Butler Eagle Female AOTY: North Catholic’s Simone Sharpless has always had a leg up on her peers
Once a Division III football player, DJ Sharpless has some running back highlights stored away somewhere on boxy VHS tapes.
The North Catholic girls soccer coach said someday he might show his daughter and now-former Trojanettes standout, Simone, what his game looked like, but the family doesn’t have a television that can play the videocassettes.
“I haven’t been able to see those,” Simone said. “We used to have one a while ago, probably when I was a baby. I wish I could look at those.”
Not that she needs to study up.
Simone, a Western Michigan women’s soccer commit, starred on the pitch and flag football field for North Catholic. She owns the Trojanettes’ soccer program record for goals scored, had a six-touchdown game in the other sport and is also the 2025-26 Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year.
DJ remembers Simone dribbling a soccer ball in his family’s living room when she was 2 years old.
“She had something about her, how she handled the ball,” he said.
It’s a memory she considers the first time she fell in love with the game.
“We would play in our house all the time,” Simone said. “We would bang it off the walls and ... got told to settle down.”
At one point playing youth soccer against a boys team, Simone took off on a diagonal run and cut off an opponent who’d broken away toward the net.
“As she got older, we’ve watched her play, and the way she takes angles and makes her runs, it’s pretty amazing for an athlete,” DJ said. “Even on the football field, when somebody has the ball or you’re chasing somebody, a lot of people will run straight at them. ... That’s when I first noticed she’s probably gonna be pretty good at whatever she does.”
Simone was also once a basketball point guard who could see the entire court. Between her father’s athletic genes and the fact her mother, Jocelyn, played soccer in high school, it’s no coincidence she developed into a top-notch athlete.
Jocelyn was always truthful with a young Simone about how important effort is. DJ, who’s been coaching soccer for about 20 years, played football for Juniata. He assisted with coaching the Trojanettes’ flag football team, too, and was impressed by how Simone slipped past defenders.
“I don’t think you can learn it. I think it’s instinctual,” DJ said. “She reads the field. ... And certain players can do that, and certain players never can do that.”
Simone’s most memorable day on the gridiron came in a mix of snow and rain during a senior season-opener against Mars. DJ pulled her aside afterward.
“He said he was really proud of me,” Simone said. “He said that I’m setting a path for the whole team, and I led my team that day, which was really special.”
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year North Catholic's Simone Sharpless who graduate in the spring played girls soccer and flag football at Pine Community Park in Pine Twp. on Friday, June 26, 2026. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
