Scofield lands scholarship to Notre Dame

Geneva junior Samantha "Sammy" Scofield admits to missing high school soccer because, as she says, "high school sports are awesome."

College scholarships also are awesome. There's no doubt Scofield's playing for the Eclipse Select club team helped provide the attention that earned Scofield a scholarship to Notre Dame. The last of Carter and Carol Scofield's three children to attend Geneva, following brothers Nick and Tyler, Sammy gave her verbal commitment to Notre Dame women's coach Randy Waldrum on Oct. 21.

"They were really excited for me when they heard about it," she said of her brothers, "and really proud, I guess."

Scofield, who trains and competes year-round with coach Rory Dames' Eclipse Select in Libertyville, said she also had offers from Clemson, Rutgers, Missouri, Penn State, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

"When it came down to it, Notre Dame in the whole scope of things was the best fit for me," said Scofield, contemplating studying sports medicine in college after she hits South Bend in 2011. "Obviously the academics were big for my family and me, and then Notre Dame soccer is very good. They contend for the national championship every year."

The Fighting Irish, currently 14-3-1, won the 2004 Division I women's title and were runners-up to North Carolina in both 2006 and 2008.

Scofield, too, has enjoyed a high level of success. Playing center-midfield and center-backfield this summer she helped Eclipse Select Under-17 win the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship. Her 2008 Eclipse squad was a national runner-up as Dames' program was named the nation's No. 1 girls' soccer club two years running. Also last year Sammy was invited to the addidas Elite Soccer Program in Pomona, Calif. Notre Dame presently has three Eclipse players on its roster as well as a Fox Valley Striker - St. Charles East graduate Ellen Bartindale.

Also a guard on the Geneva girls basketball team, Scofield was in Libertyville on Oct. 19 for an Eclipse showcase attended by Notre Dame head coach Waldrum and assistant Ken Nuber. They'd been scouting her for a couple years and evidently satisfied, gave her an offer at the end of the night. Scofield talked it over with her parents. It was settled.

"I'm definitely happy to get it over with, because the whole process is stressful," Sammy said. "And once you're done and you know where you're going it's like a huge weight is off your shoulders."

They're not saying Boo...

They're saying Buba - and Fitzgerald, Bohr, Wilk, Cowles, Steinwart, Miller and Bradley. They're saying good things about the rest of the Aurora Central Catholic girls volleyball team headed by Jeanne Czipri, first-year Chargers coach and 2003 West Aurora graduate.

In September Aurora Central athletic director Mike Armato wrote an e-mail that, in part, stated officials, coaches and other athletic directors have noticed "that our coach has made tremendous improvements in our players' competitiveness and abilities on the court."

Apparently, if you see her dressed as Wonder Woman this Halloween, that's no costume.

In a three-game senior night win over Immaculate Conception on Oct. 19, the Chargers won their first conference volleyball title in history, taking the Suburban Christian Gold at 7-1. Entering tonight's Class 3A Aurora Central Catholic regional semifinal against No. 10 seed Lincoln-Way West, the fifth-seeded Chargers are 8-0 at home.

If ACC were to go on to win Saturday's regional title, presumably over No. 4 seed Rosary, it would be ACC's first regional title since 1991. Its overall 21-8 record established a new school mark for victories in a season.

Last year the girls volleyball squad was 11-22, their best win total in four years.

Then along came Jeanne. "'Like 'I Dream of Jeannie,'" ACC's receptionist said. No "I" in Czipri's name, though, like there's no "I" in team.

"I have never coached a team with such undeniable chemistry and cohesion," she said. "There is no star on this team, nor is there a weak link. They made sure of that. They pull everyone up and are winning together, not as individuals. It is amazing to see, because I don't know if I have ever seen a high school team like this."

Czipri stressed she "didn't want to take anything away" from former Chargers coach Randy Hewitt.

"I think he did a good job with what he had to work with," Czipri said.

She believes her youth and her own background - all-DuPage Valley Conference at West Aurora, she played at New Hampshire where she earned a team award for strength and conditioning and was named American East Conference All-Academic - led the Chargers to relate and respond differently to her coaching.

"I think the biggest thing for me is I had some really great experiences and some not-so-great experiences with some of my coaches," said Czipri, a full-time substitute teacher working on a master's degree at Aurora University. "I tried to take some of those experiences and learn from that with my coaching philosophy."

It's a philosophy based on the balancing act of avoiding negativity without letting her players skate on subpar effort.

In Czipri's attempt to provide a positive learning environment she's incorporated everything from 2-on-2 scrimmages to leadership drills, goal-setting and bonding exercises like having the girls write their teammates' winning qualities on note cards they can post in their lockers or on their bedroom mirrors.

"When you're having fun," Czipri said, "whether you win or lose, that's the point of the game. It's a lot easier to win when you're having fun."

doberhelman@dailyherald.com