Completed Event: Women's Soccer at #5 Iowa on November 14, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 1
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FINAL
Women's Soccer
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at #5 Iowa
1
South Dakota State University Athletics
Zoe Wittkop
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
SUNDAY MATCH HOLDS SPECIAL MEANING FOR WITTKOP
9/7/2024 11:25:00 AM | Women's Soccer
For the fifth time, the South Dakota State soccer team will be hosting a GOALd game this Sunday when the Jackrabbits take on the Drake Bulldogs at Fishback Soccer Park in Brookings at 1 p.m.
The idea for the match originally was created in 2018 as a way to honor a family member during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This season, the game will have a significant meaning to a current member of the SDSU program.
Zoe Wittkop, a freshman midfielder for the Jackrabbits, and her family have dealt with a difficult nearly year-long span. Last December, Wittkop's younger sister Sherry was dealing with what physical therapists and doctors originally thought was customary knee pain during basketball season. Instead, what Sherry Wittkop was suffering from was a tumor.
Since that time, Sherry has gone through a whirlwind of surgeries and treatments of chemo. She underwent a rotationplasty, which meant doctors removed her femur bone so that her ankle can serve as her knee going forward. While she has recovered well from the surgery, she has also had nodules removed from both her lungs and is continuing to do chemo.
The emotions of the Wittkops initially were what you'd expect any family member to go through.
"At the beginning it was really bad," Zoe said of her family trying to deal with what was happening. "We were all questioning God, like, 'why would you give this to Sherry?'
"But then I think two weeks went by and my dad said, 'you know, we just need to start looking at the positives and moving forward. Obviously this happened to us, but we just need to make the best of it.'"
Friends of the Wittkop family sprung to action and got a fundraiser put together, they had bracelets produced that read "Team Sherry" and t-shirts made, so support was great from others in their lives. Though things have been tough, Zoe's younger sister has continued to stay upbeat and face the challenges she has gone through head on.
At this time, Zoe said that Sherry is starting to get accustomed to what she can and can't do. The two sisters have both been into a variety of sports and Sherry is trying to work to see what will work for her. She played a round of golf recently with her dad and hopes to work her way into playing basketball and running track as she gets familiar with the use of a prosthetic.
"Sherry was such a good track athlete," Zoe said. "She had a 60-second 400 in seventh grade. Then all of a sudden it was all taken away. But when she was coming up to help me move in, she was looking at the Paralympics. She was looking at the number (in the 400) and said, 'oh, I could totally get that.'
"Maybe that's kind of the next goal, just seeing what she can do really well or what she's going to be able to get comfortable with over time."
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Every day, more than 1,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with childhood cancer. The GOALd match this Sunday features a fundraiser with proceeds this season going to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. In partnership with Northwestern Mutual, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's mission is to change the lives of children through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families undergoing treatment and empowering everyone to help find a cure to childhood cancer.
Zoe said beyond just the messages of support online and through letters to Sherry, the goals of what Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation stand for are something that would benefit those in the Wittkop family's shoes.
"I think beyond the support everyone has given (Sherry), money towards research would be helpful," Zoe said. "We tried a new diet and new alternative medicine, so being able to research how safe and better that stuff could be. Her tumor could have been killed faster and it wasn't able to be killed until late, so research towards early recognition would have been even more helpful for Sherry too."
With the school year beginning, the Wittkops have dealt with a variety of new circumstances. Zoe started her new journey this summer as a college student, while her sister is in the midst of her first year of high school. Fortunately, Zoe's home of Le Mars, Iowa, is just two hours away from Brookings. It's allowed the family of four to still spend time together while Zoe is off at college and Sherry has rounds of chemo completed in Sioux Falls.
The family hopes to be at Sunday's match as Zoe gets her second official opportunity of her college career to play on the pitch at Fishback Soccer Park. She'll do it during a game that has a meaning that hits close to home for her and her family.
To donate to the South Dakota State soccer team's fundraiser page for the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, please click here.
The idea for the match originally was created in 2018 as a way to honor a family member during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This season, the game will have a significant meaning to a current member of the SDSU program.
Zoe Wittkop, a freshman midfielder for the Jackrabbits, and her family have dealt with a difficult nearly year-long span. Last December, Wittkop's younger sister Sherry was dealing with what physical therapists and doctors originally thought was customary knee pain during basketball season. Instead, what Sherry Wittkop was suffering from was a tumor.
Since that time, Sherry has gone through a whirlwind of surgeries and treatments of chemo. She underwent a rotationplasty, which meant doctors removed her femur bone so that her ankle can serve as her knee going forward. While she has recovered well from the surgery, she has also had nodules removed from both her lungs and is continuing to do chemo.
The emotions of the Wittkops initially were what you'd expect any family member to go through.
"At the beginning it was really bad," Zoe said of her family trying to deal with what was happening. "We were all questioning God, like, 'why would you give this to Sherry?'
"But then I think two weeks went by and my dad said, 'you know, we just need to start looking at the positives and moving forward. Obviously this happened to us, but we just need to make the best of it.'"
Friends of the Wittkop family sprung to action and got a fundraiser put together, they had bracelets produced that read "Team Sherry" and t-shirts made, so support was great from others in their lives. Though things have been tough, Zoe's younger sister has continued to stay upbeat and face the challenges she has gone through head on.
At this time, Zoe said that Sherry is starting to get accustomed to what she can and can't do. The two sisters have both been into a variety of sports and Sherry is trying to work to see what will work for her. She played a round of golf recently with her dad and hopes to work her way into playing basketball and running track as she gets familiar with the use of a prosthetic.
"Sherry was such a good track athlete," Zoe said. "She had a 60-second 400 in seventh grade. Then all of a sudden it was all taken away. But when she was coming up to help me move in, she was looking at the Paralympics. She was looking at the number (in the 400) and said, 'oh, I could totally get that.'
"Maybe that's kind of the next goal, just seeing what she can do really well or what she's going to be able to get comfortable with over time."
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Every day, more than 1,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with childhood cancer. The GOALd match this Sunday features a fundraiser with proceeds this season going to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. In partnership with Northwestern Mutual, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's mission is to change the lives of children through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families undergoing treatment and empowering everyone to help find a cure to childhood cancer.
Zoe said beyond just the messages of support online and through letters to Sherry, the goals of what Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation stand for are something that would benefit those in the Wittkop family's shoes.
"I think beyond the support everyone has given (Sherry), money towards research would be helpful," Zoe said. "We tried a new diet and new alternative medicine, so being able to research how safe and better that stuff could be. Her tumor could have been killed faster and it wasn't able to be killed until late, so research towards early recognition would have been even more helpful for Sherry too."
With the school year beginning, the Wittkops have dealt with a variety of new circumstances. Zoe started her new journey this summer as a college student, while her sister is in the midst of her first year of high school. Fortunately, Zoe's home of Le Mars, Iowa, is just two hours away from Brookings. It's allowed the family of four to still spend time together while Zoe is off at college and Sherry has rounds of chemo completed in Sioux Falls.
The family hopes to be at Sunday's match as Zoe gets her second official opportunity of her college career to play on the pitch at Fishback Soccer Park. She'll do it during a game that has a meaning that hits close to home for her and her family.
To donate to the South Dakota State soccer team's fundraiser page for the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, please click here.
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