“Come on girls, you’re doing great, let’s keep it up!”
From being a standout student in the Waterville Central School District to becoming the somewhat hidden strength behind the bench of the Syracuse University women’s ice hockey team, Shelby Knoeller’s career in athletic training took flight right from the start and doesn’t show any signs of stopping.
Daughter of Brenda and Mark of Waterville, Knoeller is the youngest of three and her kind-heartedness and compassion for others has followed her from a young age.
“I remember her having a real kindness about her and a real concern for others,” Waterville High School English teacher Vinny Elacqua said. “I think that’s probably the thing that stands out most to me when I think about her is just a really kind disposition and somebody who was outside of herself enough to care about other people.”
Elacqua and Mike Ryan, a former English teacher in the Waterville Central School District, were two instructors Knoeller said greatly influenced her future.
“I just feel like they had a huge impact on all of us and it was never a forced impact,” Knoeller said. “It was never a ‘Let me sit you down and teach you a lesson’. They just taught us lessons through who they were as people.”
Knoeller’s personality and characteristics ultimately got her to where she is today. Relationships she created along the way shaped her to become the stand out athletic trainer that she became.
The 2009 Waterville graduate chose a quaint college in Amherst to call home for the next five years. “[Daemen]’s a really small school,” Knoeller said. “I came from Waterville, Waterville’s a very small town, so for me it was kind of an easy transition to stay with that small town feel.”
Not only did Knoeller feel right at home at Daemen…
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