December 2, 2007 -
At the age of 20 Jamie is a 2 year
veteran on this year’s squad. She hails from Toledo, Ohio and is a
student at Bowling Green State University. She is also a part-time
supervisor for UPS. Jamie has played sports for several years
including her time in high school at Toldeo Christian where she
played soccer on defense, and indoor soccer as goalie, mid, defense
and striker. What she learned in soccer about positioning and
angles has come in handy on the football field.
When conflicts arose between work
and playing soccer in college, Jamie began looking for something
else to keep her athletically active. That’s when she met Sandi
“One-Eye” Bowen and Joy Youster. They recruited her to play
football for the Spitfire.
After hearing Sandi give a public
speech, Jamie and a friend spoke to her about football. At the time
Jamie was too young to join the team, but when she turned 18, she
and her dad went to a tryout in her soccer cleats, and the rest as
they say, is history.
While the team doesn’t have
outright recruiting through schools or other functions, word of
mouth gets the job done. Coach Val says of this year’s 21 recruits
to date, 13 of them were recruited by returning or new players.
That is an amazing number of recruits in one year. Maybe Coach
will have a true depth chart for the first time since the 2004
campaign.
When the team moved from Toledo for
the 2007 season, Jamie came along gladly. Jamie says she doesn’t
play often but has a few good moments on the field. Last year
against Erie she lined up in the wrong spot and made a big play by
sacking the quarter back.
Her other favorite memories have
nothing to do with being on the field. She enjoys her time with
teammates off the field. She has made several friends on the team
and in times of trial she has been able to lean on them and take
strength from their support.
She says “I was recruited by Sandi
and Joy, influenced and encouraged by (teammate and fellow UPS
employee Jessie) Torda, and supported by my dad,” to play football.
