Softball
Favorite athlete: Chase Utley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Starting at shortstop as a freshman in the first playoff game in Council Rock South softball history
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During the college recruiting process, I attended a camp at a prestigious university. I thought I did well, but soon realized that I had no shot of getting an offer after the coach said, “Nice job. Keep in touch, Priscilla.” Misspelling my name is one thing, but not remembering it even when I was wearing a nametag was pretty funny.
Music on your iPod: Hip-Hop, R&B, and Pop
Future plans: Play softball at Yale University and go to graduate school after
Words to live by: “Success is the result of hard work, determination, and a positive attitude.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel throughout Europe
One thing people don’t know about me: I love watching cooking and makeup videos on YouTube and TV.
By Mary Jane Souder
Phylicia Wilcov is a student-athlete who has found a way to do it all.
Literally.
A captain of her softball team, the Council Rock South senior has had a love affair with the sport for as long as she can remember and will be playing at the Division One level next year. She is involved in a myriad of school activities, and there’s no mistaking her commitment to community service.
But that's just a part of her impressive resume.
“I value academics a lot,” Wilkov said. “As much as I love softball and softball is my passion, academics is right up there.”
For the past four years, she has taken the hardest courses her school has offered, and in a senior year when some might elect to put it on cruise control, Wilkov is taking four advanced placement classes. It is the desire to be challenged academically that influenced her decision to continue her education at Yale University.
Wilkov’s journey to the Ivy League school is an interesting one and began when she asked her parents – Matt and Michelle Wilkov - about their college experience, a conversation that paved the way for her future.
“I will never forget – when I was 10 years old, I asked my parents where they went to college,” said Wilkov, whose father attended Cornell and mother went to Yale. “I said, ‘What is Ivy League?’ I had no idea what it was.
“They told me it’s (some) of the most prestigious schools in the country, and you have to have good grades and work hard to get there. I was like, ‘I want to be just like my parents.’ From there on, middle school and high school, I worked so hard in and outside the classroom.”
The results speak for themselves.
The secretary of South’s National Honor Society, Wilkov, who boasts a 4.6 GPA, is ranked in the top one percent of her senior class of approximately 520 students and will represent her school in 6ABC’s Best of Class event.
She is the Class of 2017 Student Advisory Board officer and is a doer, a difference maker. She gave a window into her remarkable ability to make things happen when – as a seventh grader – she founded a non-profit organization that focused on supporting individuals with special needs.
Inspired by her brother Michael, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age, her non-profit, We Bake Smiles Foundation, purchased iPads and donated them to schools that include Council Rock, Pennsbury as well as schools in Massachusetts.
“It was difficult finding activities that both my brother and I enjoyed doing together until I stumbled upon a common interest in baking,” Wilkov said. “(The foundation) raised money - a lot of the time through baking.”
These days the foundation is more of a hobby for Wilkov but the cause is not. She is the co-founder and co-president of the Autism Awareness Club at South and remains passionate about helping others.
*****
Softball.
It’s not just an interesting diversion for Wilkov. She is invested in a sport she has been playing since her earliest recollection.
“When I was little, I played t-ball, I played soccer, basketball, and I did dance,” she said. “I tried almost every sport.”
Wilkov even had a stint with field hockey in middle school, but softball has always been number one.
“When I first started playing, my dad was my coach in intramural softball, and then I decided to try out for a travel team when I was about 10 years old,” she said. “Once I started out with travel, I just loved the girls, I just loved the coaches. I loved the competitive atmosphere, and I continued with it."
For the past three years, Wilkov has played for the Philadelphia Spirit 18U Gold squad. She has also been a fixture in the varsity lineup at South for four years.
“She’s played short, third and first,” coach Greg Heydet said. “Her freshman year she played outfield, and she went to shortstop sophomore year.
“Last year she went to third and we moved Mel (Wilkinson) to the outfield because we needed help out there. She would be our shortstop, but right now she’s playing first because she’s a little hurt. She’s never been hurt, and it’s killing her because it’s her last year.”
Wilkov also contributes with her bat.
“The last two years she’s picked it up,” Heydet said. “She works hard at her game. She’s just constantly working at it.
“She’s got power, and she’s a fun kid. Everyone gets along with her. She’s a coach’s player and will stand by her coaches and what the coaches say. She is very friendly and thoughtful, and she will so anything for everyone. She’s a great kid.”
As a captain, Wilkov shares a special bond with her coach and communicates with him regularly about team matters.
“He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for,” she said. “He does so much for our team that goes unnoticed by many.
“He is always thinking about the game, and he wants to win so badly. He’s just the nicest guy. His actions are so honorable – the way he treats our team, the way he goes out of the way for all of us. He just wants all of us to succeed and have fun. If he makes us have an early morning practice, there’s always donuts. He’s always going out of his way to make sure we’re having a fun time and at the same time improving.”
Wilkov and fellow seniors Steph Andreoli and Melanie Wilkinson are the nucleus of this year’s squad.
“We’ve been friends forever,” Wilkov said. “My first travel team was the Northampton Rebels a long time ago, and the three of us first started on that team.
“My first travel experiences were with them, and although throughout the years we haven’t been on the same travel team – when we reunite for high school softball, it was like no time went by. Our bond is great, and I can always count on them to lift me up.
“All the other girls too – it’s weird when girls graduate because you get a whole new team. Every single year I feel like with our team we’ve always been able to have that chemistry with everybody.”
And what will Wilkov remember most about high school softball?
“With softball, I met girls that are in so many different grades, so I’ve been able to connect with so many different grades,” she said. “The coaches are great. I’m never going to forget them and just the fun memories we have like dancing on the buses, cracking jokes at times when coach is talking, stuff like that makes everything so fun.
“I’m never going to forget the bonds I’ve made with all these girls over the past four years – I’m just never going to forget them.”
Wilkov will continue her softball career at Yale, and interestingly, her college choices came down to Cornell and Yale, the alma maters of her parents.
“When thinking about playing in college, I wanted to make sure I went to a school with strong athletics and a prestigious academic reputation,” she said. “Throughout the recruiting process, I was looking at some Ivy League schools and some other high academic schools, and when I visited Yale, the coaches were just amazing, the team was amazing.
“The school was a perfect fit for me. I communicated with the coach over the years, and we had a match. Both of my parents said, ‘Go wherever you will be happy.’ Both of them were just thrilled when it happened.
Wilkov will major in economics, and it’s not a stretch to imagine her one day attaining her dream job of chief financial officer of a company.
Credit, she says, goes to her parents, beginning with softball and extending to every phase of her life.
“Softball-wise, my mom has been my coach,” Wilkov said. “You always have your travel coach, you have you school coach, but my real coach is my mom. She knows before the game even happens if I’m going to do well, based on my attitude, based on when I get up to the plate – what I look like. It’s crazy. Whenever I’m in a slump or I need her advice, she always knows exactly how to help me.
My dad - the same way. He’s always been so supportive, and he’s always the one, ‘You’ve got to listen to your mom, you’ve got to listen to your mom’ because my mom always knows right. Both of them have just been so supportive over the years and I couldn’t thank them enough.”
