Naperville Central senior Colette McInerney has played basketball and soccer since she was in first grade.
At no time during those dozen years has she been in the spotlight. Nor has she sought it.
But McInerney has been an integral three-year varsity player in both sports. She started at guard for the girls basketball team for two seasons and is the first player off the bench as a defensive midfielder for the girls soccer team.
“In my mind, it’s really not about the goals or the baskets that you make,” she said. “There’s a lot of little things that go into both games, so making sure I can do those right and in any way help my team is really what I focus on.”
McInerney is in many respects the ultimate glue player. In basketball, she usually guarded the opponent’s best player. On the soccer field, she keeps things organized as a bridge between the defense and the offense.
“Both of the sports are so different, so it’s definitely an adjustment coming to soccer from basketball,” she said. “But I just kind of keep in mind that I’ve got to do what I do to help my teammates out and just do the little things to make sure that we can finish and that we’re able to prevent goals.”
That’s exactly what McInerney did during Naperville Central’s season opener on Wednesday night. Michigan-bound junior forward Emerson Burke and sophomore defender Sophia Cochran each had two goals and an assist, while senior goalkeeper Erin Hackett did not face a shot as the host Redhawks routed Burlington Central 7-0 at Memorial Stadium.
Such winning is nothing new for McInerney. As a junior, she helped the Redhawks win DuPage Valley Conference and Class 3A regional titles, and she repeated the feat with the girls basketball team this season.
“It’s been awesome competing on both teams,” she said. “We’ve had such great years these past two years on both ends, and I love both the sports so much.”
So much so that McInerney played both sports year-round for both club and school. She never considered specializing in one.
“It was hard going from practice to practice and maintaining it,” she said. “But I had so much fun.”
While McInerney doesn’t rack up impressive statistics, she stands out in other ways.
“She puts in a lot of work,” said Hackett, who played both sports with McInerney. “She’s always talking to everybody. I think she’s friends with everybody on the team, so it really helps.”
So does McInerney’s versatility.
“She just does what’s needed on the field at the time and on the court as well,” Hackett said. “When (girls basketball coach Andy Nussbaum) asks her to do something, she’s always there to do it.”
Burke has known McInerney since middle school and calls her a role model.
“She’s a really good leader,” Burke said. “I think it’s really good for the younger kids, especially, to have someone to look up to like Colette, someone who puts in work.
“On the field, at practice and in the classroom, she’s always a bright light.”
That shines through in everything McInerney does.
“She has that ‘it’ tangible that you need for a player to have on the field,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “She puts her head down, works hard, is positive in everything she does.
“She’s a great player but even a more outstanding teammate. It’s not about her. It’s about the team and her teammates.”
McInerney supports her teammates at all times and is always willing to praise them.
“Some kids do it because they have to,” Adams said. “She’s a kid that does it because it’s who she is, and that’s a big difference.
“Some kids are like, ‘I know I’ve got to talk nice about teammates,’ but it’s not a fake thing with her. That’s the real deal.”
Inspired by her time leading an adapted physical education class, McInerney plans to major in speech pathology at Marquette. She won’t play a sport in college, meaning this season will be her last.
“Her personality traits are all 10s,” Adams said. “She is what you want a kid to be. As a coach, the more of those types of kids you have on a team, the better you are.
“Colette sets that example for everybody of how we behave as a Redhawk soccer player in addition to being a good player and a positive impact on the field.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
