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the wilmette beacon | June 6, 2019 | 37
Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Weaver takes home annual award
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
It would have been easy
for Emma Weaver to play
for a developmental academy
during her high school
career. Instead the junior
chose to play for her high
school, New Trier, and has
flourished since the day
she stepped on the field as
a freshman on the varsity
squad.
“I knew when I got offered
to go back to Academy
I knew the day I got
offered, that I didn’t want
to accept it because at
NTGS (New Trier girls
soccer) it’s family to me,”
she said, “I felt like if it
didn’t do, if I did accept
the Academy thing I would
regret it. That was my biggest
fear.
“And I didn’t want to
live in regret, going to the
games and being ‘Oh I
wish I was out there, I wish
I was playing.’ I didn’t
want to let my teammates
and my coaches down
and I think that says a lot
about the program and the
individual players because
that’s what kind of struck
through me towards high
school because Academy,
yeah competitive, and better
games but it’s the fun
part that what motivates
me and I feel like it motivates
me in the off season
because I work harder because
I have something to
look forward to.”
After a season that saw
the junior score 33 goals,
she was named 22nd Century
Media’s Girls Soccer
Player of the Year.
In a year that saw the
Trevians lose three players
who combined to score
over 40 goals, Weaver was
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 1 day ago
New Trier’s Emma Weaver 22nd Century Media’s Girls
Soccer Player of the Year. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO
looked upon to become
more of a scoring threat.
And not only did she,
she embraced it in stride.
“Nicole Kaspi was one
of a kind, like Sydney
(Parker), Whitney (Hoban),
all those players
were people that I looked
up to so I needed to fill
that role even as a passer,
which is also as a leader on
the team,” she said. “Everyone
is stepping up, the
freshman, the sophomores,
the juniors, everyone’s filling
roles which has made
it easy because of the loss
of players we’ve had.
“I think we had such
high expectations and being
part of varsity New
Trier, that’s a pressure actually
served as motivation
for me at least. Because
I want to prove people
wrong when they say
‘you’re not as good this
year, you lost these players.’
It’s like, no, you recreate
a team that’s amazing
every year. That’s just
what (coach Jim) Burnside
does.”
Weaver, who had primarily
played the midfield
position previously, was
thrust into the forward role
when the team played St.
Ignatius on April 2.
For Burnside, moving
Weaver up to more of an
attacking role was a move
he didn’t hesitate on.
“Not for a second,” he
said. “It’s not what she’s
going to do, it’s more about
what the people around her
are going to do,
“She takes up so much
of the other team’s focus
that if her teammates work
hard and get in the right
spots, she’s going to get
them the ball.”
For players who are as
skilled as Weaver, it’d be
easy for them to just let the
game come to them and
not have to really put a lot
of work into their game.
Not Weaver, however.
According to Burnside,
she’s in his office constantly,
wanting to watch game
film to see what she can do
to not only improve herself,
but her team as well.
This offseason, she
spent four months getting
herself to be faster, quicker,
have better speed, so
she can be the best player
she can be, even if she is
hard on herself.
But watching is just fun
for her.
“I love to watch film
with him (Burnside),” she
said. “He gives me great
advice and when there’s
teams that are now putting
Please see WEAVER, 35
Girls soccer Coach of the Year
Burnside, New Trier’s
consistency leads to yearly award
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
It’d be fair to make the
argument that New Trier’s
Jim Burnside is one of the,
if not the, greatest girls
soccer coaches in IHSA
girls soccer history. His
now-529 career victories
are rivaled by only Quincy
Notre Dame’s Mark Longo
and his six career state
titles are the most by any
coach in state history.
This year Burnside led
his squad to an unprecedented
sixth consecutive
trip downstate and for that,
he was named 22nd Century
Media’s Coach of the
Year.
NORTH SHORE
FIND THE VARSITY: NORTH SHORE ON
SOUNDCLOUD, ITUNES OR WILMETTEBEACON.COM/SPORTS
A 22ND CENTURY MEDIA PRODUCTION
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 1 day ago
With the amount of soccer
talent in the state, it’s difficult
to have a team make it
to the state’s final four once,
much less six consecutive
times and 13 times overall.
So how does New Trier
continually make the annual
trip to Naperville?
“The kids constantly
buy into the idea of working
hard, doing the little
things, and playing as a
team,” Burnside said. “Our
kids are willing to buy into
what we’re asking them to
do, and are also having fun
at the same time.
“This time is remarkable
to me. We have zero seniors
going on to play college
Jim Burnside is the 2019
Girls Soccer Coach of the
Year. PHOTO SUBMITTED
soccer at any level. That
doesn’t really matter, but
a lot of people gauge how
good somebody’s going to
be, who do you have as a D1
recruit, who’s signed, who’s
this ... So, year in and year
out it really is about the will
of the kids, and their ability
to just work hard, and have
fun along the way. There’s a
ton of luck that goes into it.
You’ve got to put yourself
in the right place,”
For full story, visit Wilmette-
Beacon.com.
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