Oswego East’s Alex McPhee's
roll slows due to COVID-19
By Chris Walker
Everything was going great for Alex McPhee.
The Oswego East junior defender had already committed a year ago to her dream school, Ball State.
There she will play games on a field that’s about a 10-minute drive for her grandfather, who dotes on her, as does the rest of her family. That includes an uncle who played football at Ball State, an aunt who graduated from the Muncie, Ind., school and her mother, who spent a lot of time around the campus.
Her recently completed club season with Team Chicago was fantastic. She’d take a break from that to play her high school season with the Wolves, but in the back of her mind know she’d have a chance to compete for a national title with those teammates this summer.
After tryouts were conducted and rosters were finalized, she learned that her sister, freshman Sam McPhee, had made the Oswego East varsity team and would compete for the starting goalkeeper’s job. While she had previously played on the same team with her younger sister, it had only been briefly in a tournament. Now she was excited to experience life with her sister as a teammate.
Now the McPhees are sidelined like the rest of the high school athletes in the state due to the coronavirus.
“It’s too bad because she is so much fun to watch play,” Oswego East coach Juan Leal said. “Technically she has an incredible first touch. She can pinpoint from 10-, 30-, 50- yards away.
“And she’s incredibly fast off the ball and with the ball. She’s just so dangerous. Once the other girls recognize that, you watch them adjust and double and triple team her on the defense end and bring girls down to that area, because she’s so dangerous in pushing up a lot as one of fullbacks who can roam freely and still hustle back when we lose possession.”
As for Alex McPhee’s pursuit of a national title? That definitely won’t happen. That tournament has already been canceled.
Sure, it’s a lousy break for a talented kid, but she’s not going to complain about it nonstop, although she’d have every right to do it. She’ll say it “sucks.”
(Reporter’s note: She said that word several times when asked about being on social distancing in what would have been the middle of soccer season. Sucks isn’t necessarily a great word, but sometimes it’s the right word: sucks explains the situation perfectly.)
McPhee hasn’t let the recent developments get her down.
“Her personality is very upbeat, and she’ll look at things and always have a smile on her face,” Leal said. “It’s the same in the end if we win or lose as long we are learning from the experience. That’s what she brings to the table.
“She helps the rest of her teammates and puts a smile on their faces, especially when there’s adversity. And she’s good at establishing relationships with her teammates because everyone is different, but she finds a way.
“She tells them to keep trusting the system and there were moments last year where we had flashes of good games but just couldn’t put them away.”
McPhee has opted to move on and make the most of a tough situation. She’ll stay connected with her team, seeing most of them through handheld screens and computer monitors. She’ll work out with her sister and two teammates. That’s the makeup of her little training group and that’s how it’s been throughout this.
“We play games and practice corner kicks and do a bunch of drills,” she said. “It’s just the four of us doing stuff together. We all have blond hair so if the police come I told the guys to shut up and to let me do the talking. I have it under control.”
“I have it under control,” is something that a few hundred million of Americans wish someone could honestly say. But since no one can, McPhee’s life has changed drastically.
She attends school at home. Some variation of interactive soccer practice and Zoom gatherings has replaced actual practice and games. Going to watch the boys volleyball team and other school activities that she did a year ago? That’s not happening right now either.
Instead she’s binge watching “The Walking Dead” as well as gathering with her family one night a week for “family movie night” where they pick a movie from a jar.
McPhee didn’t go into details about how the movies were picked, although she shared the family recently watched “Creed” and “Creed 2.”McPhee watched the Rocky series for the first time during a club trip to a tournament in Florida.
“I watched the first three (Rockys) in one day and then finished the others the next couple days,” she said. “The next day I told my teammates I (was) Rocky motivated.”
She firmly believes it worked, although she didn’t grab the mic and unfold a sheet of paper to address her teammates with her best Sylvester Stallone imitation and say:
“Our greatest glory is not in falling, but rising every time we fall. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”
She added in her own voice: “I don’t know. We played pretty good that trip. We won all three games.”
Now she’d do just about anything to just play a game.
“I was super sad to get the news (that club regionals were canceled),” she said. “I’ve been playing with most of (my teammates) since fifth grade, and we’re going to be losing most of my team since we have 13 seniors and just six juniors. I thought at least I’d have regionals with them.”
If there’s no high school season she’ll then miss out on playing with her sister as well as a Wolves team that was expected to be on the rise with a talented core of seniors led by Haley Lewis, Maddy Frazer and Allison Adams.
“It would be nice to play soccer,” said. “I miss the competitiveness. The having fun and pushing each other around. I don’t think you realize how much you miss it.
“So, it would be cool to just have conference games. Even to be able to go watch the boys’ volleyball team play would be fun, and you can’t even go do that. It’s so devastating all this is going on, and all the teachers say we’re not going back (to school).
“I never thought I’d be saying I’d want school. I always want school canceled and (want) a day off. Now I’m stuck at home on repeat doing the same thing every day.”
Last spring, McPhee was a huge asset on set pieces, scoring three goals, but more significantly, assisting on 11 goals with Frazer as her prime target. The two will be a forced to be reckoned with again if the season resumes.
“They used to call us the dynamic duo,” McPhee said. “I would play it to her head, and she’s good at getting her body in the air to put the ball in the back of the net. It’s super fun to play with her.”
Frazer said being teammates in club and high school has helped their connection blossom into what it is today.
“We have great chemistry when it comes to combos,” Frazer said. “We are the dynamic duo. Alex has a great leg and always knows where to place the ball. She knows exactly where I’m making the runs and times the ball perfectly. She is our strongest defender, because she can defend but also run up-top to give us those opportunities.”
As for playing in front of her younger sister, who likely will be barking orders at her and the rest of the backline, McPhee is not only fine with it, but looks forward to it. She might have a couple years on her sister, but trusts her as much as she trusts herself.
“I will always listen to her, because I know she always has the best intentions for me,” she said. “It’s fun to know what she is thinking. And since I play right back she’s right behind me so it’s super fun. I’m looking forward to playing with her and seeing what she could do. And since she’s a freshman I can make fun of her and have fun with everything too.”
Oswego East struggled last season, finishing 6-14-1. They lost nine of their last 10 games with the only victory coming against a four-win Joliet Central squad. On the bright side, six of those losses were by a single goal. Despite the season the Wolves suffered through last spring, there’s a lot of optimism around the team this year.
“We haven’t had the best record, and it’s been kind of disappointing,” McPhee said. “But we feel like we have a good little team, and it was looking really good for this year. I am real excited for our seniors, with this being Maddy’s (Frazer) and Haley’s (Lewis) last year, and we didn’t lose a decent amount. Plus the sophomores look pretty good and all four freshmen (including) Erika Smiley are really good.”
How much better the Wolves can be is a question that might not be answered this spring. Fortunately for McPhee she has another year at Oswego East, as well as her dream destination at Ball State forthcoming in the fall of 2021.
“I wrote that Ball State was my dream college in my sixth-grade letter,” she said. “I was lucky to be able to commit as a sophomore in the middle of the high school season, because they made (recruitment rule) changes. Because of an ID camp with Ball State I missed a game against Waubonsie Valley, which was sad to miss, but it ended up being a great opportunity.
“I’ve been getting (Ball State) stuff for years. My grandpa will send me random gifts, like a water bottle with Ball State on it. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Just like any part of a high school soccer season in 2020 would be.
roll slows due to COVID-19
By Chris Walker
Everything was going great for Alex McPhee.
The Oswego East junior defender had already committed a year ago to her dream school, Ball State.
There she will play games on a field that’s about a 10-minute drive for her grandfather, who dotes on her, as does the rest of her family. That includes an uncle who played football at Ball State, an aunt who graduated from the Muncie, Ind., school and her mother, who spent a lot of time around the campus.
Her recently completed club season with Team Chicago was fantastic. She’d take a break from that to play her high school season with the Wolves, but in the back of her mind know she’d have a chance to compete for a national title with those teammates this summer.
After tryouts were conducted and rosters were finalized, she learned that her sister, freshman Sam McPhee, had made the Oswego East varsity team and would compete for the starting goalkeeper’s job. While she had previously played on the same team with her younger sister, it had only been briefly in a tournament. Now she was excited to experience life with her sister as a teammate.
Now the McPhees are sidelined like the rest of the high school athletes in the state due to the coronavirus.
“It’s too bad because she is so much fun to watch play,” Oswego East coach Juan Leal said. “Technically she has an incredible first touch. She can pinpoint from 10-, 30-, 50- yards away.
“And she’s incredibly fast off the ball and with the ball. She’s just so dangerous. Once the other girls recognize that, you watch them adjust and double and triple team her on the defense end and bring girls down to that area, because she’s so dangerous in pushing up a lot as one of fullbacks who can roam freely and still hustle back when we lose possession.”
As for Alex McPhee’s pursuit of a national title? That definitely won’t happen. That tournament has already been canceled.
Sure, it’s a lousy break for a talented kid, but she’s not going to complain about it nonstop, although she’d have every right to do it. She’ll say it “sucks.”
(Reporter’s note: She said that word several times when asked about being on social distancing in what would have been the middle of soccer season. Sucks isn’t necessarily a great word, but sometimes it’s the right word: sucks explains the situation perfectly.)
McPhee hasn’t let the recent developments get her down.
“Her personality is very upbeat, and she’ll look at things and always have a smile on her face,” Leal said. “It’s the same in the end if we win or lose as long we are learning from the experience. That’s what she brings to the table.
“She helps the rest of her teammates and puts a smile on their faces, especially when there’s adversity. And she’s good at establishing relationships with her teammates because everyone is different, but she finds a way.
“She tells them to keep trusting the system and there were moments last year where we had flashes of good games but just couldn’t put them away.”
McPhee has opted to move on and make the most of a tough situation. She’ll stay connected with her team, seeing most of them through handheld screens and computer monitors. She’ll work out with her sister and two teammates. That’s the makeup of her little training group and that’s how it’s been throughout this.
“We play games and practice corner kicks and do a bunch of drills,” she said. “It’s just the four of us doing stuff together. We all have blond hair so if the police come I told the guys to shut up and to let me do the talking. I have it under control.”
“I have it under control,” is something that a few hundred million of Americans wish someone could honestly say. But since no one can, McPhee’s life has changed drastically.
She attends school at home. Some variation of interactive soccer practice and Zoom gatherings has replaced actual practice and games. Going to watch the boys volleyball team and other school activities that she did a year ago? That’s not happening right now either.
Instead she’s binge watching “The Walking Dead” as well as gathering with her family one night a week for “family movie night” where they pick a movie from a jar.
McPhee didn’t go into details about how the movies were picked, although she shared the family recently watched “Creed” and “Creed 2.”McPhee watched the Rocky series for the first time during a club trip to a tournament in Florida.
“I watched the first three (Rockys) in one day and then finished the others the next couple days,” she said. “The next day I told my teammates I (was) Rocky motivated.”
She firmly believes it worked, although she didn’t grab the mic and unfold a sheet of paper to address her teammates with her best Sylvester Stallone imitation and say:
“Our greatest glory is not in falling, but rising every time we fall. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”
She added in her own voice: “I don’t know. We played pretty good that trip. We won all three games.”
Now she’d do just about anything to just play a game.
“I was super sad to get the news (that club regionals were canceled),” she said. “I’ve been playing with most of (my teammates) since fifth grade, and we’re going to be losing most of my team since we have 13 seniors and just six juniors. I thought at least I’d have regionals with them.”
If there’s no high school season she’ll then miss out on playing with her sister as well as a Wolves team that was expected to be on the rise with a talented core of seniors led by Haley Lewis, Maddy Frazer and Allison Adams.
“It would be nice to play soccer,” said. “I miss the competitiveness. The having fun and pushing each other around. I don’t think you realize how much you miss it.
“So, it would be cool to just have conference games. Even to be able to go watch the boys’ volleyball team play would be fun, and you can’t even go do that. It’s so devastating all this is going on, and all the teachers say we’re not going back (to school).
“I never thought I’d be saying I’d want school. I always want school canceled and (want) a day off. Now I’m stuck at home on repeat doing the same thing every day.”
Last spring, McPhee was a huge asset on set pieces, scoring three goals, but more significantly, assisting on 11 goals with Frazer as her prime target. The two will be a forced to be reckoned with again if the season resumes.
“They used to call us the dynamic duo,” McPhee said. “I would play it to her head, and she’s good at getting her body in the air to put the ball in the back of the net. It’s super fun to play with her.”
Frazer said being teammates in club and high school has helped their connection blossom into what it is today.
“We have great chemistry when it comes to combos,” Frazer said. “We are the dynamic duo. Alex has a great leg and always knows where to place the ball. She knows exactly where I’m making the runs and times the ball perfectly. She is our strongest defender, because she can defend but also run up-top to give us those opportunities.”
As for playing in front of her younger sister, who likely will be barking orders at her and the rest of the backline, McPhee is not only fine with it, but looks forward to it. She might have a couple years on her sister, but trusts her as much as she trusts herself.
“I will always listen to her, because I know she always has the best intentions for me,” she said. “It’s fun to know what she is thinking. And since I play right back she’s right behind me so it’s super fun. I’m looking forward to playing with her and seeing what she could do. And since she’s a freshman I can make fun of her and have fun with everything too.”
Oswego East struggled last season, finishing 6-14-1. They lost nine of their last 10 games with the only victory coming against a four-win Joliet Central squad. On the bright side, six of those losses were by a single goal. Despite the season the Wolves suffered through last spring, there’s a lot of optimism around the team this year.
“We haven’t had the best record, and it’s been kind of disappointing,” McPhee said. “But we feel like we have a good little team, and it was looking really good for this year. I am real excited for our seniors, with this being Maddy’s (Frazer) and Haley’s (Lewis) last year, and we didn’t lose a decent amount. Plus the sophomores look pretty good and all four freshmen (including) Erika Smiley are really good.”
How much better the Wolves can be is a question that might not be answered this spring. Fortunately for McPhee she has another year at Oswego East, as well as her dream destination at Ball State forthcoming in the fall of 2021.
“I wrote that Ball State was my dream college in my sixth-grade letter,” she said. “I was lucky to be able to commit as a sophomore in the middle of the high school season, because they made (recruitment rule) changes. Because of an ID camp with Ball State I missed a game against Waubonsie Valley, which was sad to miss, but it ended up being a great opportunity.
“I’ve been getting (Ball State) stuff for years. My grandpa will send me random gifts, like a water bottle with Ball State on it. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Just like any part of a high school soccer season in 2020 would be.