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Female athlete of the year
This Frankford senior knows championships

BY MIKE PODGORSKI
Sports Writer

Frankford High's Therese Sheerin can answer a lot of questions about high school sports but there's one where she would be left totally clueless on how to respond.

"How frustrating is it to end a season without winning a Public League championship?"

That's because Sheerin has played on four straight championship teams with the Pioneers in field hockey and this month she hopes to claim a fourth league crown in as many tries with the school's soccer squad.

"In my wildest dreams I never imagined having that much success in high school," Sheerin said. "It's a credit to (field hockey head coach) Mitch Kline and (soccer head coach) Bill Snyder because they're awesome coaches and they know how to get the most from every player."

Sheerin has been chosen as the News Gleaner's Female Athlete of the Year as well as the Field Hockey Player of the Year for the 1997-98 season.

On May 20 she'll receive her awards at the Northeast News Gleaner - Frankford Rotary Club's 13th Annual Sports Awards Banquet. The event will be held at Chateau Caterers, Bridge St. and Harbison Ave. For ticket information call 535-4274.

This spring Sheerin will most likely be named to the All-Public League's first team in soccer for the fourth year in a row.

Coming through in the clutch has been her trademark at Frankford as she scored the winning goal in each of the last three Public League soccer championship games.

"It's really cool to have scored so many big goals like that," she said. "But it never really mattered to me whether I scored or not. I just wanted our team to win."

Sheerin's first career goal with the Pioneers was the tally that lifted them to the promised land in her freshman campaign.

It came on a direct kick and she was perhaps more surprised than anyone that she was able to score in such a critical situation.

"When I got that opportunity I was afraid that I was going to kick the ball over the net like I had done all season in practice," she said. "But somehow I managed to knock it into the net and I suddenly became a hero."

While many soccer players start playing at an early age Sheerin wasn't interested in the sport until her father got her into it when she was 10.

She was a member of Somerton's FC Bayern club soccer team for several years under the guidance of coaches Dennis Sullivan and Chris Coulter.

"I owe a lot of credit to them because they taught me almost everything I know about soccer," Sheerin said. "My experience with FC Bayern helped me develop so I was already a skilled player when I got to Frankford."

On the other hand the Frankford resident didn't pick up a field hockey stick until she signed up with the Pioneers in the fall of 1994.

As a freshman she decided to give field hockey a try primarily to keep in shape until soccer season came around in the spring. In fact she had thoughts of not playing at all the following year before being persuaded to stick with it.

"It was so frustrating when I first started field hockey," she said. "I had a hard time getting used to the stick as well as hitting such a small ball. I really stunk at the beginning and I thought that I'd never be good at it."

Now the only thing that irks Sheerin about field hockey is the fact that she and her Pioneer teammates have had to share all of their recent championships with the Eagles from George Washington.

Every league title clash between Frankford and Washington from 1994 to 1997 ended in scoreless ties.

"If it was up to me I would've just kept playing until somebody scored," Sheerin said. "I wouldn't want the game to be decided by a shootout because it would be too much pressure for the goaltenders and the players taking the shots."

After getting off to a slow start Sheerin's field hockey career at Frankford ended with two appearances on the all- Public League's first team.

Sheerin feels fortunate to have had the chance of playing field hockey and soccer at Frankford. Unfortunately she won't have that same privilege in college because both sports are played in the fall.

So she has decided to stick with soccer and say goodbye to her field hockey days. In September she hopes to play for Holy Family College, West Chester University or Philadelphia Textile.

As for Frankford the thought that she'll be graduating next month hasn't really sunk in yet. She's too busy trying to capture that championship feeling one last time with the soccer squad.

"We're three-time defending champions but that doesn't mean I expect us to win it all this year," she said. "It's going to be difficult and we have to work our butts off for it. But if we push ourselves and not let up I think we can do it again."

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