Coupeville Sports

Joye Jackson (on left) shares a moment with friendly rival Jamie Rodden of South Whidbey during last year’s track season.

Joye Jackson was born to play soccer.

Now, the Coupeville High School junior has plenty of other talents (she runs track, takes part in drama productions, plays in the school’s pep band, has musical interests that range from Lady Gaga and Foster the People to “Phantom of the Opera” and carves out as much time as possible to work with a menagerie of pets that include a horse, donkey and mule), but the soccer pitch has called to her since she was young.

From her first days booting the ball in an Under-6 league, to now, when she’s a key, unsung part of an improving Wolf squad, Jackson has had a love affair with the sport.

“I have been playing soccer since I was very little,” Jackson said. “I think I really enjoy the chance to just get that one time in a game when you do something totally awesome, like a new move, and pull it off, or a great save or something that will stand out to me personally, such as improvement.”

She sees herself as a work in progress (“I feel that my strengths are equal this year, that nothing has really made me feel like, that’s my trademark strength as a soccer player.”), but it’s evident to anyone who watches a Wolf game that she plays her heart out every time she steps on the field.

A still-developing CHS squad has begun to mesh more as the season has gone on, and while the Wolves are still seeking their first win, they have gotten closer to their opponents each time out. For Jackson, who has seen time both at forward and a bit in goal, she has a few personal moments she’d like to accomplish before the season plays out.

“My personal goals are to either assist a goal or have a shut out in goal,” Jackson said. “As a team, I think our goals are to improve on what we already have done well. Our defense is working so hard and so is the offense; I feel like our season (now that we have started the second half of the season) will be better then the first half of the season.“

Jackson credits her coaches from when she was younger — Kali Barrio, Scott Rosenkranz and Sean LeVine — for helping her to develop as a player, while also showing some nice appreciation for the impact her family has had on her growth as a young woman.

“I feel like my parents are the ones who encourage me to do better and to make a difference,” Jackson said. “Also my cousin, Katherine, who always, no matter how far away she lives, cheers me and encourages me to become the best in myself.”