Our Wildwood, Summer 2019, Volume 45

STUDENT VOICE by Sophie H. ’23

Cartwheels to Goals After The First-Ever Undefeated Regular Season for the Girls Varsity Soccer Team, Sophie H. ‘23 Profiles Coach Jenn Partenheimer

playing soccer or she could work hard, believe in herself, and prove him wrong. While attending the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Jenn realized that she wasn’t going to go on to the next level of soccer but that she knew that if she wasn’t going to be playing anymore, she wanted to coach young women. She hoped to share her passion for soccer with girls while being that encouraging, strong, female role model that Monica was to her. The most successful soccer teams collaborate well and develop a bond while supporting each other. Jenn believes that this was a key part of the success of Wildwood’s varsity girls soccer team last year when they had an undefeated regular season and even advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs. “She absolutely loves the game of soccer,” says Lexi K., one of Jenn’s players. “Her love of the game drives her passion to coach us girls. She tells us, ‘You should acknowledge your teammates’ efforts, as well as your own, and never quit on yourself or the team.’ She is a mentor of mine as well as a great friend. I’ve got nothing but love for Jenn Partenheimer.” “I want to encourage females to have a voice and speak up,” Jenn says. “What the women’s soccer team is doing right now is representing all us women and future generations.”

AS A LITTLE KID, all Jenn Partenheimer

wanted to do on the soccer field was pick flowers and do cartwheels, but as she got older, her passion for soccer turned into a dedication that drove her to make it her career. Jenn, a former college

soccer player and current girls varsity soccer coach at Wildwood School, led our soccer team to their first undefeated regular season last year. Jenn’s devotion to soccer began when she was just 4 years old, growing up in Apex, North Carolina. Her father introduced her to soccer, and he was her coach for the next four years. By the time Jenn was 12, she had gone from cartwheels to goals and knew that she wanted a future playing soccer. That year, she tried out for club soccer and made the premier team. Playing any sport has its challenges, but when your coach doesn’t believe in you, that sport can become much harder. During Jenn’s first year of club soccer, her coach was the opposite of

“” I WANT TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO HAVE A VOICE AND SPEAK UP. —JENN PARTENHEIMER, WILDWOOD VARSITY SOCCER COACH

Like many women, she believes that it is unfair that women earn less than half of what men earn while playing soccer, and she believes that more credit needs to be given to strong, determined, female athletes. Twenty-eight members of the U.S. women’s soccer team agree with her and

are suing USA Soccer for gender discrimination. They are mainly suing over pay equity, but they are also suing over a wide range of issues from how they play and how often to the medical treatment and coaching that they receive. Girls around the world, including me, are watching these women fight for their rights and change the future for female athletes.

supportive. “He told me that at the rate that I’m going and my skill level at 12 years old, I would never make it to Division 1 soccer,” she recalls. That day, she left practice in tears, not knowing what to think. She later met a soccer coach named Monica Hall, who played a big role in her life. Coach Hall told Jenn that she had two choices: She could accept what her coach said and give up on her dreams of

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