest.”
Mattern – who coached Schneider first at Unami and more recently at South – has never been a head coach without Schneider as part of her team, and she admits it will require some getting used to.
“It brings a tear to my eye when I think of how I have coached my last game with Katelyn playing, but I have been so lucky to coach her, and I know the younger players are better because they had a chance to learn from the best,” Mattern said. “Katelyn is a fantastic athlete, but she is an even better person.”
A person who lives life to the fullest.
