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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
After two years away from the game, Metro women's soccer forward Jen Thomas is back on the field destroying teams and creating goals. The junior played her freshman year at Texas Tech University and her sophomore year at University of Kansas, two Division I schools. However, after playing two years of college ball, Thomas decided she needed a break from soccer altogether.
"I took two years off," Thomas said. "I had been doing it all my life. I just came to a point where I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted to do anymore. I wanted to focus on school and see myself as a different person, not just as a soccer player. I wanted to see what else I could be and what else I could do."
Thomas felt it was good to take time off, but is excited to be playing on the field once again.
"It was a nice break, and it's really nice to be back, I missed it a lot more than I thought I did," Thomas said.
Thomas has been playing soccer since she was eight years old, and wasn't always a forward on the field. She actually started out as a defenseman when she was younger, and moved up to a midfielder and forward eventually as she got older.
Thomas grew up in Greeley where she attended and graduated from Greeley West High School. She played soccer all four years and was a four-year letter winner. The Spartans were two-time state champions in 2003 and 2004.
Being a forward, Thomas sometimes feels pressured as the person who has to score goals for the team, but she doesn't let that affect her game.
"I always feel pressured, but honestly, I don't really care if I score or not as long as our team is doing well; that's all that matters."
Along with playing high school and college ball, Thomas has also played for numerous club teams. Growing up she played for the Bootleggers in Greeley. Her junior year of high school, she switched to Arsenal in Fort Collins. At the end of her junior year and into her senior year, Thomas played for Real in Denver.
She doesn't have any specific strategies she uses against defenders, or certain plans of attack on the goalkeeper. Thomas feels that having confidence is the best strategy, which is something she strives for.
"I think confidence is a big thing and I struggle with it. I'm trying to get better at that, and I think that's all you really need is confidence."
Thomas enjoys playing soccer for Metro thus far, but feels it's a little different from the teams she's played with in the past.
"It's a good experience, because they're (Metro) so successful, and the tradition here of winning is just amazing," Thomas said. "It's definitely different coming from an experience like Texas Tech, where we weren't very good in our conference, and we went to every game not knowing how we were going to do."
School consumes a great deal of Thomas' time, so when she's not doing school work, she likes to spend time with her family. She is majoring in chemistry and hopes to attend pharmacy school, after the junior completes her master's degree.
The five-foot-three starting forward is looking forward to the rest of the season and seasons to come in the future. She hopes Metro women's soccer will keep doing well this year and is excited to see how they accomplish their goals.
"Our goal is a national championship," Thomas said. "A couple of the girls on the team try to describe the feeling, and they just can't describe it. I want to know what that feels like."
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