DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Jennifer Churchill is fighting for the starting goalkeeper spot.
Jennifer Churchill knows she is in a spirited battle to retain her position as No. 1 goalkeeper for the Hawaii soccer team, but that's OK for the senior from Gilroy, Calif. Churchill a keeper
for Wahine
By Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comFor the first time in many years the Wahine have a bona fide goalkeeper coach, and this is a new experience for Churchill.
"Having Josh (Fouts) to work the goalkeepers is just awesome," Churchill said. "I never really had a goalkeeper coach. In junior college an assistant would work with you for two or three practices, then you were on your own."
She and freshman Mahie Atay split the starting assignments this past weekend and the UH coaches may take a few matches to settle on a starter.
Churchill was involved in soccer, roller hockey and water polo as a youngster, but really didn't take soccer seriously until her sophomore year in high school. That's also when playing in the goal entered her life.
"That was the first year I went out and the coach said they had no 'keeper and I could play varsity if I played 'keeper," Churchill said. "I ended up playing backup, but after that season I was picked up by a club team as a 'keeper.
"Then, before my senior year, my water polo coach said it was either water polo (a fall sport) or soccer (a club sport in the fall and a winter high school sport). I loved water polo, but I'm not much of a swimmer and wasn't going anywhere fast there, so it was soccer."
She was primarily recruited by junior colleges out of high school. Her club team wasn't big enough or good enough to go to tournaments, so there wasn't much exposure for Churchill. The exposure did not come until after her freshman year in college, when Churchill joined a team from Reno, Nev., for several tournaments. That's when she caught the eye of UH coach Pinsoom Tenzing.
Sacramento State, Stanford and San Francisco State also showed interest. She made a visit to Sacramento State on her own, but did not develop any strong interest in joining the Hornets. Churchill made one official visit. It was to the Manoa campus, where she previously competed twice in the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Water Polo Tournament.
Her decision boiled down to Hawaii, where she had a solid scholarship offer, or Stanford, where she was being asked to take the SAT exam again.
"My big question was what would happen if I turned down Hawaii and didn't do well on the SAT. I chose Hawaii," said Churchill, who is majoring in exercise science.
She started 16 of 18 matches a year ago and had a 10-6 record and a 1.70 goals allowed average.
"Junior college definitely is a steppingstone from high school, so the transition to Division I wasn't a total shock," Churchill said. "I've played with D-I players during the summer. But the game is faster, the shots are harder and the shooters are more accurate."
The most stressful play for her is when the ball is pinging around and there are a lot of people in the box.
"Ideally, I can avoid that if I communicate properly," Churchill said.
She likes to read or listen to music to prepare for a game and isn't superstitious, although she received a little help in that department last year when the UH assistant sports information director gave her some lucky rocks.
"Mr. Sugai (teammate Joelle's father) told me how to salt them and I had them in the back of the goal for our WAC matches," Churchill said. "Maybe this year I've got to find something new."
Including the postseason tournament a year ago, UH was 7-4 against Western Athletic Conference opponents after starting the season with a 3-7 nonconference record.
