I met Emma Schieck when I was exploring the different Paralympic autism classifications for my girl Adrienne and she was just a joy to speak to and willing to do what she could to find the information we needed.
Fast forward to August 2024 when she and her sitting volleyball team claimed gold in the final round of the sitting volleyball tournament. Paris was Emma's second Paralympics and the first where she got to have her friends and family cheering her on.
Emma didn't get her start in sitting volleyball, and her road to 2x gold did not come without challenges - both mentally and physically.
She's had a whirlwind of excitement post-Paris, including a trip to the White House, and fortunately found time to squeeze this interview in to remind us that success isn't linear, luck has nothing to do with it, and to keep chasing those goals, even when there are setbacks.
What first inspired you to pursue volleyball, and when did you realize you could compete beyond school and club teams?
The first time I picked up a volleyball I knew that I was in the right place. I was 7 years old and at a sports “try-it” day at my elementary school. We were all able to try a few different sports to encourage sign-ups. Volleyball was the first session I went to and I still remember how excited I was to get my first serve over the net.
Linda, the coach running the session, was one of the most kind, encouraging, and enthusiastic people I have ever met. He made the sport easy to love. I remember when my mom agreed to sign me up for the elementary school volleyball team I was so excited.
I thought I would end up going to the Olympics some day… I had no idea about the Paralympics yet.
I loved volleyball from the beginning and wanted to play for the rest of my life. As I grew up I always loved volleyball enough to want to do it forever, but the dream of competing for Team USA seemed far-fetched. It wasn’t until officially making the Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team in January 2019 that I think I fully grasped that it would be possible for me to play this sport professionally.
Were there any specific challenges you faced during this time, and what did you do to overcome them?
There were more challenges than I could possibly ever write about.
I was cut from my middle school and my high school team the first time I tried out. That was incredibly hard when I was young because all I wanted to do was play volleyball, and it hurt to know that I wasn’t good enough to do that.
I am really proud to say that I have never been cut from a team that I did not come back and make the next year. That didn’t come easy, but loving volleyball through it all made a big difference.
Now that I am 7-years into my National Team Career, I am still most motivated by the teams that I didn’t make. Not because I feel like I have something to prove… actually it is quite the opposite. I remember how awful it felt to not be able to play the sport that I love. I remember how much it hurt to watch other girls get to play volleyball while I waited for the next season. No matter how hard a practice is or how difficult of a loss my team may have had, I know that anything playing volleyball is so much worse than the alternative – not getting to play at all. I think that with anything we do, when we keep our love for it at the center it is a lot easier to overcome challenges.
Tell us about transitioning to sitting volleyball and its impact on your journey.
Transitioning into sitting volleyball was HARD.
I was 15 when I was first approached about sitting volleyball, and was finally at a really competitive place with my standing volleyball career. I had struggled with making teams in middle school and early high school, but through a lot of hard work was playing high-level standing volleyball.
I also had not spent much time seriously thinking about the fact that I had a disability. I hadn’t considered Paralympic sport up until this point and honestly was pretty hesitant.
When I first tried the sport I was SHOCKED at how difficult it was and found myself getting frustrated. I had worked really hard to gain confidence in volleyball and when I first sat down to try the sitting discipline I saw that skill and my confidence slip away.
It took a few years for that confidence to come in the sitting game but I truly believe that playing sitting, indoor, and beach volleyball has made a world of difference in my career. Playing more than one type of volleyball really helped elevate my game in all of the disciplines.
Some disabilities aren't always immediately invisible. Did you face adversity when moving to a division that allowed you to compete with those experiencing similar conditions?
Myself and all of my teammates have physical disabilities and are impacted all of us in different ways. I have definitely gotten comments on social media posts before that say things like “but are you really disabled??”
Within our sport we don’t see too much of it, but from outsiders it is common. Paralympic sports have a classification process so all of the athletes have disabilities but viewers don’t always realize that.
I hope that with the rise of Paralympic sport people realize that there is no one way to be disabled. I am one of two girls in the sitting volleyball world competing with my disability and it has its own unique challenges in the sport. Especially when I was first starting out, I would look to her to see how to navigate these challenges.
Even now that I am seven years into my National Team career I find new challenges with my disability and am always learning to navigate those. It is something that comes with the territory of Paralympic sport!
What was it like trying out for your first Paralympic team?
Stressful! When I originally made the National Team in January 2019, Tokyo 2020 was not really on the table. I was young and inexperienced, but the postponement of the Games due to COVID-19 really changed that.
We keep about 18 women on the National Team at a time and only 12 get to go to the Paralympics. Without a doubt we are the deepest team in the world and that means our Paralympic roster is really hard to make. I was in college at the time and with the pandemic, my school went completely online.
Once it was announced that the Games were postponed I took the time to really lock in for the next year and a half and give it everything that I had. I spent a lot of time at my team’s training site and did remote college from there. Even with all of the stress, the months leading up to the Tokyo 2020(1) Games were some of my favorite so far. Really, just grinding it out with my teammates and working towards such a huge goal was incredible.
If you had any doubts or questioned if you belonged there, how did you navigate those thoughts?
I absolutely had those thoughts in the weeks following our roster release. I talked to my sports psychologist and teammates about this a lot after our roster came out. I knew that the Games were high pressure and I did not want to feel like I still needed to prove myself to my coaches or teammates once we were there because there was a job to do.
Even though I had worked hard for it, I was surprised to make the team. Saying these things out loud and to others helped me navigate them and be ready for the Games.
How did your first and second Paralympic experiences differ, both personally and professionally?
These two Games were INCREDIBLY different.
Tokyo will always have a special place in my heart because it was my first Games. I honestly had a really great experience in Tokyo despite the many challenges we faced. We had issues with COVID, and there were no friends, family, or spectators. It really felt like it was me and my team against the world, and we were making it fun in our own way.
There was definitely more pressure leading up to the Paris Games. The bar had been set high in Tokyo, and I felt that going into Paris. The Paris Games were unique because it was my first Opening Ceremonies, my first Team USA Welcome Experience, my first time in front of a crowd like that, and it was the first time my friends and family were in the stands for a game. Paris came with its own set of challenges but it really felt like a second first-Games experience.
What do you wish people understood about less visible disabilities in sport and the Paralympics?
I definitely have a disability and it may not be the first thing that people notice about me, but my disability is very physically apparent. It is especially noticeable when you see me play volleyball, my passing platform makes it most obvious, but blocking is a close second. My arm is smaller and doesn’t straighten.
What are three wellness products you can’t live without?
Aquaphor – This is always with me, especially when I am traveling. Airplanes can be so dry and I don’t always do the best job of staying hydrated, so this comes to the rescue quite often!
Theraband – These are essential in my workout routine. I use them to warm up before every practice and game. In our sport, hip mobility is really important and my Theraband plays a key role in my hip routine.
A handheld fan – I don’t do much without my handheld fan and most of my teammates agree. Whether it is for traveling, game time, or any other activities. I get hot really easily and we don’t always know what we are getting into when we travel. I have one from Amazon that I love that blows cool air and has a long battery life… it came with me EVERYWHERE in Paris.
Is there anything else you’d like to add/share?
One of my biggest regrets is that I did not grow up watching the Paralympic Games.
It is my goal to make sure that the next generation of Paralympic athletes are able to grow up watching the Paralympic Games and have role models like them.
I LOVED seeing the excitement and growth around the Paralympic Movement this Games and cannot wait to see where LA 2028 takes us!
Follow Emma on Instagram at @EmmaSchieckk and learn more about her journey here.
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