Feel Confident and Empowered

Written by: Sabrina Sclater Photography submitted by: Jennifer Conway

Coach Jennifer Conway, the sixth season coach for the Ponte Vedra Girls Lacrosse Team, has a unique coaching style that she would describe as very structured and disciplined. With this, she is capable of coaching her team on a disparate level. Additionally, she has an incredible passion for motivating her team through positivity.

“When the girls are having fun, they are more engaged and they are more likely to get better because they are enjoying themselves,” said Conway. “I love to go out there and make them feel good about themselves and have high expectation. I also try to lead by example because I live a healthy life and I try to make good healthy choices so they can reflect from that. I value respect, attitude, effort, and energy.”

Unlike most coaches, Conway can profoundly connect with her players. Having teenagers herself, she can relate to what teenage girls go through.

“Nobody can figure out teenagers but because I have teenagers, I think that helps me relate to the girls and what they have going in their lives in addition to lacrosse,” said Conway. “It’s very demanding at practice, but we have to understand they have schoolwork and friends and other social things going on that kind of affects their attitude or the way they feel that day. We are very understanding as a coaching staff trying to mix all of that together and to have a productive practice.”

With COVID-19 continuing to effect athletics, the team has to undergo an adaptive athletic season due to a result of a case of COVID-19 within the team. However, despite the unfortunate challenge, safety and proper precautions have been correctly implemented, being the forefront of importance. Conway explained they conduct temperature checks in the beginning of every practice and wear gaiter gear (neck masks) that are pulled up during social distancing and instructing time. “I have pulled back on some of my contact drills, so we are not in full contact to be safe,” Conway stated. “I try not to do too much of that because it makes the girls too anxious and nervous about that type of thing, but safety is important. It really has been affective in our season but we try to be safe and move on.”

As the 2021 season begins for the Sharks, Coach Conway has established specific goals for her team this season:

“We are thankful for being able to play this season… my goals are that we all stay healthy and continue playing this season,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to just keep growing and getting better so we can peak at the end of the season which is most important to win our games.”