Softball Speedster Keeps Team Together
Monday, April 30, 2001 | Softball
Voted by her teammates for the "Glue Award," Jenn Brown keeps the team together and is the emotional leader on and off the softball field.
The sophomore always has her head in the games, encouraging everyone. She is notorious for always having "a question." "I don't contribute physically as much as I would like to, because of that, I keep everybody in the game by cheering," Brown said. "I try to lead everybody by talking."
The team has been as helping and encouraging to Brown as she has been to them. Last fall, Brown took the semester off from softball because her younger sister Carrie died in a car accident. Her teammates and Coach Johns were very supportive of her decision. "Coach Johns gave me the opportunity to take off in the fall and come back and be on the team in the spring, she said. "I appreciate it so much how coach and the team helped me get my mind off it."
While Brown had a tragic fall, she did get the chance to take a trip with her mother to Australia for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Her mother, Rita, owns Brown Gymnastics in Orlando. Both she and Brown's father, Kevin, have coached gymnastics in the Olympics. "It is neat, since being around sports so much, to have my parents having gone to the Olympics," Brown said.
Even though Brown's parents are world famous coaches, the sport never was appealing to her. "It was one of those things that when you grow up around something your entire life, you don't want to do it, and my parents never pushed me," she said. "Plus, I wasn't that good."
She did become very good at diving. In diving, she pulled many of her diving routines from tumbling. She was a Junior Olympic diver for seven years.
Brown played seven sports in high school. In fact, she holds the record with the most varsity letters, 14, out of both males and females. She played basketball, softball, track, diving, volleyball, cross country, and bowling. Out of all the sports, she was most talented in softball, diving and track. Softball was her favorite. "I love everything about softball, practice, playing and the team.
While Brown is not playing softball, she is traveling the globe. For her high school graduation, she went to Italy, Germany and Paris. That vacation was her favorite because she went with her mom and sister. Last summer, Brown went to the University of Madrid by herself. Brown does not know about traveling the world when she is out of college. However, she does believe traveling has had a positive impact on her life. "I have become more self sufficient. I feel that I can go to any country on my own and get by," she said.
This weekend, Brown's father will be doing the traveling from Minnesota. He will see her play softball as a Florida Gator for the first time. "It is something so special and important to me. I am so happy that he can be here for my game," she said. "I am really excited about it."
