Four years ago, the Fitzgerald High School women’s soccer team was struggling. There wasn’t much interest in women’s soccer and the team languished near the bottom of the region. A group of young, stubborn, and talented freshman helped change all that. Now they are region champions and for the first time, a female soccer player will continue her career at the Division I level.
“I’ve always tried to do as well as I possibly could in whatever it was I was doing. I’ve always wanted to do my best,” says Jessica Stanfill, 18. The senior is a midfielder for the soccer team (but has been recruited as a keeper; more on that later), a three-time All-Region selection, last year’s 2A Player of the Year, team captain, and she’s ranked #3 in her graduating class.
Stanfill began playing soccer when she was four years ago. At age nine, she joined the South Georgia United and has been playing with the club ever since. Growing up, she was always a midfielder. As she entered her teen years, Stanfill began growing. And growing. And growing. As she grew taller and taller, people asked her about the possibility of playing keeper. Stanfill never gave it much thought and remained at the center of her teams’ offensive attack. Then, about two years ago, the United’s keeper went down with a twisted ankle. The 6’1” Stanfill took over in front of the net. “I was pretty new at the position but I fell in love with it. The keeper is the spine of the team, so to speak. You can see the whole field and you have a lot of opportunities to be big for the team. You can’t make a lot of mistakes back there,” she says.
Though she played keeper for the United, she continued playing midfielder for the Purple Hurricanes. This year, Stanfill helped lead the ‘Canes to a 14-3 record at the time of this interview, a region championship, and an opportunity to host a first-round playoff game for the first time in school history. “When the season began, we got together as a team and made a list of goals. We wanted to beat Thomasville twice and win a region title. We accomplished those goals, beating Thomasville at their place to win the region. That was special,” she recalls.
Throughout her soccer career, one of her primary goals has been to play soccer in college. She wanted to play at the Division I level but knew that getting there would take tremendous work, thousands of hours playing and practicing, and maybe even a little luck. She found what she believes is a perfect fit with the Richmond Spiders. “I knew I didn’t want to be at a huge state school. I wanted smaller class sizes but I still wanted to play Division I. The University of Richmond exceeded anything I could ever hope for,” she says.
In a story on Stanfill that appeared on the Spiders’ Web site, head coach Peter Albright states that Stanfill could compete for the starting keeper spot immediately. “She impressed us at our prospect camp with her athletic ability and her determination to succeed. She is very coachable, and we believe that she will compete for the starting spot immediately. Her experience as a midfielder and her foot skills will give Jess some unique tools and perspective. On top of that, she is a leader, a fighter, and a winner,” says Coach Albright in the story.
English is one of Stanfill’s favorite subjects. She plans to major in journalism and psychology at Richmond. She would like to seek a master’s degree in sports psychology as well. “I’ve always been more English-driven than math or science. I may want to do some sports journalism in the future,” she says.
Stanfill says she would love to remain close to sports and athletics as much as possible in her career. The mental side of sports has always interested her. “I think I’d like to be around athletes and help them do their best,” she says. And sports psychology seems to be a good fit. “It’s a relatively new field but almost all professional teams and many college programs have sports psychologists on staff. I’ve loved growing up in South Georgia but I don’t see my career bringing me back here. But I’m open to wherever it takes me.”
Favorites:
- •Sport you wish you could play: Basketball
- •Soccer player: Mia Hamm
- •Place to travel: Italy
- •Last book: Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir by Frances Mayes
- •Best movie in the last year: American Sniper
- •Person to meet: Anyone on the U.S. national soccer team
- •Super power: Super speed
Academic Athlete/South Georgia/June 2015
Jessica Stanfill
Fitzgerald High School
Fitzgerald, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Photography by Micki K Photography
