March 16, 2009

Current School:  St. John the Beloved, 8^th grade

High School Next Year:  St. Mark’s

Other Sports:  Soccer & Track

Other Interests:  Hanging out with friends; Texting; Going on the computer.

Heroes:  Michelle Albanese & John Kulesza

 

Eighth grade St. John the Beloved standout, Jenna Wolff, is not just a player who suddenly, this year, arrived on the scene and into my consciousness.  For her, basketball began back in 2^nd grade at the Y.  I first became aware of Jenna in the spring of 2007 when I was president of the Wilmington Tigers AAU club.  Jenna was, if I recall correctly, trying out for our 11U team that year.  It was clear, even at that time, that her skill set was a little deeper and wider than most of the other girls who came to tryouts.  So, I took note of who she was and filed it away in my mind.

 

Jump to this season.  In January, I began asking several CYM coaches for their opinions on just who the best player in the league was.  Each coach could “vote” for as many players as he or she wanted to – including voting for players on their own teams.  Despite the number of coaches polled, there were really only 5 or 6 girls who were nominated.  The same girls, give or take a player, kept appearing on each coach’s list.  I then took the top 2 or 3 names (the girls with the most “votes”) and went back to several of the same coaches and asked them to narrow it down still more.  Out of that process, Jenna received almost universal support and little objection.  The final stage in the process was for Tom and I to observe her in real games and verify for ourselves that she was deserving of the honor.  We liked what we saw of her in other games, but the performance that “put her over” was her game in the CYM Semi-Finals.  Although her team lost the game, Jenna was steady, calm, and effective – scoring 12 and making herself a rallying point for her teammates.  She looked like a Player of the Year.

 

Now that she has been so recognized, what does Jenna make of all the attention?  When we asked her, she replied, “I was really shocked because there are a lot of other people in the league that have a lot of talent.  I was just really surprised.”  As you can see, she’s got her head in the right place and doesn’t think she’s all that different from any other player in CYM. 

 

Her humbleness aside, Jenna Wolff works hard behind the scenes to keep her on-court skills sharp.  Her regular routine includes working outside at basketball every other day and putting up 50 shots a day.  Additionally, she still plays AAU ball in the spring.  For all the hard work, Jenna values serious competitiveness and plain old fun evenly.  She even looks at her own talents with a critical eye.  As she puts it, “I think it’s fun being competitive against other people.  It’s just fun.  I like shooting the most.  …And defense.  …Being aggressive.  I think I’m pretty good at offense.  I might need to work on my defense.”

 

A student-athlete who loves competition, sees areas of her game that could be improved, and who simply enjoys the whole experience.  That’s our 2009 CYM Player of the Year.