SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete for week of Dec. 2, 2020
For Jackie Kubala, it’s all about having a positive effect on others. It’s apparent in her participation in Athletes for Athletes and Unified Track. And it was on display leading up to her senior season on the soccer pitch for William Tennent, where Kubala willingly put the needs of the team above any potential personal glory. “Jackie came to me in the beginning of the season and told me she would play any position that would help the team,” said Panthers’ coach Bill Hontz. “We moved her to the back line to help shore up the defense, which is the most important area of the field.” Kubala, who played most of her high school career in the midfield, welcomed the change and the challenge. “I like to be a player who can be played anywhere,” she said. “I try to be flexible so I can be put at whatever position they need me. Team effort is important. At the end of the day, we work as a unit to win games. It’s not about individual statistics, I want the team to win, so wherever they think I can most help the team to win, I’m willing to play wherever they need me.”
The move paid dividends, as the Panthers posted four shutouts en route to a perfect 8-0 league record and were crowned the first-ever champions of the newly re-established Suburban One Freedom Division. “Jackie was a large part in going undefeated in our new division and was a big part of the starting back line,” Hontz said. But while this William Tennent team—whose season ended in the first round of the District One playoffs and a final record of 9-3—boasted plenty of experience, that doesn’t mean that the veteran leadership wasn’t crucial in a season that was in jeopardy of never even starting. Even when the decision was made to move forward with the fall sports seasons, the COVID-19 era brought about a host of new challenges—most notably, pasta parties and other team bonding experiences were all but impossible. “The only chances we really had to be together as a team were during practices, so we did team bonding drills, tried to get to know the underclassmen and get them involved and participating as much as possible,” Kubala said.
Adapting and adjusting to her circumstances is nothing new for Kubala. After battling for playing time as a freshman and splitting time between junior varsity and a very strong varsity squad, she finally cracked the starting lineup in the Panthers’ District playoff game. But soon after, she suffered a torn ACL while playing for her club team, and suddenly what was supposed to be a sophomore season where she had secured a starting spot was over before it had even begun. Kubala worked hard through rehab, and dedicated herself to becoming a smarter player in order to overcome any potential speed or agility loss she might face once she was able to return. And she spent as much time with the team as well. Kubala triumphantly returned for her junior season, and in the Panthers’ fifth game of the season, which also happened to be her birthday, Kubala put an exclamation point on her recovery by netting the game-winning goal in Tennent’s 3-2 win over a very strong Wissahickon team.
And though she quickly set about putting her injury behind her, her experiences affected Kubala in profound ways. In fact, they helped her decide on her future. Not surprisingly, it’s a career plan that will see Kubala helping others. Though she hasn’t come to a decision just yet as to where she’ll spend her next four years, she will be pursuing a major and a career in the nursing field, possibly in anesthesiology or in the NCIU. Kubala said she’d like to play soccer in college, though her college choices and the rigorous nursing courseload will likely mean playing at the club level And though her high school soccer career has come to a close, Kubala is still extremely involved in the goings on at William Tennent. She is a member of the National Honor Society, and participates in Athletes Helping Athletes and Modified Track, working with classmates and students with special needs. “It really makes me happy being involved in things like that,” she said. “I’ve always thought it was important to get kids involved in sports, and I wanted to devote my time to kids with special needs, to get them introduced to sports and have fun while participating.”
To read Kubala’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/jackie-kubala-0092298
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete for week of Dec. 2, 2020
Ryan Schoeneman is the definition of easygoing. So easygoing that coach Tom Foley gave the Neshaminy senior an interesting directive heading into his final soccer season. “I told him, ‘We have some hot-tempered kids, and I’m going to rely on you to settle them down if things go awry,’” Foley said. “He’s like, ‘Well, coach, they might not like me that much, but I’ll try my best.’ I said, ‘They’ll only be mad a couple of minutes.’” Schoeneman remembers that conversation with his coach and hasn’t forgotten the frustration that accompanied the Redskins’ back-to-back scoreless ties to open their season. “We were still working on building the team chemistry back up to its peak,” Schoeneman said. “In the first two games, we found ourselves stuck and not putting the ball in the back of the net. The middle of the field seemed very frustrated because we were playing great team defense all over the field although we just couldn’t generate enough offensive play to find the back of the net. I noticed that, and since then, every time we had one of those moments where we got it to the box and just couldn’t tuck it away, I would just say to the boys ‘Let’s calm down, play our game, and the goal will come.’ I never got a response because they were most likely stuck in frustration, although I am sure that they heard me. Since then, I feel like they seemed to play calmer and in less of a panic mode when things like that happened. The goals started to come and I had to say it less and less. The more confident and comfortable we all played together, the better we played.”
Listening to Foley tell it, it’s all but impossible to be angry with Schoeneman. “The kids love him,” the Redskins’ coach said. “He’s one of those kids that whatever good-natured kidding comes his way, he gives that ‘Aw shucks’ type of look. We’ll bust his chops a little bit, and he’ll do the same thing over again just for a quick laugh. He’s just an overall good kid.” If easygoing describes Schoeneman off the soccer pitch, he is intense on it, The senior outside back was a key member of a backline that was literally impenetrable. The Redskins had 12 shutouts in 17 games en route to a District One 4A title and a trip to the state title game in Hershey where they fell to Seneca Valley 2-1 in overtime. Interestingly, Schoeneman had been a midfielder for most of his career, but when Foley was looking for someone to play outside back this year, he chose Schoeneman. “We thought he could handle it,” Foley said. “Being an unselfish kid, he said, ‘Whatever the team needs,’ and he happily went back there even though his natural position is an outside midfielder. He did a phenomenal job back there. He’s clearly one of the reasons we had such an outstanding season, especially defensively.”
A member of the National Honor Society, Schoeneman was a captain for Gym Night, and he is a member of the Inter-Ac Club, which does community service. He recently enlisted his soccer team to donate items for his Operation Shoebox project, which included filling shoeboxes with items that are distributed to children in Third World countries. “It was just a good thing to bring us together and do something good for the world,” Schoeneman said. The Neshaminy senior has his sights set on attending a large school – Penn State (where both his siblings are in school) and Florida State top his list, and the senior outside defensive back – a second team All-SOL selection - is looking to continue his soccer career at the club level. “I told him – you could definitely play at a nice Division 2 school or a really highly competitive Division 3 school, but he’d rather go to Penn State,” Foley said. I can’t say enough about the kid. He’s a super nice kid, he doesn’t care about the accolades. I wish he could have been a first teamer, but I got five kids on the first team this year, and the coaches had to draw a line somewhere. Unfortunately, he and Louie (Salmi) didn’t get first team. I said to the both of them, ‘You guys are the main reason we are where we are.’ Ryan said, ‘Coach, it doesn’t matter. If we win the district and win the state, that’s all that matters to me.’ That’s the type of kid he is.”
To read Schoeneman’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/ryan-schoeneman-0092297
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