Soccer,Softball,Diving
Favorite athlete: Abby Wambach
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating an undefeated team the last game of our season.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Slipping on the base and falling at my first high softball practice.
Music on mobile device: Rock
Future plans: Go to college and major in engineering
Words to live by: “Live everyday to the fullest.”
One goal before turning 30: Have a successful career
One thing people don’t know about me: I love the snow.
By Craig Ostroff
It’s safe to say that Samantha Wynne’s first season on the athletic fields for Springfield Township High School was special.
“Extraordinary” or “exceptional” might fit as well.
It’s quite possible that “unique” is also an appropriate description.
Because while some freshmen sit on the sidelines, hoping to get some experience and playing time in their first high school sports season, Wynne only ever saw the bench during halftime.
That’s because Wynne played every minute of every game – all 19 of them – for the Spartans’ girls’ soccer team as a freshman.
“That’s pretty remarkable, especially for a freshman playing against 17- and 18-year-olds,” said Springfield girls’ soccer coach Suzette Wolf. “She didn’t come off the field for one second the entire season. That doesn’t happen very often. But for a freshman, that’s just incredible.”
Wynne quickly adapted to high school-level play, and used the season to learn and set the tone for the future.
“It probably took a couple games for me to get used to it, but once you’re in the game, you don’t really think about the other girls’ experience and abilities – I just gave it the best I could give with the skills I had,” Wynne said. “I’m really glad my coach felt I was able to help the team as a freshman and kept me in. It was really exciting to play that much. I love playing soccer, I love being out there. I can’t sit on the bench, I want to be out there helping the team
“I think I really improved my game that year. I found the ability to mark girls a little faster and stronger than me, I learned where to position myself, and I also got stronger. There’s a difference between a 14-year-old freshman and a senior, and I’m pretty small as it is, so that season helped me get physically stronger and mentally stronger, too.”
It also didn’t hurt that Wynne was – and still is – one of the most versatile players to ever lace up the cleats for the Spartans. Throughout her four years on the soccer pitch, Wynne has played all over the field, in just about every position.
And while many players can claim to line up at multiple spots on the field, few can match Wynne’s level of play no matter where she finds herself. A natural defender as a youth soccer player, Wynne spent much of her first two high school years on defense. A nagging injury her junior year necessitated a move to the attack, where Wynne has excelled for the past two seasons. But over the last four years, Wynne has found herself all over the field.
“Samantha plays anywhere and everywhere that you need her,” Wolf said. “She is the only player that you could put anywhere, and I mean anywhere. She goes in goal, too. She’s the most versatile player I’ve ever coached.
“Sam’s attitude is, ‘Put me anywhere on the field where I can hopefully help us to win this game.’ She never complains about it. You watch a game, and you’ll see her move from furthest up-front forward to farthest back defender.”
It’s a role Wynne relishes. Except maybe for one position.
“Coach put me in goal once this season, and I’ve been a backup goalie,” Wynne said. “I’ve been thrown in a few times if we ever need a goalie change.
“I guess I don’t mind playing goalie, I just never really had any training as a goalie, so I don’t feel that I’m the most effective back there. It can be pretty nervewracking for me, but if that’s where they need me, I’m still going to give it my best effort to help the team win.”
With an attitude like that – mixed with her talent and her ability to play wherever needed – it’s no surprise that Wynne was named a captain for her senior season, which came to a close this week when the Spartans dropped a 3-1 decision to St. Basil in the first round of the PIAA District One Class AA Tournament.
“Samantha has been a great captain for us,” Wolf said. “She is one of those captains who is a real motivator, she works really hard in every practice, always gives 150 percent, and she is always is positive when she’s pushing the girls to be the best they can be.
“This year especially, she’s matured. She’s developed as an athlete but as an adult as well. She’s in control on and off the field, with the knowledge that we’re in a tough position as a small school in a conference where we go up against much larger schools. Our team development doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard or in the standings. Samantha understands that, but has never gotten down about it. I think that’s a really strong quality for someone who’s 17 or 18.”
It’s easy for Wynne to keep things in perspective. After all, wins and losses won’t matter down the line. The memories that linger will be the time spent among friends.
“At the end of the day, I’m not going to remember the records, but the teams themselves and how hard we played and my teammates,” she said. “I’m going to remember the times where we were working hard, giving it our best effort and having a good time.
“This year, as a captain, I think I put a little extra pressure on myself because I want the best for the team and the best for the younger girls. I always try to communicate on the field, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really learned that it’s also important to communicate during practice as well, let people know when they made a nice shot or a good stop. Our league season can be tough – it’s important to make sure everyone is having fun and giving their best even if the result isn’t always what we want.”
Not surprisingly, Wynne brings the three things that have made her so successful in soccer – her abilities, her intensity, and her versatility – with her into the spring season, where as a junior she earned Third Team All-League honors at centerfield and played a key role on a Springfield softball team that would claim its first PIAA District I title since 1994.
And while Wynne hopes to pursue soccer in college, she approaches softball with the same intensity and the same mindset as she does soccer.
“I love to play centerfield,” Wynne said. “And there’s a lot of team spirit in softball. You get that team behind you and you want to be there for them and come through for them.”
That she has, both at the plate and at many of the nine field positions. Because during her freshman year, when coach Josh Ringgold needed someone to fill in or transition to a new spot, guess who often got the call?
“We played her out of her natural position her freshman year,” Ringgold said. “I was not able to put her into that role until her sophomore year, and as a freshman, she did everything I asked her. I had her at second base, catcher, positions you wouldn’t normally see a lefthander. To put a lefthander at second base is almost unheard of. But we didn’t have a choice her freshman year, and she never complained, she worked hard. And she wasn’t a catcher, but her attitude was, ‘Wherever you need me.’ That’s the type of person and teammate she is.”
In addition to her all-league honors last season, Wynne won the Spartans softball team’s Coaches Award the last two seasons.
“One of the great things about Sam is I can assign her things to help out in practice and she can do them without being told, and I always know she’s going to do it and do it right,” Ringgold said. “She’s always ready to go, always the first in, the last to leave. If a coach is running late, she can run the outfield drills while I’m working on other things with other kids.
“I don’t see anything changing this year. If anything, I think she’s going to step up even more, be a great leader, a great example for the rest of the team.”
Before she and her teammates begin their district title defense, Wynne will get one more winter season in her “fun” sport as she takes to the diving boards for the Spartans’ girls’ swimming and diving team. A gymnast in her youth, Wynne gravitated toward diving because her mother felt the sport used some of the skills and techniques of gymnastics, but without the massive time commitment that comes with high-level gymnastics.
While Wynne brings that same intensity and desire to help her team to the pool, she tries to keep it a low-pressure sport.
“I used to get nervous, especially when I was younger, because diving is a very individual sport,” Wynne said. “Usually I like having the team there with me, but when you’re up on that board, you’re by yourself. You just have to think about the dive you have to do, not everyone watching you.
“I look at diving more as my fun sport. I try not to stress myself out about it. If I mess up, it is what it is, and I move on. I just try to enjoy myself, but I also love to get better and learn new things.”
Wynne works just as hard in the classrooms as she does on the athletic fields. She’s taking several AP classes this year and is a member of the school’s Interact Club and Relay for Life team.
As for the future, she’s still narrowing down her college choices – she has her eye on a couple possibilities up north – and hoping that soccer will play a part in the next four years of her life as she pursues a degree in engineering.
“Soccer has always been my favorite sport, I don’t remember when it hasn’t been,” she said. “I would love to play in college, but academics have to come first, career has to come before soccer. But if it turns out that I can’t play on the school’s team, I’ll play club or IM soccer. I won’t stop playing.”
Wherever Wynne ends up, her coaches have the utmost confidence that she’ll be successful. And they know the kind of player and person that her college will be getting, and Springfield will be losing.
“I’m going to miss the ability to put her anywhere on the field and have confidence that she’s going to get the job done,” Wolf said. “But mostly, I’m really going to miss the little things she does, the things that most people watching might not notice. You might not notice that she plays every single position on the field. You don’t see that she organizes the team dinners, or the summer runs. And you might not notice the little things she does on the field. She can sometimes go under the radar, because she’s not trying to stand out. She does what she does for the team, not for her. She goes about her game and makes her presence felt in a quiet, mature way.”
“Samantha has always shown great leadership and has always been a great example to the younger kids,” Ringgold added. “She’s one of the best I’ve ever coached as far as covering the field, her range and getting ball in quickly. She’s a great defensive centerfielder, but more than that, she’s been a joy to have on the team. Her personality, everything about her is infectious. Kids like Samantha makes it easy to coach, she’s a joy to be around.”
