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10/25/2017 12:00 AMJenna Bryden is a three-sport athlete at North Branford High School who’s currently in her senior season as a member of the T-Birds’ girls’ soccer team. Jenna also competes for North Branford’s indoor and outdoor track squads, and her experience with those teams has helped make her even speedier on the soccer field.
“I wanted to improve my speed for soccer since that’s one of my best qualities,” says Jenna. “Ever since I was younger, I was faster than most people, but I wanted to make that better to improve the team more. With track, we train doing shorter distances, so I can pick up speed faster, rather than needing to run for a little bit to reach my top speed. Now, I can get there quicker and I’ve improved my top speed.”
North Branford girls’ soccer Head Coach Pat Kozloski says that Jenna is typically one of the faster players—if not the fastest—on the field during most games. Jenna’s quickness often poses matchup problems for the opposition.
“She’s able to stretch the field and allow us to get out of our zone. If we’re knocking the ball long, she allows us to track it down and set up the offense in the opponents’ final third,” Coach Kozloski says. “It’s a huge asset to be able to play her through balls and know she’s going to beat kids to the ball.”
However, that’s not all Jenna does up top as a forward for North Branford. Jenna also works diligently with her back to the net, allowing the T-Birds to play with pace and possess the ball on the offensive side of the pitch.
“Play from the back is something we worked on and pushed more. Through balls I can likely get a breakaway on, but it’s not something we’d like to rely on against difficult teams,” says Jenna. “With our back to the net, we’re able to settle the game down more to go forward with more numbers, rather than one or two people.”
Jenna has attended several soccer clinics through the years in order to get better in that area. She’s done plenty of shooting and dribbling at various camps to give herself options with the ball at her feet.
“With the clinics, I was able to improve my shot and my [one-on-one] skills. We’d work on proper form, how to strike the ball, and how to aim. It’s all simple stuff, but it really does help. For skills, we’d run up and pull a new move that was taught that day and practice it over and over. The repetition burned it into my memory,” says Jenna. “I’m not pulling off crazy moves, but I find the simple ones are easy and helpful when trying to get by defenders. I do like to cut the ball back, but I prefer to pass more than use my skill.”
Jenna is one of the three captains for North Branford this fall. Ever since she joined the girls’ soccer program four years ago, Jenna had a goal to hold that role.
“It’s really amazing. We’ve always been a close team, so I’m blessed to captain a team that’s so close. Because of that, it’s not a job. It’s fun,” she says. “Watching captains in the past, I realized I don’t want to be a dictator. I want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves as we’re all playing a sport we love. While I have to lead and make sure we’re staying on task, I need to inspire rather than dishearten them. I want my teammates to enjoy practices and games.”
North Branford has a strong all-around team that’s only gotten better since Jenna’s freshman season. This year, Jenna and the Thunderbirds achieved one of their goals of qualifying for the playoffs in consecutive campaigns.
“While our forwards and midfielders are doing a great job, our back four and goalie Allie Augur have been able to give us numerous shutouts and keep us in games,” says Jenna. “We always wanted to make Shorelines and states and, last year, we made both, which was more than we expected and an amazing experience.”