Four years – 12 seasons – of high school sports is over for Sheboygan South senior Amy Pfile.
She just wrapped up her fourth soccer season and she’s also competed on the volleyball and basketball teams since she was a freshman.
Practice starts in mid-August and Pfile is involved in sports in some way, shape or form for all but a total of two to three weeks – until last Tuesday when the Redwings were eliminated from the playoffs.
She turned in uniforms on Wednesday and attended a soccer banquet with her family at a park in Kohler Thursday.
Pfile, who graduates Sunday and will major in special education at UW-Eau Claire in the fall, described what a rare day without sports – sort of – was on Thursday.
Wake up, hurry up: Pfile normally gets up at 7 a.m. and leaves for school just 15 or 20 minutes later.
“I’m so used to having a short amount of time because I typically have to pack for practice or games that day. It was really nice for me this morning, being able to wake up and not worrying about getting ready for anything.”
Time for a pit stop: With all of the ‘extra’ free time, Pfile gets to stop at Starbucks.
“Getting coffee for me takes like another 10 minutes to be able to get to school. So all that time is when I would spend getting things ready for practice or my games. It sounds so simple, but it’s so nice to not have to have any burden anymore.”
The rally begins: Pfile’s first class is English and she’s already working hard.
“I felt like I was trying almost to catch up from this week’s work because the game on Tuesday went super late and the things that are due Friday I tried to get as much of that done Thursday as I could.”
Thanks, mom: After her child development class, Pfile drives to James Madison Elementary School for her Youth Tutoring Youth program. She returns to South for fourth hour, which is similar to homeroom.
It is then lunch time, and Pfile usually returns home to finish preparing for her sporting event or practice that she did not get done in the morning. On this day, however, Pfile got to spend lunch eating grilled cheese with her parents.
“My mom made one of my favorite lunchtime meals.”
Back to work: Pfile returns to school for study hall and continues her homework.
“I had to do a lot of work catching up to make sure I would be able to graduate with good grades.”
Sign on the dotted line: After math and psychology classes, all South students go to the fieldhouse for the school’s first ‘signing day.’
Similar to when high school athletes sign their letter of intent to the college they will play at, every senior that is attending college, the military or working ‘signs’ in front of the whole school.
Former Lutheran basketball star and current NBA player Sam Dekker and his wife were guest speakers.
“That was a brand new experience because they’d never done that before. It was run really nicely. It was really exciting for a lot of the seniors. (The school) made it a huge deal. … I thought it was really cool for (Dekker) to take time out of his day, to kind of show that our community is all together. I really appreciated that.”
No more rushing around: The school days ends at 3:30 and for once, Pfile does not have to go to practice or a game. She returns home and spends more time with her parents.
“That’s something I’m not able to do a lot. Even though it sounds really simple and not that exciting, for me it’s extremely nice just to be able to come home and not be in a rush to go do something right away.”
Pack a basket: Pfile attends the soccer banquet and is named the team’s best defensive player, and also shares the Redwing Way Award with co-captain Ashley Paltzer.
“I was surprised that I won the best defensive player because typically Ashley has won that in the past. I felt really emotional because I never got that award before. That was really special for me.”
Pfile also brought a gift for each coach to show them how much they meant to her.
“My soccer coaches have probably been some of my absolute favorite coaches; they’ve really changed my life.”
Another pit stop: Pfile gets to run errands with her parents after the banquet.
“That’s something I usually never do.”
Movie time: At 8:30, the family finishes watching a new Netflix movie about Ted Bundy.
“That’s something we haven’t done in a really long time because I’m usually gone. I thought it was really interesting.”
Day comes to an end: Usually Pfile says she goes to bed around midnight but this time it’s 11:15ish while she was still trying to read her psych book and watch YouTube videos that were about her lesson.
“I’ve been really anxious trying to study for my final exams since it’s my last final for high school ever. I want to leave on a positive note.”
Categories: Sports