On Tuesday, June 1, 2021, Council Rock South seniors Aubrey Hondros, Kimmie Herritt and Sydney Mandel were recognized for committing to play soccer at the collegiate level.
Kimmie Herritt – University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Soccer)
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Final list of colleges: UMBC, Stevens Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Drexel, MIT, NJIT
Reasons for choosing UMBC: “I liked the academics. They meshed really well with my science major, and they’re pretty close to downtown D.C. so there’s a lot of great opportunities during and after college for engineering.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in soccer at the collegiate level? “I started getting serious about it in high school because club amped up a lot more. I actually used to figure skate from third grade until eighth grade. I didn’t really want to play soccer – I cried about it for a week, but my dad forced me to do a team sport. Ever since then after I dropped skating, I just loved soccer and liked being part of the team a lot.”
Coach Nick Heim says: “Kimmie was a four-year varsity player, and she ended up starting for almost all four years for us and is going on to play Division 1. She’s an absolute student of the game. When you talk about soccer IQ and really being able to see the game progress ahead of time, Kimmie is one of the best ever to do it at Council Rock South. We want kids that are cerebral on the field, we want kids that understand the game. Kimmie is absolutely everything we ever expected her to be. When she came in as a freshman, she was a little bit timid as you would expect of a freshman, but as the years progressed, she became a workhorse for us in the midfield. She’s part of the reason this group has won two league titles, has made the playoffs all four years and has gone to the state playoffs two of the four years. She’s been so integral to our success over the last couple of years on the field. Off the field, she’s a tremendous leader. She takes an incredible workload of classes, and that’s more important than anything. We want student-athletes above all else. Kimmie has been a shining example of what we want as a student-athlete. When we talk about representing our program in the years beyond South soccer, Kimmie is a perfect example of that. It’s going to be great thing for UMBC – no doubt, she is going to make an impact where she goes on the soccer field and, more importantly, after soccer when she finally hangs up her cleats and goes into the real world. We are so excited to watch her for the next four years.”
About Kimmie:
Favorite food: Salad
Favorite TV show: Law & Order SVU
Favorite music: Pop/Country
Aubrey Hondros – Bloomsburg University (Soccer)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: Bloomsburg, West Chester, Drexel
Reasons for choosing Bloomsburg: “I really liked the campus and the coach. The girls took me on a tour, and they were really friendly and talked very highly of their program.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in soccer at the collegiate level? “Sophomore year I started thinking about it, but I was very off and on. It wasn’t until junior year that I was very serious about it. After the season I had with South junior year and being a captain and leader, I realized I wanted to play further.”
Coach Nick Heim says: “Aubrey is, I think, just the fourth girl in school history to make all-state for soccer, which is a tremendous honor. On the field, Aubrey is the type of player you can say at halftime, ‘Aubrey, I need you to go impact the game – I need you to get us a goal, I need you to seal the top for us,’ and she has every capability on the field – she can finish, she can use both feet, she sees the field well. She’s an unbelievable player. More importantly, it’s what she does when no one is watching. Aubrey would come into camp every year fitter than she was the year before. She took pride in winning the fitness test every year and really setting that standard – if you want to go on and play after South soccer, this is what you need to do on your own. We only get you for two to three months a year. It’s the other nine or 10 months that are more important. Her determination and the hours that she puts in on personal training and fitness – they come to fruition, and I’m so glad she had the season that she had because for the first time in high school we all get to see what she was doing behind the scenes. She was just a fantastic leader and, along with Kimmie, was one of our team captains this year. She was a junior captain last year. She’s the type of kid that everyone on the team gets along with and you know if there’s an issue going on – you can pull her aside and say, ‘Hey, I need you to take care of this. I need you to make sure the younger players are good.’ We had kids who needed rides to practice because of the virtual school. Aubrey was so instrumental in our success this year. This past summer with restrictions, what we could do and what we couldn’t do, painting dots to stay six feet apart during preseason – if we didn’t have this senior class, this program would not be what it is. I’m so, so proud to say that the first four years I’ve been head coach here – this is that class I get four years with. I’m beyond excited for what they are going to do, not just in college but in the real world.”
About Aubrey:
Favorite food: Tacos
Favorite TV show: Gray’s Anatomy
Favorite music: Country
Sydney Mandel – Ursinus College (Soccer)
Major: Nursing
Final list of colleges: Ursinus, Villanova, Pitt
Reasons for choosing Ursinus: “I was looking at Villanova and Pittsburgh for their nursing programs. I decided on Ursinus because they have a really nice biology program that offers an academic program afterwards with Villanova, so I’m able to attend Ursinus and play soccer for four years and then attend Villanova for the next two to study nursing and get my nursing degree.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in soccer at the collegiate level? “I started playing soccer when I was three years old, and I sort of liked it until I got scared because everyone was taller than me – I’ve always been the runt of the litter, so I decided to try other sports. I tried softball for a little bit and then realized my heart was missing from soccer, so I went back into it when I was 10-11 years old, and ever since, I just kept falling in love with it every day.”
Coach Nick Heim says: “Sydney has been our starting goalie for the last two years. She was first team all-league goalie this year. Sydney is one of the greatest leaders we have ever had in the program in terms of being able to take the younger kids under her wing and really showing them what the South soccer way is. Sydney has been an outstanding example of that. I’ve gotten numerous emails from freshman parents this year telling me how great it was to have Sydney in the program and what she did for the younger girls to make them feel welcome in a really trying year. We couldn’t do the team bonding stuff that we normally do. Sydney was the perfect example of a leader for us. On the field, she is an absolute gamer. She’s one of the most hardworking and determined kids that I’ve ever had a chance to work with. Multiple times this year coaches from opposing teams have walked over to me on the sidelines and said, ‘That save that she came up with shouldn’t happen at the high school level.’ She’s a major reason why she gets to go home with a league title this year and gave us a real deep state playoff run last year. I remember freshman year Sydney was playing jayvee, and we were having a varsity only practice on one of the holidays. Over on the far field, we see this little kid running sprints back and forth – who is this kid? We find out it was Sydney putting in the extra work that certainly wasn’t required of her, but that’s who she is. She’s an absolute gamer. She works her rear end off and, more importantly than soccer, that work ethic and that determination is going to take her far in the real world.”
About Sydney:
Favorite food: Cheesecake
Favorite TV show: Supergirl
Favorite music: 80s hits
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