Scholar Athlete of the Week: Julia Petry
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BATAVIA, N.Y. (WHEC) – Julia Petry isn’t afraid of what people might say. And they can’t say anything when she gives it her all.
Unconventional might be one way to describe it. Out of the ordinary is what some people might say. Or how about outside of the box?
None of that gets in Julia Petry’s head. When she’s inside the hashes.
Petry plays goalkeeper for the Batavia Blue Devils’ girls soccer team. She’s also the captain of the boys lacrosse team. And what most people around the city of roughly 15,000 people know her for, is the kicker of her high school football team. But how some people may try to describe it, isn’t what it’s really like.
“A lot of people think maybe I’m either shunned out or like center of attention all the time. But I feel like there is a very nice healthy balance in between of getting to do my own thing and then also being incorporated with the stuff that the guys do,” said Petry.
Julia Petry isn't afraid of what people might say. And they can't say anything when she gives it her all.
Clearly chemistry hasn’t been an issue. Petry was named a First-Team All-Star last season and has already eclipsed last year’s extra points total. Petry says that despite some notable changes, the Blue Devils got their act together quickly.
“It’s been a very good season. We came in, we lost a lot of our starters from last season, so we came in, really had to shuffle things around, but we worked hard every day and it’s really paid off,” said Petry.
Of course, with her kicking numbers, Petry’s had a helpful hand in Batavia’s successful season. She says that’s part of what motivates her to do what she does.
“Making sure that I’m there to make (my parents) happy and give them something to be proud of as well, like oh my gosh, this is my kid,” said Petry.
The other part of it, is carving out a path for others to follow.
“To be able to say that it was me and then to know that I’ve now paved this way for other young women or even young athletes in general to just now, they’ve seen somebody do it. Maybe that’ll give them the confidence to go and do it too,” said Petry.
Batavia will play Monroe in the Class B Championship on Saturday, November 12 at 6 p.m. at SUNY Brockport. It’ll be another tough test, but one that the Blue Devils can really measure their season on.