Snakebite changes course for Washburn Rural golfer and football kicker, 'I wouldn't change a thing'

Giles Frederickson played soccer growing up before picking up football and golf in high school.

After a standout career in both sports at Washburn Rural — and an unexpected encounter with a copperhead snake  — he's headed to the University of Nebraska for their Professional Golf Association Golf Management program.

Snakebite changes things

Last October, during the halftime of a Chiefs game, Frederickson and a friend went outside to play catch at his home near Pomona Lake, about 35 miles south of Topeka.

A throw from his friend went over his head. As he Frederickson was running back to make the catch, he said he felt like he stepped on a stick.

"I was like, 'Man, that felt weird,'" he said. "I felt like I got like pricked by a stick. It almost felt like an electric shock."

Copperhead snakes are something he has seen around the lake since he was 4 years old. His family always warned to be wary of copperheads. Frederickson knew right away that's what it was.

"I looked down, and I was like, 'Oh man, I just got bit by that thing,'" said Frederickson. "It was just right in my driveway."

He ran into the house and told his dad he needed to go to the hospital as the panic and adrenaline set in as he ran around the kitchen.

The adrenaline soon wore off. The area bitten became increasingly painful as Frederickson took an ambulance to the hospital.

"The best way to describe it was feeling like you have a big hot iron ball that's in your ankle, and it's going up your side," he said. "It just felt like my foot was going to explode.

"The next day, I was just trying to touch my upper thigh area. I couldn't touch it. It was so sensitive. My whole leg was huge. I spent three nights in the ICU. The doctors told me I took like a third of the anti-venom in the county or something like that."

Frederickson said it was scary, thinking back to the second night at the hospital in the middle of the night when a nurse called the doctor after checking on his foot.

His capillary refill time — the time taken for a distal capillary bed to regain its color after pressure has been applied — was poor.

When his foot was touched, it would stay white and leave indentations. That meant there was no blood going to his foot. After he was given antibiotics, the swelling went down over the next five to six hours.

But not without a scare first.

"For 30 minutes they were telling me all my options," said Frederickson. "Like the best-case scenario was like I would just lose my toe or something like that. They (later) decided they weren't gonna have to cut my foot off, but they were legitimately considering that."

Golf, football and soccer

Frederickson lived in Muscat, Oman, from the ages of 2 to 12 before he moved back to Kansas. From the ages of 5 to 14, he played soccer.

When he moved back to Kansas at 13, he picked up golf and football. Those soon became his two main sports.

"My love for soccer was kind of dwindling away as I was getting older," said Frederickson. "But I still wanted to do something."

Frederickson has been golfing for five years, starting in the summer between seventh and eighth grade when he got some clubs from his uncle.

"I went to the range one day and I just kept hitting balls," said Frederickson, "and said, 'This is really fun,' I just kept working and working at it.

"The thing with me is when I find something that I enjoy doing, it's almost hard for me to focus on other things. I find a deep passion and then I work really hard at it. I want to keep pushing and pushing until I can be like the best I can be."

Frederickson said he knew he loved golf from the start. It could be winter with snow on the ground, below zero, and he would be hitting balls into a net.

"It wasn't because I was wanting to get better," said Frederickson. "I genuinely enjoyed doing it."

This year, Frederickson was named Centennial League player of the year. He shot a 4-under-par 68 at the Seaman Invitational. The 68 tied a school record, while the 4-under-par set a school record.

He made the state tournament all three years, losing the chance his sophomore season due to COVID, and finished seventh individually, a career-best finish.

Frederickson started playing football in seventh grade as a kicker before taking a year off and then becoming a four-year kicker for Washburn Rural.

"When I was living in the Middle East, that's kind of where I learned how to kick a ball," said Frederickson.

He fell in love with football this past fall when he missed a couple of games because of the snakebite. He realized how much he loved the sport — the camaraderie with his teammates, the coaches and the overall atmosphere of those Friday night lights.

"I really like the pressure of kicking," said Frederickson. "You can be the hero or the villain. Sometimes, everyone loves you, sometimes, everyone hates you. I liked that because I like to prove myself."

Frederickson holds the school record for field goal distance (46 yards) and had a 98% point-after touchdown percentage while being named 1st team All-League in 2021 and 2022 and a two-time honorable mention All-State kicker.

A close miss

Frederickson was scheduled to attend a kicking camp that ranked some of the best high school kickers in the nation later in October. He had to miss it because of the snake bite.

That hurt his recruiting opportunities. He eventually was given a recruiting rank of 4.5 stars out of 5 in February.

But by then, it was too late.

"I was wanting to go kick at the University of Nebraska," said Frederickson. "I had talked to the coach quite a bit. I had gotten offers from a couple of other schools like Emporia State and Knox College (Illinois) and I had been communicating with the University of Toledo and the University of Pennsylvania but I really was wanting to go to Nebraska.

Sending his ranking to all those interested parties was supposed to be the final piece to the puzzle of the recruiting process. The delay meant those schools moved on.

"I believe that if I did not get bitten by the copperhead I probably would be playing college football somewhere," said Frederickson. "But, I'm glad I'm taking the course that I am going to be doing, and I have no complaints. I'm not blaming anything for me not playing college football."

PGA Golf Management

The PGA Golf Management program at Nebraska is one of 18 accredited PGA Golf Management University Programs in the country and offers options for students interested in a career in the golf industry.

"I went on a visit to Nebraska to visit their program, and it was like, 'Wow, like, this is fantastic,'" said Frederickson. "From what I've seen, the golf management facilities at Nebraska are better than all of the facilities that I've seen at actual golf programs at other schools."

On top of the player development class taught by PGA professionals, Frederickson will have the opportunity to do four internships, one each summer, that will provide him with a basic background in managing golf facilities and related organizations, business and personnel management, restaurant and hospitality management, turfgrass, recreation and golf instruction methods.

As someone who enjoys travel and experiencing new things, Frederickson said he's elated for the opportunity.

"There's a lot to look forward to," said Frederickson. "I'm excited to just experience something new. This is when you transition into adulthood. I'm excited to navigate that whole world.

"I wouldn't change a thing. I'm dead set on this, totally committed to it and really happy everything worked out the way it did."

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Washburn Rural golfer headed to PGA Golf Management Program at UNL