Athlete Spotlight: Future Nurse and Current Baseball Player, Josh Wickware

Josh Wickware is a senior at Watonga, and is involved in baseball, band, and NSHSS. He likes being outdoors and fishing, and he loves the sport of baseball, as it’s the only sport he’s in. He aims to study to be a nurse when he graduates, and is looking forward to the next chapter of his life.

Wickware joined baseball in the seventh grade because his dad made him. He was originally in track, but admittedly wasn’t the best at it. He soon found out however, that baseball “came naturally” to him. At first he didn’t want to play. “I cried cuz I had to and I was just good at it,” Josh said. His dad, Chris Wickware, and Coach John Cope have helped him a lot in the sport. His dad has “always been there” for him. He taught him not only the game that he loves, but has also made him into the person he is today, and Coach Cope is always there to straighten him out when he isn't performing well. “He’s coached me as to like, how to be a better person, and not only on the baseball part but in life, too,” Wickware said. Baseball has given him the ability to work as a team. He said, “It’s not a one-man sport … everybody has to give part of it.” Tyler Bernhardt has also been a big inspiration for him in the sport. He was an assistant coach for Josh’s freshman, sophomore, and junior years. “He taught me a lot about the game and how to love it. He’s made me wanna continue with baseball,” Josh said.

This is his last year playing for the Watonga Eagles, as he is gearing up to graduate this spring. As a senior, Josh said the team has treated him “a lot better” due to his leadership and seniority. Wickware is “scared” for his last game with his team, and to soon be out in the world on his own, but he’s also ready for the future. Getting a District title is one of Wickware’s main goals for this season and, “just to get better.”

This is only the second full year Josh has been playing. In his seventh grade year, he tore his Medial Collateral Ligament, or his MCL. He continued to play on it however, until he had to have surgery freshman year. Recovering from it was hard, “It was eight months of physical therapy … it was terrible,” he said. And right as he was getting back into the swing of things, Covid shut everything down.

Josh plans on playing baseball at Southwestern University and studying to be a nurse there. He wanted to become a nurse because of “all the times I’ve been in the hospital,” Josh said, “I’ve always been really caring, I just wanna help people. Whether they’re mad or sad, I just wanna make them better.”

Josh Wickware, 17

Grade- Senior

Family- Chris and Cheri

Wickware (parents), Riley

Wickware (sibling)

Activities- NSHSS, Baseball, Band

Hobbies- Fishing, Baseball, Being outdoors