If Haley Jenkins is really going to hang up her soccer cleats, she couldn’t have picked a better way to go out.
The Wellington High School senior forward led Palm Beach County large schools in scoring with 31 goals and seven assists and helped the Wolverines (15-4-1) reach the Class 7A regional semifinals. She had seven games where she scored multiple goals, including a career-high six in a win over John I. Leonard.
“We didn’t think we would have a chance this year, but we beat all of our rivals,” said Jenkins, who plans to study psychology at Florida Atlantic University. “I don’t plan on playing soccer in college. I had offers, but I am just going to concentrate on school. I know the coach there, so I could always walk-on.”
“We had such a new group this year,” said Jenkins, who helped the Wolverines win district titles in her freshman, sophomore and senior years. “This was our comeback year.”
Jenkins, who had a winning goal against Dwyer, said she had always been selfless and was told to look to score more this year.
“This was my senior year and I had to step up,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t even know how many goals I had until midway through the year.”
Wellington coach Erica Jones said Jenkins was needed to step up her role of scorer and she did. Jones was an assistant with the team last year, but took over the reins and allowed Jenkins and the other seniors to lead the squad.
“Haley Jenkins is the type of player a coach dreams of having on their team,” said Wellington coach Erica Jones. “She’s the consistent spark on the field that is constantly creating chances and looking for ways to score.
“She’s a persistent threat to the defense and her success this past season proves that,” Jones added. “She means so much to the players and coaches and really took it personally to cultivate the potential of our team. Whether it was practice or playoffs, she encouraged the girls to perform at their absolute best.”
Gary Curreri is a correspondent for the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
