Although we are not perfect, we try to represent BYU the best we can. history.lds.org/article/lost-sermons-wilford-woodruff-january-1864?lang=eng. After my first run of nearly six miles, I was okay, but it had been really hard and I had gone pretty slow. He searched for deeper meaning in his experiences, and he learned from some of lifes simple truths. One summer several years ago we had a young girl attend who was shy but also uncooperative, and she didnt want to participate in the drills or games with her group. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. . 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. . We have more and more forces working against us, and Satan will always give us his best shot. I remember the legendary coaches and administrators of the BYU womens athletic department. Her daughter had found new motivation, inspiration, and direction. Prior to becoming head coach at BYU, Rockwood led BYU's highly successful club soccer team for seven years. I loved it, Bertoch said. The team won 22 games the following season, losing only once, and won the Western Athletic Conference title. Life is a journey, and we must always embrace iteven when we are asked to do something that we thought was absolutely unimaginable. Sometimes the more progress we make toward the light, the more temptations may come. Weve had so many unbelievable kids that come through this program that just put their heart and soul into it for their time at BYU. 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. I pray that I will be able to share a few thoughts and stories today that might inspire you to realize your significance and importance here on earth. I stopped to watch to see what was going on, and I was hooked. We must intentionally use our voices that say, I am strong. Although the initial group of players, coaches, trainers and managers in comparison to todays staff and roster were small to start, the voices that this small group carried were loud and supportive. archived form does not constitute a republication of the story. It is important to remember that at no time do we accomplish things on our own. President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder JeffreyR. Holland agreed with the Israeli government that the university would not proselyte in Israel. - Sat 2/25 8:00 pm. 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. But they werent soccer people, they didnt know much about soccer. View All. By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's. I thought it was unusual, but I opened the package. BYU Speeches There were all these older guys and me, and I was, like, twenty-three. March 10, 2016 Name: Jennifer Rockwood BYU employee since: 1989 My job is. In 2005, she led her team to its first national seed (No. I will choose His way Join Facebook to connect with Jennifer Hill and others you may know. She built up the program from an extramural sport into an elite NCAA competitor. Without the light no man can see. [BYU] came to me because I had kind of been the boss, in a sense, of the team before that, she says. Rockwood has always had a passion for athletics, but soccer wasnt necessarily her sport of choice growing up. 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. I love to share it at every possible opportunity. While her accomplishments are remarkable, even more so is the path that positioned the 1989 Marriott School grad to achieve them. Rockwood started the women's soccer program at BYU and recently picked up her 400th college soccer win as a coach. They play with heart, for the love of the game, and just for fun and enjoyment. Do good anyway. "I have worked pretty much my whole career to get to this point and I am just going to try to enjoy it," she said. She lived her life to the fullest, fulfilled her mission on this earth, and was taken home to her Heavenly Father after a car accident in 2012. A long list of All-American soccer players has emerged from BYU's program and Rockwood's influence. Athletes playing for Rockwood have seen continual success over those 27 seasons. "Honestly, Jen has been awesome. After one year at Rick's College on a basketball scholarship, she transferred to BYU where she became a four-year starter at center midfield on the Cougars' club soccer team and graduated in finance, business management. She knew it may never come again. But noneof these meant anything at the moment. Legends Wally Joyner. I will This is one way wecan search for the light. Finally, toward the end of my run, I saw a few runners ahead and followed their lights to the finish. You never know what light you might spark in others just through your kindness and your example. Unfortunately, due to BYUs recent start as a NCAA sanctioned team, the relatively unknown WAC teams that BYU played against, and the limitation of only 48 teams that entered the tournament, the Cougars did not play in the NCAA tournament that year. I feel like I have the dream job, she says. On the outside, she remained expressionless, but she struggled to contain her nerves on the inside. [Sermon to the Saints in Farmington, 9 January 1864, transcribed by LaJean Purcell Carruth, 1 March 2013, history.lds.org/article/lost-sermons-wilford-woodruff-january-1864?lang=eng; emphasis in original]. . "It's all of those things and then, they've managed to stay mostly healthy.". Ill be true, She went on to graduate from BYU, serve a mission, and bless the lives of all those she came in contact with. That staff led by assistant coaches Brent Anderson and Steve Magleby, volunteer assistant Made Gates, and administrative assistant Rachel Jorgensen, has been instrumental in the Cougars' breakthrough year, and receiving West Regional Staff of the Year honors by the United Soccer Coaches this past week. Division regular season champion "I didn't always appreciate it when I played, but I sure do now. Since then, she's become a local legend in Provo; she even has her own flavor of ice cream at the BYU Creamery, Cherry Rockwood a status symbol reserved for legendary BYU football coach LaVell Edwards (LaVell's Vanilla) and former men's basketball coach Dave Rose (Rose's Sneakerdoodle). 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. Then, in 1995, the university officially sanctioned Division I Womens Soccer and began searching for someone to head up its new team. 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. She is the only coach the school recognizes since the club joined NCAA competition in 1995. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. I wore a headlamp and a blinking red reflector. 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. . But I think for me personally, I was like maybe this is what I am supposed to be doing because it doesnt make sense that we are having all of this success.. So much of the time, we need that little spark to keep us going.. To many outside of the program, this immediate success may have come as a surprise. We get scared of failure, we fear the unknown, and we are burdened with losses, sickness, and pain. We have . the BYU Women's Soccer Head Coach I get most excited about coaching when. Devotional Drawn to the Light Jennifer Rockwood March 15, 2016 Audio 0:00/34:50 Speed 36:47 Full Video Highlight Video Are you lighting the way for others? However, I also mentioned that if this was where she really wanted to be and if she was willing to embrace her opportunity here and make some changes, then she would have the opportunity to join us again the following semester. Let yourlightso shine before men, that they may see your goodworks, andglorifyyour Father which is in heaven. The Broncos are 8-0-1 playing at home, which they will do Friday and potentially in Sunday's final after the NCAA moved the College Cup from nearby PayPal Park due to a potential scheduling conflict with the MLS Cup Playoffs. Information in the story may be outdated But at the head of it all was coach Rockwood. Her dream was to play on the womens basketball team, but she knew reality was unlikely to cooperate. Always ready for a challenge, Rockwood has seen a pattern in her life of receiving unexpected opportunities, growing to meet them, and then receiving more. [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. At first I thought, Oh, thats thoughtful of himhes concerned about my foot. But I soon realized that he just didnt want me to slow down the team. Aggression is the key in soccer, but so is patience, calmness on the ball, and tactical awareness in a game that can resemble both a chess match and a track meet and sometimes in the same 45-minute half. In addition to launching the high school sports program at Meridian and coaching both the boys and girls soccer teams there, she became the athletic director for the junior high. But what a blessed life and what a ride it has been. BYU women's soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood has coached a lot of great teams, but this one may end up being her best ever. Each year our players work as camp coaches for young players who love the sport and often have dreams of someday attending and playing soccer at BYU. It is called the Ragnar Relay Series, and each team consists of two vans, with six people packed into each van. I wish she were here to sing it, but the lyrics include the following: Ive made my choice However, it put me on an unfamiliar course. And they needed one kick to seal it. We know and have been taught that the light leads us through this journey. Back then we had to do everything on our own. Unlike basketball and football, soccer doesnt adhere to a recruiting calendar; Rockwood may be traveling any given weekend to watch prospective athletes. Life is too hard!. 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. She is the only coach the school recognizes since the club joined NCAA competition in 1995. "It's just been a magical season," says BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood (BS '89), whose team, with nine seniors, wasn't even ranked preseason. I saw the potential.. [7] Rockwood began to have immediate success. We must be disciplined and dedicated, and we must look for opportunities to learn and grow. [Be an Example and a Light, Ensign, November 2015]. My journey truly has been different than what I would have ever foreseen when I once sat in your seat over thirty years ago. coach to your personality. Hopefully, when I deal with these campers, Im bringing a love for the game, a love for getting better, a love for training on their own, and a love for being kids and being a real teammate and what that means, she says. 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.". There were many likely talking about the upcoming football season for the Cougars and their excitement for a team led by quarterback Steve Sarkisian. Iamliable to find fault with this, that, and the other. . What a blessing and unbelievable inspiration Jenavieve was to me, my staff, her teammates, and all those who knew her. Jennifer Rockwood delivered a BYU devotional address titled Drawn to the Light on 15 March 2016. If BYU womens soccer fans have learned anything from Rockwood, it is that success always follows this program. [Stand Ye in Holy Places: Selected Sermons and Writings of President HaroldB. Lee (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974), 115]. A big part of my job and our staffs job is to recruit players to BYU. Article written by Rachel Evensen "We have had our ups and downs, and just like any team, you battle through the rough times and learn from them and try to play our best soccer at the end of the season. It is our responsibility. 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