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About Jackson herald. (Jefferson, Jackson County, Ga.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2023)
o o March 8, 2023 The Jackson Herald Sports www.mainstreetnewssports.com Phone: (706) 367-5233 Fax:(706)387-5417 sports@mainstreetnews. com Section B Faith brings JCHS’s Shea Zwemke through two back to back injuries Submitted photo. Shea Zwemke heads a ball during a soccer game. By Taylor Hearn taytor@mainstreetnews. com Like most. Shea Zwemke began her soccer career at the recreation league level. Zwemke explained that soc cer was “her thing” and she wanted to play it despite not growing up in a household where soccer was a popular sport. “It is kind of funny actu ally because my mom was a multi-sport athlete growing up and the only sport she did not participate in was soccer,” Zwemke said. Growing up, Zwemke played on many different club league soccer teams, including Freedom, Alli ance and GSA. “One of the side refs at one of my recre ation league games invited me to be on a club soccer team and that is how I got introduced to club ball,” Zwemke said. Zwemke had quite the trying soccer career grow ing up. “In sixth grade I only made the last day of tryouts due to being sick, so I was only an alternate. During my seventh grade, I made the team and ended up obtaining a mild concussion and in my eighth grade year I fractured one of my an kles,” Zwemke explained. Not only was Zwemke’s middle school career full of ups and downs with inju ries, so was her high school career. During Zwemke’s sophomore and junior year she endured two back to back ACL injuries. “During my first year back playing soccer my sophomore year I finally got the chance to play my first game and it was my time to impress the coaches. This was the first game I got to start. It was only about ten minutes into the game and I went to cut on defense, which was my typical po sition and it tore. I was not very educated on the injury at the time and just thought it would be like one of my typical ankle injuries,” Zwemke described. Next season, Zwemke was cleared just in time to return for her junior year. “During my junior year it was my left leg and when it happened, I knew exactly what had happened because I had that same feeling. It was really heartbreaking for me. My trainer pretty much told me that when you tear one, you will probably tear the other one. This time was worse because there was a horizontal and vertical tear in my meniscus and a frac ture to my ACL. Luckily only my ACL needed sur gery,” Zwemke said. Zwemke explained that “faith” brought her through both injuries she endured. “The first time it happened. I was really frustrated and I will admit that my lack of faith was definitely there the first time and I believe that is why it took me 11 months to recover. It was really slow and happened during a busy time and I was not very attentive to physical therapy,” Zwemke said. Zwemke’s second ACL injury was a breeze com pared to her first injury. “I got an all clear at seven months my second time around. I think the big gest thing between the first time and the second time was my faith. The second time, I knew I just had to give it to the lord. After all the prayers, God gave it to me and I got one more chance to play,” Zwemke explained. Head Coach of the Lady Panthers, Matthew Mai- er explained that Zwemke was an important part of the team. When asked what it meant to be a leader for Zwemke, she explained with, “You have a lot of underclassmen looking up to you. I believe you just have to set a real ly good example. They will take after what you do and what you do not do. The biggest thing I try to do is always remain positive. I am also the chaplain for the team and I pray before ev ery game . It is great to be able to have that bond with my team and see that girls look up to that.” Zwemke mentioned that she had many differ ent great coaches over the years, but two in particular stood out to her. “Coach Jeremy and Coach Maier rebuilt my confidence and saw a lot of potential in me,” Zwemke said. Zwemke’s career was filled with wonderful ac complishments and many different highs and lows, but one moment stood out as being her proudest. “Last year my team and I made it to the elite eight and that was probably the farthest I have gone,” Zwemke said. Zwemke gave a special shoutout to her parents for being her number one fans throughout her soccer ca reer. “My parents are my num ber one fans. They come to every single game and try to make it to all the away games if possible. They took care of me when I was injured and paid a lot of money for injuries and soccer fees. They just really kept me going. They always tried to make me a better player and they are just the best.” Zwemke expressed. Zwemke’s plans after graduating from Jackson County High School are to attend the University of North Georgia and obtain a business degree. 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