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Fedele stands tall, aims high in field hockey

There's a basketball backboard and goal standing in her family's driveway, but it has been used very little by Elizabeth Fedele, who has made a name for herself playing field hockey.

North Penn's Elizabeth Fedele, left, moves the ball up field in a game against Central Bucks South. (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)
North Penn's Elizabeth Fedele, left, moves the ball up field in a game against Central Bucks South. (David M Warren / Staff Photographer)Read more

There's a basketball backboard and goal standing in her family's driveway, but it has been used very little by Elizabeth Fedele, who has made a name for herself playing field hockey.

The 5-foot-10 North Penn senior says she was never into basketball despite her height - the backboard and goal actually were bought for her father - and she fell in love with field hockey soon after being introduced to it in elementary school.

"I was really bad when I first started," the Maidens standout said. "I love it now."

Her hard work has earned her a spot on the U.S. Olympic Development Select under-17 travel team as well as a scholarship to play for her dream college team, North Carolina.

Although she's not the stereotypical image of a field hockey player, the midfielder will be the first to tell you her size has been a key to her success.

"My wingspan gives me a lot of room to operate, and I can cover a lot of ground. And no one knows how much I practice," Fedele said. Holes in the basement walls and a makeshift backstop in the Fedele yard attest to the work she has done to improve her game.

Her father, Steve, a soccer player in high school and college, quickly dismissed the damage to the basement walls.

"You're only young once," he said. "She used to tag along with her older sister, Kim, to field hockey programs. When Tina Reinprecht, the director, saw Elizabeth, she said to get her a stick and a mouthpiece and she'd let her practice."

That was enough. Fedele was hooked. In ninth grade, however, she developed an eating disorder that threatened her field hockey career.

"Elizabeth spent time at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and lost 25 pounds," her father said. "She had to go on a liquid diet. I felt sorry for her and decided to go on a liquid diet, too."

Fedele was good enough to play varsity as a ninth grader - she had to travel from Pennbrook Middle School to the high school each day for practice - but her playing time had to be monitored by coach Carrie Jankowski because of the eating disorder. The disorder has since been corrected.

Fedele and her Maidens teammates were unbeaten (7-0-1) entering a game Tuesday against Souderton, ranked third by The Inquirer and in a battle with Central Bucks South for the lead in the Suburban One League Continental Division.

The two teams battled to a 0-0 draw in overtime Thursday at North Penn in their first meeting of the season. At one point in the physical game, Fedele took a shot to the neck when she hit the artificial turf hard.

"It was a little rough at times," Fedele said, "and I'm OK. It was very frustrating because we had a couple of scoring opportunities early in the overtime and didn't cash in on them."

Fedele also had played soccer - her father coached her on a high-level girls' club team - but with the SOL moving soccer from the spring to the fall this school year, she opted for field hockey.

"It was an easy choice," Fedele said.

"It broke my heart to see her give up soccer," her father said. "But it's obvious she knows what she wants."