Patient Fitzgerald gives
Naperville North her all
By Matt Le Cren
Nora Fitzgerald understands the essence of what it means to be a good teammate.
The Naperville North midfielder didn’t get much playing time during her sophomore season, yet she still managed to have a big impact on the Huskies’ run to the 2019 Class 3A state championship.
“Nora is a kid who made varsity as a sophomore year,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “She rotated in at defensive center mid, was a tireless worker with a super high soccer IQ.
“Nora’s biggest contribution as a sophomore, if you can believe it, coming into an older group, was her personality and her ability to be a positive role model every single day and be a positive teammate.
“There is nearly nothing bad you can say about Nora in regards to her selflessness as a teammate. She was always the first person, even if she wasn’t on the field, to keep everybody’s spirits up. She was so engaged in the game both on and off the field.”
Fitzgerald, of course, wanted to see the field as much as the next person. But she realized that wasn’t going to be possible on a team stacked with Division I players, most of whom had vast starting experience.
“Going onto this team, I would say that I was probably a little bit shy,” Fitzgerald said.
“But just meeting these people and having everyone accept me and welcome me onto the team made me get a lot more confidence in myself and be supportive of the team.
“I loved cheering them on, just because I love watching them play and watching everyone succeed. And when I’m on the field, I love talking throughout the game and giving encouragement to my teammates just because I want to see us succeed together.”
Goletz knows that a team can have all the talent in the world but still not win a championship if the chemistry isn’t right. The trick is getting everyone to buy into the team concept, even if they are riding the bench. Fitzgerald bought in.
“You’re never going to make everyone happy on your team; there’s just not enough minutes to go around,” Goletz said. “In top programs, and I consider us to be one of them, there are a lot of kids that probably would see playing time or boatloads of minutes at other schools.
“That’s a good problem, but it’s also a tough problem to manage. When you get kids that buy in and understand that, (it helps). That’s not saying Nora didn’t want to play more as a sophomore, but she understands you’re playing behind a girl that’s going to Wisconsin (Maddie Schlecht) and a girl that’s going to IUPUI (Leah Shumate), Division I kids at a high level.
“There’s times when you can’t get everybody in. Nora was a prime example.”
So while Fitzgerald had the talent to start on most programs, she was OK with waiting her turn. There are ways to embrace a reserve role while still enjoying the experience.
“One thing that I think is super key is realizing the opportunity that you have,” Fitzgerald said. “In my case, just realizing that I have the opportunity to watch these amazing soccer players play my position and learn from what they’re doing.
“We had Maddie Schlecht and Leah Shumate at my position and just being able to watch each of them, how they switched the field, how they connected passes to the forwards, how they tracked back on defense, that is a learning opportunity in itself.
“You don’t even need input from the coaches at that point – just watching them is teaching us. It was a great opportunity for me being a young player on that team.
While seeing is believing, a little screaming can’t hurt either.
“I think teams do better when everyone is positive, when the bench is loud and cheering,” Fitzgerald said. “I know Goletz talked in pregame about the specific roles that everyone has and one of the things he always says is, ‘Keep the bench positive and make sure we’re offering positivity to those on the field,’ because it’s hard when you’re on the field. It just helps having those voices of your teammates coming from the sideline offering you words of encouragement.”
Fitzgerald was likely going to move into the starting lineup this spring until her junior season was cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic. But everyone believes she will make an effective leader next year.
“I feel like she’ll do a great job,” senior defender Jordan Leonard said. “She is very good at bringing everyone together and keeping everyone happy and doesn’t exclude anyone on the team.
“She’s definitely a team player. She didn’t play a lot last year but I feel that now that Leah is gone, and I will be gone, she will have to step up and play a big role on the team.”
Indeed, Fitzgerald will be one of the few Huskies with previous varsity experience, but she isn’t too worried based on what she saw during the two weeks of preseason training in March. While she said that building relationships was one of the reasons why the Huskies won the state title last year, she said there is still time to do that.
“That’s a scary thought for next year, because we haven’t been able to have these relationships,” Fitzgerald said. “We only had two weeks together, but (after) meeting some of these girls, I’m already beyond excited to have the chance to play with them at any time.
“There is a large class of sophomores coming on from JV, and they have been outstanding over the short time we had together.”
Goletz is confident Fitzgerald will turn out to be a great senior year.
“You talk about a kid who gets the bigger picture of what sports can provide, and I think for Nora, she provided so much for our team last year and a little bit of this year just in terms of being a positive hard-working role model,” Goletz said. “She works hard each and every day to try to get better and that helped her find a way on the field last year in a crowded midfield.
“With her coachability, her willingness to accept any role you give her, she’s a positive force. It’s hard for kids who may not be getting the playing time they all want to be able to say, ‘This girl is still enjoying the heck out of her experience, what am I doing wrong? Why am I feeling sorry for myself? I’ve just got to put my head down and work harder.’”
Fitzgerald works hard on the field and in the classroom. She hopes to play in college if she can find a school that fits with her academic aspirations, which include studying journalism and political science.
Both of Fitzgerald’s parents worked on Capitol Hill. Her late father, Raymond, worked for former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and congressman John Shimkus, while her mother, Kristin, worked under for U.S. House Speaker John Boehner.
They showed Fitzgerald how to use teamwork to get important things accomplished. She’s hoping to do the same for the Huskies in 2021.
“I’m excited to be a leader on the team next year, just connecting with all these younger kids,” Fitzgerald said. “Whenever I’m on the field I always try to be as vocal as I can be, just keeping the team together and on the same page.
“Naperville North girls soccer, no matter how many D-I commits or how many returning players we have, we’re always able to turn out a good season. I think that reflects well on the coaches and the environment they create there because you can’t help but want to make them proud and help the team win.
“We can do so much together in that atmosphere that you just have to fall in line and get on that page.”
That’s exactly the kind of leader Goletz prizes.
“Nora is what we as Naperville North coaches want our athletes to be,” Goletz said. “To have somebody like that still around your program, especially after a tough season we’re all going through right now, I couldn’t think of a better face to start getting the program back to normalcy.”
Naperville North her all
By Matt Le Cren
Nora Fitzgerald understands the essence of what it means to be a good teammate.
The Naperville North midfielder didn’t get much playing time during her sophomore season, yet she still managed to have a big impact on the Huskies’ run to the 2019 Class 3A state championship.
“Nora is a kid who made varsity as a sophomore year,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “She rotated in at defensive center mid, was a tireless worker with a super high soccer IQ.
“Nora’s biggest contribution as a sophomore, if you can believe it, coming into an older group, was her personality and her ability to be a positive role model every single day and be a positive teammate.
“There is nearly nothing bad you can say about Nora in regards to her selflessness as a teammate. She was always the first person, even if she wasn’t on the field, to keep everybody’s spirits up. She was so engaged in the game both on and off the field.”
Fitzgerald, of course, wanted to see the field as much as the next person. But she realized that wasn’t going to be possible on a team stacked with Division I players, most of whom had vast starting experience.
“Going onto this team, I would say that I was probably a little bit shy,” Fitzgerald said.
“But just meeting these people and having everyone accept me and welcome me onto the team made me get a lot more confidence in myself and be supportive of the team.
“I loved cheering them on, just because I love watching them play and watching everyone succeed. And when I’m on the field, I love talking throughout the game and giving encouragement to my teammates just because I want to see us succeed together.”
Goletz knows that a team can have all the talent in the world but still not win a championship if the chemistry isn’t right. The trick is getting everyone to buy into the team concept, even if they are riding the bench. Fitzgerald bought in.
“You’re never going to make everyone happy on your team; there’s just not enough minutes to go around,” Goletz said. “In top programs, and I consider us to be one of them, there are a lot of kids that probably would see playing time or boatloads of minutes at other schools.
“That’s a good problem, but it’s also a tough problem to manage. When you get kids that buy in and understand that, (it helps). That’s not saying Nora didn’t want to play more as a sophomore, but she understands you’re playing behind a girl that’s going to Wisconsin (Maddie Schlecht) and a girl that’s going to IUPUI (Leah Shumate), Division I kids at a high level.
“There’s times when you can’t get everybody in. Nora was a prime example.”
So while Fitzgerald had the talent to start on most programs, she was OK with waiting her turn. There are ways to embrace a reserve role while still enjoying the experience.
“One thing that I think is super key is realizing the opportunity that you have,” Fitzgerald said. “In my case, just realizing that I have the opportunity to watch these amazing soccer players play my position and learn from what they’re doing.
“We had Maddie Schlecht and Leah Shumate at my position and just being able to watch each of them, how they switched the field, how they connected passes to the forwards, how they tracked back on defense, that is a learning opportunity in itself.
“You don’t even need input from the coaches at that point – just watching them is teaching us. It was a great opportunity for me being a young player on that team.
While seeing is believing, a little screaming can’t hurt either.
“I think teams do better when everyone is positive, when the bench is loud and cheering,” Fitzgerald said. “I know Goletz talked in pregame about the specific roles that everyone has and one of the things he always says is, ‘Keep the bench positive and make sure we’re offering positivity to those on the field,’ because it’s hard when you’re on the field. It just helps having those voices of your teammates coming from the sideline offering you words of encouragement.”
Fitzgerald was likely going to move into the starting lineup this spring until her junior season was cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic. But everyone believes she will make an effective leader next year.
“I feel like she’ll do a great job,” senior defender Jordan Leonard said. “She is very good at bringing everyone together and keeping everyone happy and doesn’t exclude anyone on the team.
“She’s definitely a team player. She didn’t play a lot last year but I feel that now that Leah is gone, and I will be gone, she will have to step up and play a big role on the team.”
Indeed, Fitzgerald will be one of the few Huskies with previous varsity experience, but she isn’t too worried based on what she saw during the two weeks of preseason training in March. While she said that building relationships was one of the reasons why the Huskies won the state title last year, she said there is still time to do that.
“That’s a scary thought for next year, because we haven’t been able to have these relationships,” Fitzgerald said. “We only had two weeks together, but (after) meeting some of these girls, I’m already beyond excited to have the chance to play with them at any time.
“There is a large class of sophomores coming on from JV, and they have been outstanding over the short time we had together.”
Goletz is confident Fitzgerald will turn out to be a great senior year.
“You talk about a kid who gets the bigger picture of what sports can provide, and I think for Nora, she provided so much for our team last year and a little bit of this year just in terms of being a positive hard-working role model,” Goletz said. “She works hard each and every day to try to get better and that helped her find a way on the field last year in a crowded midfield.
“With her coachability, her willingness to accept any role you give her, she’s a positive force. It’s hard for kids who may not be getting the playing time they all want to be able to say, ‘This girl is still enjoying the heck out of her experience, what am I doing wrong? Why am I feeling sorry for myself? I’ve just got to put my head down and work harder.’”
Fitzgerald works hard on the field and in the classroom. She hopes to play in college if she can find a school that fits with her academic aspirations, which include studying journalism and political science.
Both of Fitzgerald’s parents worked on Capitol Hill. Her late father, Raymond, worked for former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and congressman John Shimkus, while her mother, Kristin, worked under for U.S. House Speaker John Boehner.
They showed Fitzgerald how to use teamwork to get important things accomplished. She’s hoping to do the same for the Huskies in 2021.
“I’m excited to be a leader on the team next year, just connecting with all these younger kids,” Fitzgerald said. “Whenever I’m on the field I always try to be as vocal as I can be, just keeping the team together and on the same page.
“Naperville North girls soccer, no matter how many D-I commits or how many returning players we have, we’re always able to turn out a good season. I think that reflects well on the coaches and the environment they create there because you can’t help but want to make them proud and help the team win.
“We can do so much together in that atmosphere that you just have to fall in line and get on that page.”
That’s exactly the kind of leader Goletz prizes.
“Nora is what we as Naperville North coaches want our athletes to be,” Goletz said. “To have somebody like that still around your program, especially after a tough season we’re all going through right now, I couldn’t think of a better face to start getting the program back to normalcy.”