A long way from the Eganville midget boys house league to D1 full fastball scholarship. Congrats to Chelsey Schoenfeldt.Scholarship for softball player Anthony Dixon, Pembroke Daily ObserverOn the threshold of high school graduation, a gifted area softball player has achieved her goal.
Chelsey Schoenfeldt, a Grade 12 student at Opeongo High School, has received a full scholarship to attend school in the United States and will be a Winthrop Eagle.
Actually, Schoenfeldt was offered six full-ride scholarships to different U. S. schools, however, last week she received her national letter of intent from Winthrop University, the school she had chosen to attend.
Schoenfeldt said she is excited, but knew the school's softball coach had been watching her and hoping to recruit her for a couple of years already.
"I had other offers but this is Division 1, they offered me a full ride and there's lots of other Canadians that go there plus Winthrop has my program so it was a perfect fit," she said.
At Winthrop, when not on the field, Schoenfeldt will be studying exercise science with the intent on becoming an athletic therapist. With her record of achieving her goals, that shouldn't be a problem.
On March Break earlier this year, Schoenfeldt was down in the southern United States playing in a showcase tournament in Georgia and also South Carolina. She had an opportunity, while in the neighbourhood, to visit the Winthrop campus, and meet the coach. She toured the athletic facilities, residences and academic buildings.
Schoenfeldt is a pitcher and knows she is going to have to work hard to earn her spot.
"I'll be a freshman so I won't be pitching as much as practicing but the coach told me when I get there, they are going to work on my hitting so I can get more playing time," Schoenfeldt said.
Chelsey's mother Joan Schoenfeldt said her daughter has a fairly unique set of skills which is what made her so popular with schools in the United States.
"What made her so popular with the U. S. schools is that she is a pitcher who can hit," Ms. Schoenfeldt said. "Normally, if you are a pitcher that is all you do but if you are a pitcher who can hit, you are in high demand. Last season she hit seven over the fence."
Her father Rodney Schoenfeldt said Chelsey started playing T-ball at age three at the Lake Dore Ball Park. After playing there for several season, she moved on to play in Pembroke for a few years.
At the age of 12, she was pitching for the Pembroke Ponies in the ladies league in Pembroke.
She played in Micksburg and then moved on to play in Eganville. Her career in Eganville wrapped up with her playing in midget boys house league.
Mr. Schoenfeldt said her pitching had become very powerful at that time and even the midget boys had trouble getting a hit off her.
Since that time, she has played for competitive teams in Orleans, Kingston and still plays for Mississauga.
Schoenfeldt was also in try-outs for nine months for Team Ontario which will play this year in the 2009 Canada Games. While she was the first pick for the team, but after talking with her parents and her head softball coach, she turned the offer down.
Her father said she knew that this was an amazing opportunity but felt that she had made a commitment to play with her team in Mississauga.
"If she accepted the position, she would have been away from her team somewhat and felt that her team and future education was more important. If she wasn't with her team playing at several U. S. showcases, she may not have had the chance to be seen and the opportunity for a U. S. scholarship may not have arose. (These are) Choices you have to make," Mr. Schoenfeldt said.
Currently, Schoenfeldt pitches for the Mississauga North Tigers.
Every Saturday, her father drives her to Mississauga for the team's practice while she reads books for school. She does the driving on the way back.
Juggling her senior year at Opeongo High School while playing ball in Mississauga and working at the McEwen gas station in Golden Lake is a challenge but one she is managing.
"My boss has my softball scheduled pinned up at the gas station," she said.
Her classes at Winthrop begin at the end of August.
"I can come back for Christmas. I'll miss home for sure," she said.
Now that she has achieved her long-time goal of a softball scholarship, she is once again looking ahead.
"What's my new goal? To graduate from Winthrop with my degree," she said.
