Ashley Donnelly loves a new challenge.
Which is why she did a little bit of everything during her high school career.
Donnelly recently graduated from Franklin Towne Charter High School, and the soccer player was a mainstay on the field for the Chargers during the final three years of her career.
But during the other seasons, she was always doing something new.
After running cross country and track as a freshman, she switched to soccer and track as a sophomore. Junior year, she decided to stick with soccer and play softball in the spring. Then in her senior year, she played soccer and basketball and made the lacrosse team, but didn’t get a chance to play because the season was spoiled by coronavirus.
Still, it was a pretty active career and she loved every minute of it.
“I love running, but soccer is my favorite sport, I love it more than anything and I couldn’t see me not playing it,” said Donnelly, who lived in Pennypack but recently moved to Maple Shade, New Jersey. “This year was fun because I like basketball. I played it in eighth grade and I was pretty good, but I played as a sophomore, and I wasn’t too good, so I stopped playing. Then I went out this year and I loved it. I didn’t play a lot, but we did really good.
“Then lacrosse, I never played it before, but I wanted to play a sport that had a lot of running, and I was told you do a lot of running. Softball is great, but you don’t run too much. Lacrosse, you run a lot more.
“I never played, but my cousin had a stick and I decided to play, and I made the team. It was fun, I really liked it, and you definitely do a lot of running, so that was good. But we never really got a chance to play.”
The extra running will serve Donnelly well because, next year, she plans on playing two sports in college.
Donnelly will attend Chestnut Hill College, where she is expected to play soccer. That’s a done deal, but she’s also looking into running for the track team. She’ll be raw, considering she’ll be trying something new, but she’s in shape, she loves to run and she’s ready to put in the work to become a contributing member of the squad.
“At Franklin Towne, I went out for track and they put me in long-distance (races),” Donnelly said. “When I talked with the coach, they asked me if I sprinted a lot in soccer, and I didn’t. Soccer, you sprint sometimes, but most of the time, you’re just running. So I was moved to long-distance. But if I run in college, I’m hoping to be a sprinter. I like sprinting, and that’s what I want to do.”
But soccer is what she’s going for.
Donnelly was a key cog for the Chargers’ defense this year as they ran roughshod through the Public League and brought home the Public League championship.
Donnelly gives credit to the strong team around her, but she’s looking forward to bringing her talents to the Griffins.
“I’m excited about playing there,” Donnelly said. “They have a new coach, and he seemed great. We haven’t had a chance to meet most of the players. I met one of the captains, and we have a group chat going, but we haven’t had a chance to practice or anything. We’ll start at the end of August, so I’m looking forward to it.
“I love the school, the campus is great. I felt right at home there. I visited other schools, but I loved Chestnut Hill. It’s so small, I think I’ll know everyone there. I like small schools, I looked at Penn State, but I really like small schools.”
She is also looking forward to learning at the school.
She plans on majoring in criminal justice, and was planning on becoming a police officer. But now she’s looking at other options.
“I didn’t realize how many different things you can do in criminal justice,” Donnelly said. “You think it’s just being a cop, but I learned so much. I think it will be a great chance to learn about what I want to do. But in criminal justice, you get to help people, and I want to do that.”
She also wants to stay in shape this summer, and is trying to find ways to make sure that happens.
Since schools closed in March, Donnelly hasn’t had a regimented routine. She likely won’t have one until she gets to summer camp, but that doesn’t mean she won’t put in the work to be in great shape by the time soccer rolls around.
“I have some room in my backyard, so I can do a lot of things, training for soccer,” said Donnelly, who was Second-Team All-Public this year for the Chargers. “And I’ve been marking out areas so I know when I’m running a mile. I know I have to be in shape for soccer. I can’t wait to get started.”
