Two-time Southeastern Conference Volleyball Player of the Year Jane Collymore shines on a different stage these days. (Photo courtesy of Collymore)
Collymore Continues to Perform but on a Different Stage
Saturday, April 9, 2016 | General, Volleyball, Scott Carter
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She is one of eight former Gators being inducted into UF Hall of Fame on Saturday
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jane Collymore is far-removed from her time at Florida, where making a leap of faith, she enrolled 14 years ago because she felt a connection to the people in the volleyball program.
Collymore grew up out West and knew little of the South when Gators head coach Mary Wise recruited her out of Englewood, Colo. Collymore's unfamiliarity with what awaited her didn't stop her. Jane Collymore at UF. (File photo) Nor did it prevent Collymore from becoming one of the best players in school history and a two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. Collymore's final season was in 2005. She now lives in Seattle and said it's been several years since she was at UF.
Still, she is remembered.
Collymore is one of eight former Florida student-athletes to be inducted into the UF Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Collymore joins Greg Burgess (swimming), Kerron Clement (track and field), David Lee (basketball), Mike Miller (basketball), Jessica Lehnhoff (tennis), Ryan Lochte (swimming) and Jeff Zimmerman (football) in the 2016 class.
"The ultimate reason I chose to go to the University of Florida was how well I was received by Mary, by the girls on the team, and just the opportunity I saw as far as the course schedule,'' Collymore said. "It was really the people that set them apart from the other programs. There is not a day in my life I wish I had made a different choice."
Collymore is officially retired from the sport after multiple stints with Team USA during and after her Florida career. She now has another passion that drives her.
Collymore studied classical piano growing up, but since she didn't have a piano to play at UF, Collymore began to play the guitar her sophomore season. While helping the Gators reach the Final Four in 2003, the guitar helped Collymore escape.
She has played ever since.
"There's a lot work between classes and athletics,'' she said. "The regular student-athlete life kind of prompted me to take the guitar up as a stress-relief tool. The rest is history as they say."
Collymore has transitioned from volleyball into music and is now a singer-songwriter who writes, produces and performs her own music, and also produces music for others.
Collymore's eclectic tastes can be found at her website JaneCollymore.com, which features her music videos and a link to her latest album "Ambassador in Bonds," which she released Feb. 14.
Collymore is also a certified fitness trainer to stay close to her athletic roots, but she spends much of her time trying to build her music career, which is based primarily in the alternative category.
"It was something that was in the back of my mind. I kind of had to get pushed out onto the stage by a couple of friends who believed in me before I really started believing in myself,'' she said. "It was something I always thought would be cool to try and things just kind of snowballed after that. I'm very grateful that I have something else that I am passionate about outside of sports.
"Growing up I listened to everything from rock to folk to pop and hip-hop and pop to classical and electronic music," she said. "That all kind of comes out in my music."
Collymore has a lot going on, but she said she still keeps track of Wise and the volleyball team during the season. It doesn't surprise Collymore that Wise is still going strong more than a decade after she left UF.
"She is a powerhouse,'' Collymore said. "She built the program from scratch."
As for her induction into the UF Athletics Hall of Fame, well, that was a surprise for Collymore, who learned of her induction last fall.
"I haven't been at the school in such a long time. How are they selecting me?" she said. "It's just an incredible honor and I was floored. I got a lot out of going to school at the University of Florida and it's very nice to be recognized."
