Making history
The 2003 Butler graduate and former soccer great was one of
16 inductees announced at a press conference this morning at the Western
Pennsylvania Sports Museum on Smallman St. in Pittsburgh.
This year marks the seventh Hall of Fame class for the WPIAL.
Schnur will become the first athlete from Butler County to be enshrined.
The WPIAL Hall of Fame includes coaches, officials, teams and
WPIAL contributors as well.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Schnur said. “I don’t think it
will totally sink in until I see all of the names and meet the faces.
“It’s hard to believe I’m the first from the county.
Hopefully, many more will follow. I know there are deserving people out there.”
Count Schnur among them.
She scored 55 goals and added 55 assists in her prep soccer career
at Butler, helping the Golden Tornado reach a WPIAL championship game and PIAA
title game.
Schnur went on to score 28 goals and 20 assists at the
University of Connecticut, helping the Huskies reach the NCAA championship
game. She played on the U.S. women’s national team as well.
Schnur played more minutes than anyone for Sky Blue, New
Jersey’s entrant in the Women’s Professional League, during that franchise’s
championship season of 2009.
She gave up professional soccer in 2011 after undergoing minor
knee surgery.
“It was time,” Schnur said. “I had to look at the next phase
of my life.”
Now a physical therapist at an out-patient clinic in New
Jersey, Schnur has returned to soccer again. Not yet 30 herself, she played in
an indoor over-30 men’s league during the winter and coaches an under-14 club
team now.
“I got totally away from soccer for a year and found myself
really missing it,” she said. “I felt the urge to play again.
“This men’s league was in the area and I asked if I could
play. There’s one other woman in the league, but it’s a technical, quick-paced
game and that’s the way I like to play. It was a blast.”
She may play in the outdoor version of the league this
summer.
“Those games will be on a big-sized football field. The men
are faster and stronger and that physicality could take over there,” she said.
“We’ll see. I have to find a way to work the time in, too.
“I’ve been playing this game since I was 5. It’s hard to let
go of it.”
Schnur took over as head coach of the U-14 club team a little
over a month ago.
“I like it. You really get into it ... I can see why my dad
pulled his hair out back in the day,” Schnur said, laughing. Her father, Butler
High School principal Jeff Schnur, has been a longtime soccer coach.
Schnur considers herself in the “growing phase” of her
physical therapy career.
“There’s the psychological challenge of advancing in this
career now,” she said. “Looking toward the future, I’d like to continue my
relationship with sports in physical therapy.
“I’m working with kids, I’ve worked with a 90-year-old man
dealing with a hip replacement, it’s wide-ranging.”
And she’ll soon be dealing with her name being part of a
permanent display inside the Kaiser Room of the Western PennsylvaniaSports
Museum.
The WPIAL Hall of Fame induction dinner will be held in June.
“I can’t wait. That’s going to be something,” Schnur said.