the BYU Women's Soccer Head Coach I get most excited about coaching when. Jennifer Rockwood, BYU. Each new season of recruits will be a major influence in our lives, so we must choose wisely. Jennifer Rockwood net worth is$600,000 Jennifer Rockwood Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Jennifer Rockwood is the head coach for the BYU Cougars women's soccer team, a position she has held since 1989. Something most of you know and something I have come to learn over the years is that your mother and father are always your biggest fans. To take His name, I will be strong That includes this year's signing class, an eight-member group led by Olympus midfielder Emma Neff, Lone Peak forward Camryn Jorgensen and Davis goalkeeper Taygan Sill, to name a few. . We must search the scriptures and the words of our prophets and leaders and seek after the truth. In their winningest season in program history, the Cougars steadily climbed to no. We knew that we had the athletes to compete at the collegiate level, we just needed to give it a shot.. But no amount of club soccer matches could prepare her for what was to come: coaching a fully sanctioned NCAA soccer team. She was soon leading classes in math and history. We are so blessed to live at the base of majestic mountains. 14 BYU at 4-2 on the season, and 400-116-44 under the long-time head coach. Which voices can drown out the darkness and fill our minds and souls with the light? You are loved, appreciated, and valued more than you will ever know. View All. We must always stay on the lighted path and search for those things that we know to be true. I am sure that we all have worked extremely hard and sacrificed much to be a part of this BYU community. But the word was out. Postseason invitational champion This battle was not fought alone. "We are thrilled to have Ellie coming to BYU," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. We know that the players we bring in will not only be spending a large amount of time with us but will also be a significant part of the lives of their teammates for the course of their college career. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a Jennifer Rockwood (born September 20, 1966) is an American soccer coach, and the head coach for the BYU Cougars women's soccer team, a position she has held since 1989. When the girls play their best and get the best results, it all comes together. After the lease was signed, someone remarked, Oh, we know that you are not going to proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes? He was referring to the BYU students who would be studying in Israel. Aug. 6, 2022 (Photo by Christi Norris/BYU) The BYU. While Rockwood was tackling her business degree in the Tanner Building, she was also picking up additional training around the practice field. coach to your personality. "But it's not just their mentality. As it says in the thirteenth article of faith, If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things (Articles of Faith 1:13). "Jen does a really great job of making every play feel cared for, that they matter, and that it's about them," said Colette Jepson Smith, the former Davis High standout who played three seasons at BYU and is now the head coach at Rowland Hall and Wasatch Soccer Club. Can you imagine a young girl, twenty-five years ago, who had just graduated from college, coaching a high school boys soccer team? Most of our players attended camps when they were younger, so they know how exciting it is for young campers to come and hang out with them for a week. And we must be willing to do all the little things in order to reap the bigger rewards. A big part of my job and our staffs job is to recruit players to BYU. [7] Rockwood began to have immediate success. I thought they were a good program, Bertoch said of the program at the time, recounting how the club team had to charter their own buses and often slept when traveling in the homes of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While I walk in the light of God my mind is open. Despite a new office filled with awards, Rockwood cant help but feel grateful. New episode and podcast released each week, focused on the team the Cougars play. Conference regular season champion She was rated as the No. That's all it would take. If Rockwood knows one thing, it's recruiting, and she certainly knows how to mine the state's top soccer prospects and turn several of them into professionals. Article written by Rachel Evensen The best advice I've ever gotten about coaching is. Neither the WAC nor the WCC held a conference tournament, so the highest achievement BYU could attain during those regular seasons was the regular season title. I believe that one of his greatest tools is to provide situations in which we doubt ourselves, our unique spirit, and our mission here on earth. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Our reach goes so far, whether in sports, music, dance, research, science, or education. One of the challenges for me as a coach is knowing that I can make a lot of kids really happy by recruiting them but that I also ruin dreams, she says. I think she probably felt overwhelmed by what it all means.. We must choose our friends and those we associate with very carefully. "We are thrilled to have Ellie coming to BYU," said head coach Jennifer Rockwood. In the College Cup Final, the Cougars met another one seed in the Florida State Seminoles. . Few people were likely talking about the inaugural season for the womens soccer team. Other members of the athletic department helped mentor the young coach, including legendary former coaches Elaine Michaelis, Lu Wallace and Anne Valentine. Im pretty sure in todays world my scenario would not happen, Rockwood says. In 2005, she led her team to its first national seed (No. I see my players play their best. She knew it may never come again. This moment, this chance, was the biggest in her coaching career. I was pretty good at basketball, but I was short for how I played, she says. Are you an example of the Savior in your words, thoughts, and actions? I am sure that we all are qualified and have had numerous opportunities to be elsewhere, but we have chosen to be here at Brigham Young University and to stand for something more than ourselves. He wants so badly to help us reach our potential, and He will, if only we will let Him. In fact, I first met several of the current players on our team at camp when they were only ten or eleven years old. Are we making the most of our opportunities here at BYU? I have the opportunity several times throughout the yearwhether at practice, before a game, or at halftimeto try to motivate, inspire, and remind the girls of what they are capable of and how amazing they are. Division regular season champion Billings became the first ever trainer for the soccer team, and Smith-Bretzing was one of Rockwoods first assistant coaches. To many outside of the program, this immediate success may have come as a surprise. View the profiles of people named Jennifer Hill. We must intentionally use our voices that say, I am strong. March 10, 2016 Name: Jennifer Rockwood BYU employee since: 1989 My job is. I had to stop a few times to shine my headlamp around for fear that I was off of the course. I would like each of you to think about some of the individuals who have helped you get to where you are today. Jennifer Rockwood is BYU women's soccer, they say. Jennifer Rockwood stepped onto BYUs South Field and gazed numbly across the green turf. "It's just been a magical season," says BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood (BS '89), whose team, with nine seniors, wasn't even ranked preseason. But what a blessed life and what a ride it has been. They surround us each day, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. This classic wasnt decided by a single goal; it would require penalty kicks instead. So please accept this blanket as a token of my appreciation. Several years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley said at a BYU devotional: You came because you wanted the BYU experience, although perhaps you could not define it. We are aware that people are watching us, and you never know which lives can be touched, which doors can be opened, and what inspiration can be provided. One penalty kick. Life is a journey, and we must always embrace iteven when we are asked to do something that we thought was absolutely unimaginable. All rights reserved. "It's all of those things and then, they've managed to stay mostly healthy.". Both (Colohan and Tucker) were leaders and both were phenomenal players. Athletes playing for Rockwood have seen continual success over those 27 seasons. ", "BYU women's soccer: Coach Rockwood learns to loosen up", "Reaching 300, one win at a time for BYU's Rockwood", UNC womens soccer upsets BYU to advance to Final Four, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jennifer_Rockwood&oldid=1138996076, High school soccer coaches in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Women's association footballers not categorized by position, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, *Club domestic league appearances and goals, This page was last edited on 12 February 2023, at 20:38. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. I think the least we could do for her was put together a good performance and take her to some place she's never been before.". Besides, she points out, despite everything she and her teams have accomplished over the yearsconference championships, tournament appearances, and top-tier rankingssome goals remain unmet. I loved it, Bertoch said. The event starts in Logan and winds through the Wasatch Back to finish in Park City. To me, this is a great example of someone who was able to apply a simple concept to his life and who continues to share that lesson with those he teaches. "I didn't always appreciate it when I played, but I sure do now. To be able to be the assistant to her and to help her in those first few years, coaching players and developing the program, it was a great experience.. Learn more about the players, traditions, and college towns of BYU and their opponents all season long. When the school announced plans to move to Sandy, Utah, and a new school called Meridian was established in Provo, Rockwood hesitated over her next movebut not for long. The Cougars are anchored by a defense that includes All-West Regional selection Laveni Vaka and goalkeeper Cassidy Smith, whose 2.14 saves per game and 0.65 goals-against average for .783 save percentage ranks among the top five in BYU history. This biographical article related to women's soccer in the United States is a stub. "I have known Ellie. Soccer as a sport was fighting for prominence in the United Statesespecially womens soccer. I know that I will not necessarily tell you anything you havent heard before, but I hope that I might remind you of what you have always known and of what can so easily be forgotten in our demanding lives. Thats all it would take. He challenged me in every way toget better and always expected success. Clinging to the light is a choice, and often that choice is challenging. [I Will, Every Step (Shadow Mountain Records: 2011)]. We did not see eye to eye on many things early on. I wore a headlamp and a blinking red reflector. Help people anyway. Legends Wally Joyner. But we havent been to a Final Four, and we havent won a national championship.. Rockwood led the club team to a 128-25-9 record, two Western National Collegiate Club Soccer Association titles and second place in the NCCSA National Championship match. I had some pretty strong, successful women coaches that were my administrators as we started the program, Rockwood said. It is even becoming apparent that those who choose to follow the light are often mocked, ridiculed, and looked down upon. You can't score if you don't shoot, and the 27th-year head coach has rarely if ever chastised a player for shooting too much. I think we always felt the program would be successful, so we werent surprised, Smith-Bretzing said. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Be kind to yourself so that you can be kind toothers. That was until 2009, when I was running channels and came across a BYU womens soccer game just as someone did a flip throw. "We knew we had the potential, but we wanted to put it all together so she can finally have this awesome accolade to an amazing career at BYU. When you seek after the light by surrounding yourself with positive and great individuals, you provide yourself with more opportunities to learn and grow. I just believe so much in BYU and what it has to offer young students and student athletes. Its helped prepare me in everything Ive ever done, especially being involved in coaching.. On the outside, she remained expressionless, but she struggled to contain her nerves on the inside. Then, in 1995, the university officially sanctioned Division I Womens Soccer and began searching for someone to head up its new team. Kayla and Cameron have the reins to do a lot of things. As a coach, I am in a position in which difficult decisions have to be made that can significantly impact young peoples lives. In order for us to hold up our light, we must believe and remember who we are, where we came from, and what we were sent here to do. Jennifer Rockwood and the origins of the BYU women's soccer team Story and cover art by Alex Dotson This story is part of the March 2022 issue of The Daily Universe Magazine and magazine show (below). But noneof these meant anything at the moment. Any doubts or questions of her being able to lead the team into a new era were gone. Our prophet recently challenged all of us to be an example and a light to the world. However, to several of those inside of the program, including Smith-Bretzing, it wasnt a big shock. Which voices do we let in? As members of the Church trying to build the kingdom, we can be assured that we are prime targets. Many years ago we recruited a young lady who had a special talent and gift for the game. Meridian made her a full-time teaching offer, and BYU asked her to coach the club soccer team she had so recently left. BYU women's soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood finally reached the top of the mountain BYU has made the College Cup, the Final Four in women's soccer, for the first time in school history and will meet Santa Clara on Friday in a national semifinal By Jay Drew Dec 2, 2021, 3:24pm PST SHARE Prior to becoming head coach at BYU, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team for seven years. . Legends Jennifer Rockwood People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. But the Division I Womens Soccer team was only nine years from its formation, and Rockwood had unknowingly started on a path that would position her to take the lead. As part of my job, I have the opportunity almost every week to tell young people, their coaches, and their parents what an amazing place this is: a university where students can reach their highest potential athletically, academically, socially, and spiritually and where everyone understands that they are not perfect but where they are committed to being their best. [Be a Light to the World, BYU devotional address, 1November 2011], On our team, we often talk about the importance of representing ourselves at the highest levelabout how wearing the name Brigham Young University on our jerseys means much more than just being another college team. It goes to show you that we never know what God has in store for us in the present or in the future. After a short time she told me that she really wanted to come back and learn from all those around her. I used to drive the team around in a fifteen-passenger vanjust me and fourteen high school boys. 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