She revels in the game

Between soft blue eyes and a broad smile, Jenny McKinsey embodies Central Valley High’s school colors, and few things put a dance to the eyes and a dazzle to the smile quite as much as a conversation about soccer.

McKinsey, a four-year starter for the Lady Bears, is a team captain and year-round player who revels in the game. Quiet and unassuming on the sideline, McKinsey is a take-charge player on the field – directing traffic and making the players around her better by force of will and the power of determination.

“That’s Jenny,” Central Valley coach Brandon Deyarmin said. “She’s always been in terrific shape and one of my best conditioned players.

“My first year here (at Central Valley), I brought Jenny up as a freshman and she’s been with me ever since. She’s always been that kind of player. Quiet off the field, but her play speaks volumes.”

McKinsey took stepping up as a ninth-grader to play varsity soccer in the Greater Spokane League in stride – one of her strengths as a player.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking at first,” she said. “But I knew a lot of the seniors then and I was comfortable with them. A lot of the seniors on that team helped make me feel like part of the team. Sara Wilson really did. She wasn’t an upperclassman on that team, but she had gone through the experience a year before when she was a freshman.”

McKinsey draws on those experiences as a team captain.

“I understand what those young players go through,” she said. “I know what it’s like for them. We have nine seniors on this team and I know just how intimidating that can be. That makes it easier for me to reach out to them.”

McKinsey wants to keep playing soccer after this season – at the Division I college level.

“I’m looking at it,” she said. “I have a couple programs that I’m looking at. There aren’t that many scholarships out there to begin with and they tend to get handed out early, so I’m looking for some place where I can walk-on and get a chance to play.”

McKinsey takes inspiration from Central Valley’s first-year assistant coach, Kara Jordan, a former University standout who walked on and earned a scholarship at Washington State University.

“Having Kara as a resource is a big advantage,” McKinsey said. “Kara isn’t shy about sharing her thoughts about what we need to do to be successful at the next level.

“She’s also my club coach, so I’ve learned a lot from her.”

Jordan was immediately impressed with McKinsey.

“Coming to Central Valley for the first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Jordan said. “I was really impressed with the quality of talent there is in this league.”

Especially with her center midfielder.

“Above anything, she’s just an athlete,” Jordan said. “She’s fast. She’s great in the air. She’s a good defender. She naturally has all of the tools, and she works really hard. When it comes to being a Division I athlete, she has all of the tools.

“Just put her on the field, and I don’t just mean high school. She’s a standout player on our club team and that’s made up of the best players from around the league.”

For McKinsey, it starts with conditioning.

“We do a lot of conditioning at the beginning of fall practice,” she said. “But I pretty much play the whole game and I play year-round, so I was in good shape coming in. Being in good shape allows you to play hard the whole game. It allows you to go in hard and make tackles late in the game when you really need to.”

McKinsey’s eyes twinkle when she talks about looking in an opponent’s eyes late in the game and seeing them running on empty.

“You can see it in their face,” she smiled. “They’re just exhausted, and I’m thinking ‘Yeah! I’ll take you on!’ There’s an adrenalin rush when you see that. It just makes you want to go that much harder.

“Once your brain tells your body that you’re tired, you shut down. But if you convince yourself you’re not tired, you’ll keep going and you’ll get your second wind.

“That’s the thing about Jenny,” Jordan said. “She has a really strong work ethic. She works really hard. And when you put her on the field, she makes things happen.

“Whichever team she plays on, when it gets late in the game and you really need a goal, she’s the player you turn to.”

In a nutshell, Jordan said, all McKinsey needs is a chance to get on a college soccer field. Once they see her in action, she’ll get the chance to play.

“They just need to see her on the field,” Jordan said.