Plymouth’s Sheedy prepping for next step
PLYMOUTH - Last week Plymouth senior volleyball player Clare Sheedy committed her future academic and athletic career to Wingate University, a fouryear institution located in Wingate, North Carolina, which is about an hour southeast of Charlotte.
“It’s going to be so weird because I’ve been a part of so much for so long and I’ll be in another state next year,” said Sheedy. “I think I’ll miss the support that I get from everyone in the community as an athlete.”
Wingate University is Division II and competes in the South Atlantic Conference. The team currently has a record of 20-3.
“I went (on a visit) after volleyball sectional last year and I was shocked,” she said. “It was late October and I was still wearing shorts. (The campus) was pretty, the coaches were great, the players were great. I just knew that was going to be my future home.”
The recruiting process was an easy one for Sheedy.
“They found me,” she said. “Their recruiting coordinator was the coach of another club team that I was playing against and she saw me play. They can’t contact you until after your sophomore year so they contacted my coach to say they liked me as a prospective recruit.
“The dream was to play at Purdue, but they weren’t recruiting my position in my class. I reached out to a lot of schools but I ended up in the right place. I’m a setter so nobody recruits a setter every year because you don’t have more than one or two on the court at the same time. I love setting. It’s my jam. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
Clare is the daughter of Jeffrey and Jenny Sheedy. She has earned a 4.033 GPA and is ranked 8th out of 268 students in her senior class.
“I want to go to law school,” she said. “There are a couple of areas I’m interested in. I’d be interested in some type of criminal law, but I’d also be interested in entering the sports world as a lawyer.”
Clare is a multi-sport athlete at Plymouth and currently a member of the girls basketball team. She has earned multiple varsity letters in basketball.
Clare’s volleyball accolades include being a fouryear varsity letter winner. She racked up multiple all-conference honors and achieved numerous statistic-based milestones including 500 digs, 500 kills, and 2000 assists.
Her college goals are simple.
“I want to win a national championship,” she said. “The school I’m going to has won their conference 15 out of the last 16 years so I have to believe that’s possible.”
Playing at that level will be no surprise either.
“I still have club season and all summer to train,” said Sheedy. “I’m in the weights program and preparing the best I can, so hopefully I’m ready when I get there.”