February 15, 2007
Red Lion's Jess Stemley earned a scholarship to play field hockey at Louisville.
By DAVE SOTTILE
Daily Record/Sunday News
York Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Launched:02/14/2007 11:08:20 PM EST
Feb 15, 2007 - When the YAIAA's Division I field hockey coaches voted on their 2006 postseason awards, Jess Stemley's name wasn't among the 12 submitted for all-star status.
"Jess missed four or five games because of a foot injury, and when you watched our team play, I can see where coaches around the league might have missed her," Red Lion coach Carol Gillmen said. "She didn't really stand out as a threat to score, but Jess is a great passer, a very athletic playmaker with strong physical ability.
"She did the little things a defender needed to do to help a team win games, and players like that don't get very much notoriety."
Stemley might have been ignored by league coaches, but she certainly caught a much more important eye.
The Red Lion senior will attend the University of Louisville on scholarship to play field hockey for the Cardinals in the Big East Conference come fall.
No notoriety? No problem. She thrives in the background, and that's perfectly fine by her.
"That's how I play all the time," Stemley said. "I've played soccer since I was 5, and I've always had that defensive mindset. I carried it over to field hockey.
"I'm not out there to score goals and gain a lot of recognition. I just go out and play, do my job to the best of my ability and help my team win games. I don't need the recognition."
Stemley has only been playing field hockey since seventh grade, so securing an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship is no small achievement.
"I really would have guessed I'd be playing soccer in college," Stemley said. "But after playing field hockey and soccer as a sophomore, I saw I had improved greatly as a hockey player from when I was in junior high.
"I thought I had reached my peak at soccer, since I'd been playing for so long, I didn't think I could improve much. But in field hockey, there was still room for improvement, and I really do love to play the game."
After her junior year, Stemley filled out an online profile with the National Collegiate Scouting Association, a Chicago-based company that was formed in 2000. NCSA helps get high school athletes' names, transcripts and video highlights out to college recruiters and head coaches.
"That's pretty late in the process," Stemley said. "A lot of kids are doing that when they're starting their junior years. But I filled out my survey and, basically, (NCSA) marketed me to coaches."
She wound up hearing from 12 schools at the Division I, II and III levels, including Central Michigan, Shippensburg, East Stroudsburg, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and UMass-Lowell.
"At Louisville, (the coaches) said they just stumbled upon my profile on the (NCSA) Web site," Stemley said. "They invited me down to take an official visit last month."
Blown away by the school's campus, players and coaches, and the city of Louisville itself, Stemley accepted her scholarship offer and will study civil and environmental engineering in the shadow of Churchill Downs.
"I'm ready to be on my own," she said. "I know 10 hours is a long way away from York, but I'm originally from Ohio. That's where I was born, and my grandparents still live there. They're only three hours away from Louisville."
The Cardinals posted a 12-8-0 record in 2006, fielding a team that included players from Conestoga Valley, Elizabethtown, Lower Dauphin, Palmyra and Penn Manor high schools.
"They're becoming a big-time program with a good coaching staff," Gillmen said. "They've done a nice job recruiting in our area, and Jess is a good fit for them.
"She's a very good student, and someone who makes good decisions on and off the field."
Asked what she'll bring to Louisville, Stemley didn't hesitate.
"Intensity, a strong work ethic and athleticism," she said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for me."
Reach Dave Sottile at 771-2063 or dave@ydr.com.
