JASPER — A major setback like a torn ACL can ruin a student-athlete's chance to compete in a sport at the next level, but Caroline Keefner wasn't deterred.
The Jasper senior suffered an injury in January 2023 that limited him for most of his senior football season with the Wildcats. However, she eased her mind and continued to rehabilitate her teammates, and she competed in the junior varsity tournament this year and returned to her varsity team at the end of the regular season, helping Jaspers to a sectional championship.
And on Wednesday, she signed a letter of intent to continue her soccer career at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, allowing her to continue playing the sport she loves.
“It was so hard to quit the sport I love and I couldn't even imagine it,” Kiefner said. “Once again, I would like to thank the coaches at SBU (Stephen Skillman, who hired Keefner but resigned as the girls soccer coach to become the school's assistant athletic director) for giving me this opportunity. I'm excited to join the team.”
SBU announced earlier this month that Andrew Persick will be the new Bearcats women's soccer coach. Not all student-athletes stick with a program when the coach who scouted them leaves the job, but Keifner plans to study nursing and plans to pursue a nursing career while also playing soccer. told the Herald that not all schools allow it. But when asked about sticking with SBU, he also answered why.
“I think it's really about the team. Whenever I practiced with them for the first time, they made me feel very welcome. And I've just become close with a lot of the team already, and the university… It hasn’t started yet,” she said.
But the Bearcats haven't had a winning record since 2014, when they went 16-5-1, and haven't even hit .500 since finishing 9-9-1 in 2015, so she doesn't have much of a winning record. The job would be a good fit. — But she also comes from a winning culture where the Wildcats won three sectional championships in four years. Keifner played on the varsity all four years and was a starter as a freshman.
“I definitely think it's going to be a great opportunity with this new coach coming in. And I haven't met him yet, but a lot of the girls on the team have reached out to me and said he's going to be a good player. “It's a perfect fit,'' Keifner said. “And I know he's going to work on his fitness and that's always good. And I'm going to work on my fitness in the summer and improve there. “I'll definitely work on my ball handling, Then you'll get a great shot on target – great (laughter). ”
“Really, just stepping in there from day one, I think they have a new coach as well,” Jasper girls soccer coach Rod Fortwendel said. “So I hope that this coach brings a different attitude, a different culture to the school, and a winning mentality. But I think I'm really excited about Caroline's work ethic, her enthusiasm, her high spirits with her teammates. I think it's going to be huge, and I think if all the girls get along at that point, we'll play better as a cohesive unit and they'll start to turn that loss into a win.”
Fort Wendell was able to watch Kiefner grow as a football player all four years with the Wildcats and as a varsity coach the past two seasons.
“The biggest change in me over the first two years was my desire to push up the field,” he said. “This is a big thing for me. I like to put pressure on other defensemen and get the outside backs involved in that attack. This was one of the big adjustments we made during Caroline's junior year. And I was able to nail a lot of defenders” after them. And she was a big part of that. ”
She started playing the sport at the age of 8 and continued to get better at it, and watching her progress left her with a love for soccer. And she has goals to take her to the next level.
“My goal is to always keep my head up no matter what, because this season has been tough for me, especially with my injury again,” Keifner said. “I'm always going to work hard in practice and getting better is my main goal, as every (athlete) should be.”
