Iron basketball’s Sophia Feeney wins Holiday Classic Scholarship

Brayden Blackwell and Libby Price • May 12, 2023

Sophia Feeney helped lead the Iron girls basketball team to a State Farm Holiday Classic Title this season. Now, she is being recognized as Holiday Classic Scholarship award winner for her on- and off-the-court excellence.

Sophia Feeney was announced as a 2023 Holiday Classic Scholarship award recipient on May 4.

The scholarship, which recognizes seniors who participated in the 2022 State Farm Holiday Classic basketball tournament, awards Feeney $1,500 towards her college tuition next year.

The tournament, Feeney said, is “something [she] look[ed] forward to” every season playing for the Iron.

The senior will attend Illinois Wesleyan, where she will continue her athletic career as a member of the Titans basketball and volleyball programs next year.

Learning of the award, Feeney “couldn’t believe” she was one of the scholarship’s four winners.

“I was definitely really excited,” she said. “To be honored for that is very special.”

“For nearly twenty years,” Holiday Classic Scholarship committee coordinator Mike Sondgeroth said in a press release, “we have looked for ways to go beyond just hosting a basketball tournament and recognize those who participate in our event. And we very pleased to honor these four student-athletes…. [for] their involvement in academics, athletics and their communities.”

Feeney was selected from a pool of forty applicants by a committee of educators for her leadership skills and academic performance.

The two-sport varsity standout was a three-time MVP for the Iron while maintaining a 4.021 GPA.

As a freshman, “I wasn’t a great leader,” Feeney said. “I was very quiet.”

But by her senior year, she served as a captain for the basketball and volleyball teams.

“I’ve grown, and I’ve become more talkative and can show the underclassmen what to do,” Feeney said.

Feeney attributes some of her leadership development to volleyball coach Ms. Christine Konopasek.

“Her believing in me made me the leader that I was senior year,” Feeney said. “She took me in as a freshman on varsity.”

That vote of confidence from Konopasek helped Feeney see that she “was capable of becoming a leader.”

Off the court, Feeney was a member of Normal’s National Honor Society and I-Club leadership group and volunteered at a local nursing home and the annual Alzheimer’s Walk and Special Olympics Illinois State Basketball Tournament.

Feeney has participated in athletics her entire academic career, something she said that has made it “kind of easy to balance both.”

While at times, she said, it was a challenge to practice after school and then finish homework, she has “learned to time-manage.”

The award’s three other recipients were Chase Fisher of Bloomington Central Catholic High School, Brooke Howard of Rock Falls High School and Max Niesman of Oswego High School

The Holiday Classic Scholarship has granted $85,000 in scholarships in the last 18 years.

The 2023 State Farm Holiday Classic is scheduled for Dec. 27, 28, 29 and 30, hosting the 44th annual boys tournament and 26th girls tournament.

For more information about the tournament and a complete list of participating teams, visit the official website at www.theclassic.org.

Donate to Inkspot

$385

$3000

Contributed

Our Goal

IF YOU SHARE THE INKSPOT'S PASSION for empowering Normal Community's aspiring journalists and equipping them with viable and valuable digital media skills, please consider contributing to our cause.
Your support plays a vital role in enabling the Inkspot to invest in top-tier equipment, maintain memberships in distinguished professional organizations such as the Journalism Education Association and National Scholastic Press Association, send our students to compete at state and national contests, and attend the National High School Journalism Convention.
Your generosity is the key to providing these students with a truly enriching educational experience. THANK YOU.

About the Contributors

Brayden Blackwell, Senior Staff Reporter

Brayden is a senior at Normal Community; this is Brayden's third year on the Inkspot where he is a senior staff reporter. I am inspired by people lifting each other up because "iron sharpens iron." My all-time dream is to become a social studies teacher. A book that moved me was "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan.

Libby Price, Staff Writer

Libby Price is a senior at Normal Community High School and is involved in Speech Team. This is her first year working with the Inkspot, and she is a staff writer. On the weekends I enjoy baking and crocheting. My favorites subjects in school are English and Spanish. I hope to become a teacher someday.