[3], Rockwood was born to Jerry and Kae Rockwood as the oldest of five children, with her brothers being named Jon, Jason, Jared, and Jeffrey. I think we always felt the program would be successful, so we werent surprised, Smith-Bretzing said. Rockwood previously earned the honor in 2012, 2014 and 2018. BYU stood at the top of her list when college admissions rolled around; it was her parents alma mater, and she had attended basketball camp there. Once I had passed the arrow, I would scan again, trying to find another redlight. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Just so you know, I was the oldest on the team and by far the slowest runner. We have heard the saying I never said it would be easy, but it will be worth it. We all face challenges, and Satan loves to prey on us, especially during the difficult times. National champion In 1995 BYU officially recognized women's soccer as an NCAA sport. In 27 years at the helm of the BYU women's soccer program, Rockwood's teams have finished below .500 just twice. What an amazing and growing experience that was! However, when she came back to Provo, an opportunity arose to work for BYU athletics when she took on the role of womens sports publicist. I have a lot of support around me and an amazing staff that has helped me in my job.". 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. ", A special moment to celebrate Jen between our @BYUwvolleyball, @byuwtennis, @byuwgolf, and @BYUTFXC head coaches pic.twitter.com/eUC8fGQbIS. The run to Friday's Final Four didn't just start in the NCAA Tournament, or in the 4-1 win over South Carolina in a national quarterfinal. 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. She went on to graduate from BYU, serve a mission, and bless the lives of all those she came in contact with. For several years I have had the opportunity to participate in a team race that takes runners through some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. Im really excited for them to take their skills and their passions on to the next level, and see how they are doing.. We all know that we live in a world in which there is increasing darkness, in which lines are blurred and the separation between the light and the dark is getting larger. Practice or not, it didnt matter to her or the team. BYU women's soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood, who has led the program since it joined Division I 25 years ago, addresses her team after a 4-0 exhibition victory against Colorado College on Aug.. They want nothing more than for us to find happiness and peace and to return home to Them someday. I loved it. - Sat 2/25 8:00 pm. 1 seed in 2012, Advanced to the Sweet 16 sixtimes (1998, 2000, 2003, 2012,2016 and 2019), Advanced to the Elite 8 three times(2003,2012 and 2019), Led BYU to 13regular season and eighttournament conference championships and won conference championships in 16of her 25seasons, Led team to four-straight regular season conference titles twice, once in the MWC from 1999-2002 and in the WCC from 2012-2015, Finished with a winning record in 24of 26seasons, Reached highest national ranking of No. [The BYU Experience, BYU devotional address, 4November 1997]. . Soccer? In fact, I first met several of the current players on our team at camp when they were only ten or eleven years old. Check it out online at speeches.byu.edu. Our profession is out there for everybody to critique, she says. Before long, she was made a middle school supervisor for curriculum, discipline, and activities, and she gained greater influence in the schools athletics program. web browser that As a coach, I am in a position in which difficult decisions have to be made that can significantly impact young peoples lives. She was soon leading classes in math and history. Rockwood, BYU Radio Live play-by-play broadcasts, coaches shows, Behind the Mic press conferences, interviews, etc, 407-118-45record and a .714win percentage, Fifth in NCAA DI in active winning percentage, 11th in NCAA DI in activecareer victories, 14th in NCAA DI all-time career victories, Four-time WCC Coach of the Year 2012,2014,2018 and 2019, Two-time MWC Coach of the Year 2000 and 2008, Two-time West Region Coach of the Year 1996 and 2012, 2019 United Soccer Coaches Regional Staff of the Year, Earned BYU its first national seed in the NCAA tournament in 2005 (No. I used to drive the team around in a fifteen-passenger vanjust me and fourteen high school boys. Think big anyway. This month, the longtime BYU head coach picked up her 400th win in college soccer. I thought it was unusual, but I opened the package. And they needed one kick to seal it. As surely as there is light, there is darkness. BYU goes winless in four game series against Ragin' CajunsBYU baseball stayed in Louisiana after taking on LA Tech over the weekend to take BYU gymnastics defeats Utah State on senior nightThe BYU gymnastics team beat the Utah State Aggies 196.450 to 195.425 on senior night Friday in BYU women's soccer kicks off spring seasonThe 2023 BYU women's soccer spring season will see Jen Rockwood's Cougars play nine matches over five days BYU baseball splits four game series opener against LA TechBYU baseball traveled to Ruston, Louisiana to take take on LA Tech in a 4 BYU goes winless in four game series against Ragin Cajuns, BYU gymnastics defeats Utah State on senior night, BYU womens soccer kicks off spring season, BYU baseball splits four game series opener against LA Tech. Our society is trending away from the spiritual and becoming more secular than ever. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Jennifer Welsh Rockwood, 62 Resides in Orem, UT Lived In Provo UT, Pleasant Grove UT, Enumclaw WA, Auburn WA Related To Thomas Rockwood, Stephanie Rockwood, Perry Rockwood, Chase Rockwood Also known as Rockwood Jennifer Includes Address (8) Phone (2) Email (2) See Results Jennifer Jeanne Rockwood, 49 Resides in Dickinson, TX And I will not change If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Which voices do we let in? Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would be right here, right now. The best advice I've ever gotten about coaching is. 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.. Evidently they had been following my light all the way in. This story is part of the March 2022 issue of TheDaily Universe Magazine and magazine show (below). We have more and more forces working against us, and Satan will always give us his best shot. So, I decided, What have I got to lose? overrideCardHideSection= overrideTextColor= There was no lighted path, and there were no signs or obvious markers. Are you sure? Rock said gaining a following for soccer was extremely difficult for the womens team. Rockwood would build indeed. In a world thats weak Far from a program, that's a dynasty, a consistent achievement layered by the individual bricks of three decades of top athletes the majority of which came homegrown from Utah and the surrounding region. We knew that we had the athletes to compete at the collegiate level, we just needed to give it a shot.. I was super excited that we could get to do this. Here are some words of wisdom that I believe They want us to know, to repeat to ourselves, and toalways remember: You are a beautiful child of God, made inHis perfect image. Legends Brandon Doman. I just had the chance to be in a leadership position at a very young age, having no experience and learning as I went.. Inside was a beautiful hand-knitted blanket with the full BYU Cougar logo in the middle. Bertoch, a native of Chile, came to the US and went to school at BYU. Conference tournament champion. Provo, UT 84602 There are so many times throughout our lives when we have experiences that shake our commitments and cause us to doubt our abilities. When the girls play their best and get the best results, it all comes together. minutes. 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. To many outside of the program, this immediate success may have come as a surprise. Rockwood would play with the Cougars club team from 1985 to 1988, and as a senior Rockwood was placed in charge of scheduling and budgets for the club team. To take His name, I will be strong Do good anyway. I was young, I was cheap, and I had been here, so I knew a little bit about the soccer community.. She was also someone who was so good that she had never really been held accountable to some of our athletic standards, such as fitness tests, work rate, and being on timeor even things such as what to wear to soccer clinics and service projects. Zhao snuck the ball past Smith, and the Seminoles stormed the field, having clinched the national championship. We want to play at the highest level, win championships, and be nationally relevant so that people will know who we are and what we represent. 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. Rockwood decided to give the junior college, now BYUIdaho, a shot. "I have known Ellie since she was very young, and I have watched her development over the years. Athletes playing for Rockwood have seen continual success over those 27 seasons. This was her program now. Just as the sun, the moon, and the stars light the landscape of this beautiful world, the light from above provides us with direction and purpose. I am always drawn to the light in the beauty of Gods creations, in which I can find calmness, comfort, peace, and a deeper connection to my Heavenly Father and my Savior. [Matthew 5:14, 16], Our opportunities to shine are limitless. Rockwood has always had a passion for athletics, but soccer wasnt necessarily her sport of choice growing up. Life is too hard!. Not only can we choose to surround ourselves with good people, but we are also blessed to have a God who intentionally places certain individuals in our path to provide opportunities and open doors to the future. 46 of Rockwood's players have gone on to win All-American awards.[10]. We get scared of failure, we fear the unknown, and we are burdened with losses, sickness, and pain. I didnt have the height to play to my strengths, and I didnt have the skill to play to my height.. But no amount of club soccer matches could prepare her for what was to come: coaching a fully sanctioned NCAA soccer team. I saw the potential.. But if anyone is up to the challenge, it's Rockwood. Are you lighting the way for others? Even then you can sit on the wall on a warm summer day and think of the things you are still learning in light of the great experience you had. I remember a brilliant lady, Nancy Heuston, head of the Waterford School, who hired me to begin teaching at a middle school and coaching at a high school during my senior year at BYU. She decided to pursue a bachelors degree in business management with an emphasis in finance, in part because few women were in the program, and she wanted to see if she could rise to the challenge. This biographical article related to women's soccer in the United States is a stub. Most of those girls who take them havent taken them since high school because our conference doesnt have a conference championship.. Check it out online at speeches.byu.edu. If BYU womens soccer fans have learned anything from Rockwood, it is that success always follows this program. Although we are not perfect, we try to represent BYU the best we can. Do they help us see what is great about the world, or do they cast a shadow of negativity? We mostly have a choice of who we spend our time with. 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. She happily accepted both offers. "In many ways, losing to Utah State may have saved their season," Smith said. 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). And although Iwasnt even aware of it at the time, I was actually a light for others. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Her 200th win happened on Sept. 24, 2007 when BYU beat Washington 2-1 at home. Copyright | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us | Website Feedback, Jennifer Dream big dreams and find your passionitis never too late. the BYU Women's Soccer Head Coach I get most excited about coaching when. So I took the shorter run. We must be disciplined and dedicated, and we must look for opportunities to learn and grow. I hope I can bring [players] in to where they have an amazing experience whether they play a lot or not, she says. You could just tell that she loved soccer., Smith-Bretzing said that she also respected the process by which Rockwood was able to lead the program when she became head coach. She made the decision to stay and surround herself with great friends, teammates, professors, ward members, and the environment at BYU, and it ultimately led to an opportunity to change her life and her future. She won her 300th game over San Francisco 2-0 on Oct. 10, 2013. That's all it would take. . As President Monson stated, we want to be a light even to total strangers.. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. . He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to live together again as one eternal family. Womens soccer was already played on campus but at the club level. Ive been there, done that. Thats something I have struggled with over the years.. Kayla and Cameron have the reins to do a lot of things. Ill be true, At BYU, Rockwood found herself drawn to the Marriott School, where she did well in accounting and other premanagement courses. Give the world the best you have and youll get kicked in the teeth. Though her scholastic path presented challenges, she says those experiences enabled her to achieve greater success down the road. 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