Field Hockey, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Maya Moore
Favorite team:Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being back-to-back-to-back-to-back league champs for field hockey
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Throwing my field hockey stick 50 yards during a game
Music on mobile device: Rap/pop
Future plans: Get a great college education and job
Words to live by: "Do good,be good" -my dad
One goal before turning 30: Get married
One thing people don’t know about me:I am a triplet
By Craig Ostroff
Sophie Kolkka is not one to spend too much time looking back. She’d much rather focus on the present.
When the Plymouth Whitemarsh midfielder stepped onto the lacrosse field for the first game of her senior season, she was thinking about one thing, and one thing only.
“We’re looking to prove ourselves this year,” Kolkka said. “We definitely want to make a statement this year and do well in our league.
“I knew that this was the first game of my senior season and it was a big chance for me and for the team to get back and show everyone that we can have a big season. We have a lot to prove.”
For Kolkka, there’s no looking back. There are no thoughts of the PCL injury suffered in the first game of her junior season that cost her the entire lacrosse season, no being satisfied that she’s rehabbed and worked hard to step back onto the field, and certainly, no hesitation to play the game the only way she knows how – intense, aggressive, physical.
“She doesn’t look like she’s had any time off,” PW girls’ lacrosse coach Ellen Reilly said. “She’s come back like her old self. The injury doesn’t seem to have affected her in any way, and she’s off to an awesome start for us.”
Kolkka’s injury occurred in the Colonials’ first game last season against Radnor and was the result of a knee-first fall to the ground followed by another player landing on top of her right leg.
“I tried to walk it off, I got up and I tried to cut and just went down,” Kolkka said. “My knee locked as soon as I tried to cut. I fell to the ground and I couldn’t get up.”
“Last year would have been an amazing year for her,” Reilly said. “To go down in the first game devastated her, and it also devastated our team. We had a hard time regrouping. Sophie is a midfielder, she takes draws or she’s on the circle for draws, she plays both ends of the field. It took a while to get organized without her.”
While the Colonials struggled through an injury-plagued season, finishing at 7-10 overall (5-4 in the Suburban One American Conference), Kolkka made sure that her presence was felt, even if it wasn’t on the field.
Even with schoolwork and doctor’s visits and physical therapy, Kolkka showed up to every practice and every game to lend her support and guidance in any way she could.
“I wanted to stay involved as much as I could, to be there for them. I wanted to show them I’m a sister and a teammate and a friend,” she said.
Her dedication to the team last year proved to be a major reason why – despite missing the season – Kolkka was voted a captain on this year’s squad. It’s an honor she takes very seriously.
“I don’t even have the words to describe what it means to me,” she said. “For the team to have that kind of faith in me even though I missed an entire season - being captain is something I’ve dreamed of since middle school.
“But now I have to show that I’m capable of being a leader and able to show the team what to do and what not to do on the field, and represent the school. It’s a big job.”
And it’s one she is handling exceptionally well. Reilly said she couldn’t ask for a better role model for the younger players to watch and emulate.
“Sophie runs both ends of the field, she gives 200 percent,” Reilly said. “She does things on the field you wish all your players would know and understand. She really knows the game, sees what’s happening, and she’s able to make a great play on defense that other kids can’t even comprehend how to do it, and then she goes down the field with the ball and helps to set up the attack.
“The way Sophie plays – she fights for everything. She gets knocked all over the place and gets back up fighting, she does not let up. Coming back from an injury, initially I was a little concerned, but after watching her, that’s how she plays and she has to play that way or she’s not the player that she is.”
Changing her position or laying off the physical aspect of her game were never considerations for Kolkka.
“Changing anything up was never a question for me,” she said. “I’m always competitive. My mindset wasn’t to change anything, it was to put the injury in the past and focus on now. I step on the field and I’m thinking about that game. I don’t think about last year.”
Of course, part of the reason why Kolkka and Reilly were so confident heading into the lacrosse season is that Kolkka had already had a full season on the athletic field to test her leg. Kolkka’s PCL had healed enough that she was healthy at the start of the field hockey season in the fall.
A senior captain in field hockey, Kolkka was instrumental in helping lead the Colonials to a fourth consecutive Suburban One American Conference title with an unblemished 14-0 league record.
“That meant so much to me,” said Kolkka, a four-year varsity letterwinner who earned First-Team All-League honors and was recognized by the PHSFHCA for her academic honors this season. “We had won three league championships, so we wanted to finish the job and win the fourth as well. We had a large senior class, and some of us have been playing together since kindergarten. It’s something we really cherish and hold as really special.”
Though there may have been some uncertainty heading into field hockey season – coming off an injury and switching to the center back position – Kolkka quickly dispelled any doubts that she or anyone else may have had.
“Sophie had a really special season as a senior,” said Colonials’ hockey coach Charise Halteman. “She took to center back right away, and she played consistently at a high level throughout the season. She embodied what it takes to be a senior leader. She played at a high level, made big plays, and did it while showing what a hard worker she was. She cares about each game, she’s out there to play her best every time.”
While Kolkka doesn’t focus on personal goals or achievements, this year did provide her with a very special opportunity to play both field hockey and lacrosse with her sister Callie, a sophomore.
“I can’t even describe what it’s like to play with my sister,” Kolkka said. “It’s so much fun because we’re so close with one another. And having her there makes being a captain more important to me. I know she’s one of the girls looking to me and the other captains. I do what I can to try to encourage her and support her.”
Kolkka is close with all her siblings. That’s not uncommon when you’re a triplet. Brothers Stefan and Griffin play boys’ lacrosse for PW, and eldest brother Niko recently graduated Shippensburg.
While the siblings all get along, being the lone girl in the triplets has allowed Kolkka to develop her own identity and her own circle of friends.
Of course, having two brothers your age means a lot of roughhousing as a kid … and you’ve got to learn to stand up for yourself.
“I think being the only girl as a triplet made me a lot stronger and tougher,” she said. “Between my brothers and my older brother, they would always beat up on me, we’d all mess around, compete with each other. I think that made me a lot stronger and tougher and competitive and maybe that’s why I bring that competitiveness onto the field. I think that definitely helped make me the player I am today.”
In the fall, the triplets will all go their own way to college. Kolkka will head to St. Joseph’s University, where she will play lacrosse and pursue a degree in food marketing.
“The program and the school itself are great,” she said. “It’s close to home, I’ll be able to play lacrosse, and when I walked on campus, I just got that feeling of butterflies in my stomach, that feeling that this was the place I wanted to be.”
But before hanging up her Plymouth Whitemarsh uniform and participating in the commencement ceremony, Kolkka has a few goals she’d like to accomplish in her final season in Colonial athletics.
Not surprisingly, those goals don’t include any personal stats or honors.
“I want our team to prove itself and challenge in the league, and winning a championship would just be a cherry on top for a senior season,” she said. “For me, I’m not looking for a certain amount of points or all-league or anything like that. I don’t think my stats show who I am as a player on the field. If I have a personal goal, it would be just to be the best player that I can, and the best teammate I can be for my team.”
And there is no doubt for those who have watched her grow and improve for the past four years, that Kolkka’s abilities, work ethic, and leadership will be felt on the Plymouth Whitemarsh field hockey and lacrosse fields for years to come.
“Sophie is an all-around great kid, a coach’s dream,” Reilly said. “I don’t have to ask her to do anything, she’s always there asking what she needs to do, not for herself but for her team, and she always thanks you when she’s done. It’s awesome to have kids like that.”
“With Sophie leaving, we’re losing a really competitive athlete who takes her role seriously and shows up every day to work and train,” Halteman said. “She wants to be good herself, but she wants to be good because that will help the team. She always puts the team first.
“She’s been a great athlete to coach and work with the last four years. We’re certainly going to miss her, but she’s left a legacy for her younger teammates to look up to. She’s been a positive contributor not just on the field, but to the program, and even after she’s gone, her leadership and work ethic is going to keep inspiring kids and make them want to work harder.”
