Athletes Of The Week: Annie Foery

If a person were to look up the word teammate in the dictionary, they would find a picture of Annie Foery.

The senior, who plays volleyball and softball for Goldsboro, loves playing sports, but she loves spending time with and supporting her teammates even more.

For her dedication to her teammates, Foery was named this week’s Brian Allen State Farm Insurance Female Athlete of the Week.

Foery did not play organized sports until the seventh grade. One day, she went to a workout and fell in love with both sports.

“I enjoy both sport ts equally,” Foery said. “At the workout, I had just a natural love for the sports, and it just hit me that I was meant to play those sports.”

“I’ve been playing ever since.”

During her time at Goldsboro, Foery and her teammates have revitalized the Goldsboro softball program. Every year she has been on the team, the Cougars have gotten better.

In 2018, Foery’s freshman year, the Cougars finished the season with a 9-11 record and reached the playoffs for the first time in school history. However, the next season, the Cougars went 14-9 to finish the season with their first winning record in decades.

“It’s not just one of us or three of us,” Foery said. “It’s all of us together. We all have the same goals, and we work hard to get those goals.”

Despite having last season wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Foery is looking forward to her senior season and hopefully a long playoff run.

“Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, my goals will be a lot harder to reach,” Foery said. “My goals are to improve each year and leave everything I have on the court and the field for my senior year.”

Foery does many things well on the softball diamond and volleyball court, and her defense in both sports is simply outstanding. Forey has a career .929 fielding percentage and, in three seasons, has only made three errors.

On the volleyball court last season, Foery tallied 133 digs. The Cougars finished with a 19-13 record and reached the playoffs for the second straight season.

She credits Goldsboro softball and volleyball coach T.J. Lancaster for helping her improve as a player in both sports each season.

“He has a huge passion for both sports, so he always motivates us,” Foery said. “We do it for him, and we do it for each other.”

Foery, who plans on studying to be an oncologist, has made a lifetime of memories playing sports.

Still, for Foery, her favorite memories while playing sports have been the bus rides with her teammates and coaches.

“I really enjoy making close bonds with everybody you meet in the sport,” Foery said. “So, not only are you doing something you love all the time, but you also get to do it with the people you love.”