Soccer
Favorite athlete: Gareth Bale
Favorite team: Chelsea FC
Favorite memory competing in sports: (Scoring the) winning goal against Truman freshman year
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I dribbled the ball into my own net when I was 10.
Music on playlist: Rap music, Artists: Lil Uzi Vert and Polo G
Future plans: I want to become a surgeon and go into a pre-medical track at Wisconsin, Michigan, or Tulane.
Words to live by: “Have no regrets”
One goal before turning 30: I want to be resident at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania
One thing people don’t know about me: Kung Fu Panda is my favorite movie.
By Mary Jane Souder
Mention the name Conner Weinberg to Alan Nicholl, and the Council Rock South soccer coach can talk for quite a while before the subject of soccer even comes up in conversation.
Not because Weinberg isn’t a standout player for the Golden Hawks - he is. The Rock South senior is a four-year varsity player and a three-year starter, but there’s a whole lot more to Conner Weinberg than soccer skills.
“When it comes to Connor Weinberg, I go straight to the kind of kid he is,” Nicholl said. “Listen to Conner talk about his schoolwork is like listening to Conner talk about the North/South rivalry. He’s passionate. He has incredibly high expectations of himself, and as a result of that, he’s ‘s just an incredibly driven kid.
“I’ve never had him in class, but I’ll tell you what – I wish I did. He’s just a terrific kid.”
A terrific kid who, according to Nicholl, also happens to be a great communicator, so it’s hardly a surprise that last year Weinberg was the public relations officer for Rock South’s Student Executive Board, serving as a liaison for the students.
“He’s an excellent communicator,” Nicholl said. “His ability to communicate the game is way beyond what you would expect from a high school kid. That very much is in his personality. He’s very good at talking, he’s very likable, but yet, he has very high standards of himself, of the team, of coaching.
“He demands from me and I like that. It’s that challenge you get from having talented players on the team. You don’t get that very often at the high school level. I lean on Conner quite a bit to be able to get that kind of communication across and to be able to take that winning spirit and that drive and dedication to playing well. That stuff filters through to the team, it really does.”
Weinberg would seem to be a natural choice for a career in marketing or sales, but he has his sights set elsewhere, choosing instead a profession far removed from a world where smooth talking is paramount.
The Rock South senior will pursue a pre-med track in college next fall with the goal of one day becoming a surgeon. It’s a career choice he made a long time ago.
“When I was younger, especially as a kid, I was always very sick – I was always in the hospital,” said Weinberg, who was diagnosed with petit mal seizures. “I would get 104 fevers and go to the emergency room – just a bunch of different issues.
“Whenever I was there – seeing certain things wouldn’t freak me out. Whereas a lot of people when they’re watching those hospital shows and there’s blood gushing – they shy away. I always thought it was so interesting. I started watching hospital shows with my parents, and it piqued my interest.”
If there were any doubts about his choice of profession, those were put to rest last summer when he was part of the Penn Medicine Medical Camp – Julian Krinsky Summer Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I basically did hospital rounds, learned about different medical fields, and it definitely solidified my choice wanting to be a surgeon,” Weinberg said.
*****
Weinberg caught Nicholl’s eye long before he stepped onto the pitch for the Golden Hawks.
“Even as a youngster, he always had a ball at his feet, he always wanted to talk about soccer, and he always wanted to be involved,” said Nicholl, who coached his older brother Justin, now a senior at Penn State University. “He would always be mulling around with the boys when Justin played.
“He just had such a zeal and such an incredible enthusiasm for playing – not only just kicking the ball, but the way he got along and the way he joked and talked. I don’t know what the word is – maybe precocious or very likable or very agreeable. He’s unbelievable. I joke with his mom quite a bit – he just has an incredibly magnetic personality.”
Weinberg – who has been playing soccer since he was two-and-a-half - served early notice that he’d be an impact player for the Golden Hawks, scoring the game-winner in Rock South’s Senior Night 1-0 win over Harry S Truman when he was a freshman.
“I was surprised he put me in with about eight minutes left,” Weinberg said. “I remember Truman had a real tall center back, and he headed the ball. I was maybe 20-25 yards from goal, and the ball came out bouncing.
“I remember right before I hit it – my assistant coach, Bobby Francis, screamed – ‘Why not?’ I’m a lefty and I hit it with my left. It was a beautiful volley and it caught the upper right triangle of the net.”
Francis brought an impressive resume to high school. He began playing travel soccer with CRUSA (Council Rock United Soccer Association) but wanted to elevate his game and had stints with FC Delco, Philly Coppa and Matchfit Academy (N.J.)
“When I was younger, I was always faster than the other kids – not so much anymore because I’m a little smaller, and I also had good foot-eye coordination,” he said. “Whenever I’m good at something, I always find it more enjoyable, and I just ran with soccer.”
Nicholl acknowledged that while Weinberg may have been a bit undersized as a freshman – he possessed a unique skill set.
“You can tell he’s trained, he’s dedicated to his craft,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “He has a very high soccer IQ, and while his time may have been limited as a freshman, we were definitely motivated to get the boy some minutes just to develop him and get him used to the style, the speed and the physicality without putting his health at risk.”
Weinberg has been a fixture in the Golden Hawks’ midfield since he was a sophomore.
“He’s so good on the ball, he’s excellent in possession, and he’s got a wonderful left foot,” Nicholl said. “He’s the kind of player you want on the ball. He sees the game exceptionally well – you can see his head’s on a swivel, and he sees things quicker than most.
“He’s playing at a 10 all the time, he’s in fifth gear all the time, and it pulls everyone else. He’s a great kid all around.”
Weinberg has had his share of struggles along the way.
“Originally, I did want to play college soccer, but I had a bunch of different injuries,” he said. “The summer before eighth grade I had a stress fracture in my heel that led to something like RSD where it’s a nerve issue. I couldn’t walk for a month.
“Being in a boot, being in PT, being in different casts led to me being injured on and off for a year-and-a-half/two years. It was very hard to get back into the game because every time I’d get back I’d either hurt myself again or I wasn’t as good, so it made me lose the fire.
“I still love soccer and everything about it, but it definitely took away an aspect that I loved about it. It basically snowballed into a bunch of different issues like tendinitis going all the way up to my thigh in almost every muscle you can think of.”
Weinberg has been relatively injury free but still battled muscular issues years after he was hurt. This fall, he is just happy to be back on the field.
“It was definitely a roller coaster,” he said. “We obviously weren’t expecting the season. That’s when we were looking at the Big Ten cancelling football and all these different colleges cancelling, but somehow we pulled it off. It was definitely a relief to find out we were playing.
“I love to play the game, and while it’s been ups and downs with me in soccer between injuries, travelling and a lot of different stuff, soccer has definitely given me an outlet to escape, so this season is one of my last escapes, if you will. It’s going to be really sad to see it end, but I’m also thankful that we have a season because I know a bunch of schools aren’t having that.”
Off the soccer pitch, Weinberg is an excellent student and carries an ambitious course load that included four AP classes and two honors classes. He is hoping to serve as co-president with teammate Andrew Rosenfeld of Rock South’s chapter of Athletes Helping Athletes.
Weinberg’s college options include Michigan, Wisconsin, Lehigh, Maryland, Ohio State and Tulane, and according to his coach, he will leave a mark wherever he goes.
“He’s a kid you pay attention to – he doesn’t give you a choice,” Nicholl said.
