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06/09/2016 12:00 AMJen Emery stepped onto the lacrosse field as an assistant coach with the Old Saybrook girls’ team this spring and enjoyed unlocking her athletes’ potential as they grow into young adults.
Jen, a Middletown resident, played lacrosse at Cheshire High School before attending UConn, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. Following a stint at Berlin, where she was an assistant coach for girls’ lacrosse in 2007, Jen moved on to Old Saybrook and is currently a math teacher at the high school. This spring, Jen got back into coaching as the JV head coach and a varsity assistant for Rams’ girls’ lacrosse and helped the latter squad return to the Shoreline Conference Tournament final.
“After [former Head Coach] Al Mortali stepped down last year, I knew [Head Coach] Kendra Gerrish was interested in coaching. Her and I also get along well together and both love lacrosse, so I set up an interview with her and [Rams’ Athletic Director] Jeff Mauri,” says Jen. “Kendra and I have both been there before as players, so I try to put myself in the athlete’s position when I’m coaching. I just try to give them the best advice based on what I got out of being on a team and on the field and let them know that hard work does pay off.”
In terms of the priorities of her student-athletes, Jen says that their performance in the classroom outranks all the goals, assists, and saves. Still, Jen loves it when she sees her Rams enjoying themselves on the field.
“Being a teacher in the district, I emphasize academics first because, with being a student-athlete, athletics is second. It’s also about how you represent the team, the school, and yourself,” Jen says. “It’s great to see a totally different side of the kids with them having fun on the field and really looking up to you. You see things like leadership and excitement from them that you don’t always see in the classroom.”
Gerrish feels that she and Jen share the same sentiments in terms of how their program should continue evolving. Gerrish also appreciates the job that Jen did with a JV team that had low numbers this spring.
“Jen has a great relationship with so many of our students and is able to connect to the girls easily. Jen is very similar in personality and mindset to me, which made it an easy fit. She is very competitive in nature and holds the girls to the same academic standard and behavioral standard that I do. Being on the same page has been vital to ensuring that we are a cohesive and successful team and that all players have the same expectations,” says Gerrish. “Although her JV program struggled, only going 5-7, she often had to utilize players that had just played a majority of the varsity game, due to the fact that we had low numbers this year. She also had to deal with a lot of injuries and attendance issues over break, forcing us to cancel multiple JV games.”
Even though Old Saybrook was dealt a small deck in terms of its roster this season, many of the Rams’ girls grinded it out by doing double duty. Jen was pleased with the determination that her athletes displayed, while keeping girls’ lacrosse strong in town.
“We struggled with having a small team this year, but they accomplished the leadership and commitment it takes to be on a small team. We didn’t have a lot of subs, so many JV games couldn’t be played or some girls had to play both games. They all stepped up and put it all together,” says Jen. “It’s all been really rewarding to be a part of. The community is so supportive here. Being a part of this success is very exciting and I’m happy to be building relationships with these players.”