Coach
Jennifer Jaques
Coach Jen was born in Newton, Massachusetts and moved to Northern California at the age of 10. She grew up playing club soccer and attended Canada College where she led her team to a division Championship in her second season. She has been coaching for 11 years with Kona Crush Soccer Academy and has also coached for Hawaii Olympic Development Program and Konawaena High School.
What made you want to become a coach?
To make a positive impact on a kids life.
What is your favorite part about coaching?
The best part of coaching is seeing a kids growth in their development.
What is one piece of advice you would give to young soccer players?
Embrace Failure. There is no success without failure.
What is your most memorable moment as a coach?
The most memorable moments for me as a coach are the ones when I see the goalkeepers make big saves and have a smile on their faces.
Who was your soccer coach/player role model? Why?
My college soccer coach, Kurt Devlin, at Canada College was my role model. He pushed me to become the best player and person I could become in life, helped develop me into a stronger goalkeeper and motivated me to always train and play my best. I will be forever grateful for the impact he made on my life.
What does success look like to you as a coach?
Success to me is the youth goalkeepers continuing to make progression in their development each season.
What do you hope players will take away from playing on your team?
I hope the players I coach learn to never give up on and off the field, keep pushing to accomplish their goals, accept that failure is how they get better, learn to believe in themselves, gain confidence in themselves as a player and person and most of all to to trust the process.
What is a fun fact about yourself that you’d like to share with the Crush community!
Aside from soccer I am an elementary school teacher. In addition, I love to surf bike and dirt bikes.