Sports

L-W North's Balcerzak Named Illinois Young Soccer Female Referee of the Year

Lincoln-Way North senior Michelle Balcerzak will be honored as the Young Soccer Female Referee of the Year by Illinois Youth Soccer at its awards banquet on March 9.

Michelle Balcerzak is Illinois soccer’s Young Female Referee of the Year.

She could be the Student of the Year or the Player of the Year, too.

Balcerzak, a senior at Lincoln-Way North High School, has been named the Illinois Young Soccer Female Referee of the Year by Illinois Youth Soccer. She will be honored during the organization’s awards banquet on March 9.

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“Michelle has been a great contributor to the feeling of family we enjoy at Lincoln-Way North,” principal Mike Gardner said in a news release. “Michelle gives her best effort no matter what the task or circumstance.

“She is an example of what young America should be about—hard work and contributing to society. I am not surprised Michelle has had such a great career or is earning such lofty accolades. She is a special person.”

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Balcerzak plays on the Lincoln-Way North girls soccer team and also participates in many other extracurricular activities, including Key Club, Snowball, Pi Sigma Pi, Psychology Club and National Honor Society.

She has been a starter for the Phoenix girls soccer team since her freshman year and has earned all-conference and all-area honors for her play. Her officiating is every bit as good as her play.

As an Illinois winner, she now has earned a nomination for the U.S. Youth Soccer Midwest Regional Young Female Referee of the Year award.

“Michelle ranks in the top 10 percent of her class,” Lincoln-Way North girls soccer coach and physics teacher Mike Murphy said. “Her written work (is) of the highest quality. Michelle also shows tremendous promise in her ability to develop a line of inquiry.

“Her questions (in physics class) were always of second and third order. They were questions that prove Michelle’s ability to be imaginable and insightful.”


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