Coming out of DeForest High School, UW-Whitewater senior Emily Gerber was a basketball player. She led the Norskies to two straight WIAA State Tournament runs and decided to play for Division-II St. Joseph’s College (Ind.).
After a year of playing basketball, Gerber decided to switch directions and transfer to UW-Whitewater to play soccer.
“I transferred from St. Joseph’s where I played basketball, to UW-Whitewater,” Gerber said. “I didn’t do too well and wasn’t in the best of shape.”
Having high expectations, Gerber wasn’t satisfied with her freshman year. She said she was out of shape and things were out of sync.
“I didn’t have the best year, but then my sophomore year it was better,” Gerber said. “It just came more natural and my teammates had my back with everything. It definitely has helped the rest of my career, because it gave me confidence to continue on from my sophomore year.”
Head Coach Greg Henschel knew the potential that Gerber had, so during the first year they were together, he wanted to gain her trust.
“With my understanding, her first year was a negative experience for her,” Henschel said. “When she came into her first year, I think it was for her and I to gain each other’s trust and I think it went forward from there.”
Although she didn’t meet her expectations, Gerber still was second on the team in goals (six), shots (34) and points (14).
After getting in shape, her sophomore year was the start to an unforgettable career.
Gerber broke the UW-Whitewater record book with 24 goals and 49 points in a season. Not only that, but Gerber was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year.
“It felt good,” Gerber said. “It’s more of a thing that I’m glad it’s over. I just don’t like to have a lot of stuff about me, it was nice to get it over with so now we can move on to bigger and better things.”
And that she did.
Failing to reach the NCAA Tournament her first two years, Gerber was destined to do more. With more scorers on the team, Gerber led the ’Hawks to their first ever share of the conference title with UW-Stevens Point, including a NCAA Tournament bid. On top of that, she was named WIAC player of the year for the second straight season.
Gerber will always admit that the individual honors are good, but would rather have the team do well.
“I think accomplishing something as a team is bigger than accomplishing something individually, because you can share it with more people,” Gerber said. Henschel said that Gerber is one of the best players he has ever coached because she is a team player and will do anything to win.
“She looks out for her teammates and wants to see the team succeed and she understands that she is a big part of the team succeeding,” Henschel said. “She understands she can’t win a game by herself and it’s a team game.”
So far in her senior season, Gerber continues to break records.
On Sept. 9, Gerber broke the school scoring records. She now owns the record with 50 career goals, breaking Wendy Scott’s 45. She also owns the mark of most points (115), also breaking Scott’s previous record of 103.
Not only has Gerber been breaking records, Henschel said she means a lot more to UW-Whitewater.
“When you talk about all the goals and numbers she’s put together, I think one of the most interesting things that gets overlooked, with all these records, she has done it against the tough competition,” Henschel said. “In the time she’s been in our program, she has been a constant competitor and has helped elevate our women’s program.”
Currently Gerber has admitted that the ’Hawks are struggling, but if they finish strong and make a run into the conference tournament, they will be fine.
“I just want to win out on the rest of our conference games because right now we are in a little hole, but if we win out right, we will be putting ourselves into a good situation,” Gerber said.
