Jane is a 7th Grade English/Language Arts teacher at the Edison K-8 in Brighton. When she became a teacher 5 years ago, Jane saw the perfect opportunity to share her love for sports with the students she was teaching. She began devoting her time outside of the classroom as a soccer coach for CityKicks—an after-school soccer program for BPS middle school girls. When CityKicks merged with SCORES in Fall 2009, Jane didn’t hesitate to stay on board! Jane was enthusiastic to see that SCORES not only focuses on soccer but also incorporates a creative writing aspect to its after-school programming. For Jane, the SCORES Program was a perfect fit—she has just as much love for writing as she does for soccer.
Jane is extremely passionate about the work she does as a SCORES Soccer Coach. “Having grown up in the city myself, I truly credit my sports experience with helping keep me on the right track and in making the right choices. I wanted the girls I coached to feel this as well, and see what playing sports could do for you—to be healthy, to learn teamwork and to learn goal setting!”
When asked what her most enjoyable part of being a SCORES Coach is, Jane reflected fondly of her students. “The most enjoyable part of it all is hanging with the girls, whether it’s writing or soccer practice or games-they always have something funny to say or share and are very goofy and fun-loving.”
Jane has had the pleasure of working with several girls for 6 SCORES seasons! Watching their commitment, dedication, and development over the past 3 years has been the most rewarding experience for Jane as a SCORES Coach. “They have all grown up so much. As soccer players, they went from not having hardly any stamina or skills, because many of them had never played organized soccer. They would get tired easily, would want to give up sometimes and would, at times, have a bad attitude. Today, those same girls are so skilled, can run all day long and, I’m very proud to say, have such fabulous positive attitudes! This is my last season with them, because they’re graduating, and I’m really, really going to miss them!”
Jane constantly serves as a positive role model for her students whether it’s in the classroom, on the field, or in life. Over the past six months, she has dedicated herself to train for the Boston Marathon® as a member of the SCORES Marathon Team. When asked why she chose to run, Jane shed the light on three important motivating factors. First, she has been a spectator of the marathon for many years—watching both her father and two brothers complete the race. She felt inspired by all the runners and proud of their determination and accomplishment. Second, Jane wanted to feel like an athlete again! Growing up, Jane was very active in sports. Although being a SCORES Coach brings her back to the soccer field on a weekly basis, she has missed participating in sports outside of her professional life. Marathon training has allowed her to truly feel like an athlete again! Third and most importantly, Jane decided to run the marathon to “…show my girls (on the Edison team) how anyone can set a goal, work towards achieving it and, achieve it! At the Edison K8 School and in America SCORES, we’ve done a lot of work in teaching students to set goals, and make plans to reach those goals. I wanted to ‘practice what we preach’ be setting a goal for myself.”
As a member of the SCORES Boston Marathon Team, Jane has also committed to raising money to further support ASNE’s mission and goals. If you would like to help Jane in her fundraising efforts and further ASNE’s mission, please visit her online donation page Kintera/JaneLong
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