Coupeville Sports

   Jen Spark (9) is at the center of the celebration after Coupeville captured its first win of the season. (Robert Pelant photo)

Jen Spark

There is still a Spark of hope for the future.

Losing seniors Anna Bailey and Kelsey Miranda to graduation will be a blow to the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team. The duo provided the backbone to the Wolves’ defense, running interference and hip-checking potential shooters into the first row of seats in support of CHS goalie McKayla Bailey.

But, with every loss, there is gain, and Coupeville’s gain comes in the form of scrappy defender Jen Spark, who spent her freshman season on the pitch learning along side veteran teammates. Not afraid to knock heads with opponents in pursuit of looses balls, Spark should continue to light a … spark … under her team for seasons to come.

She’s a seven-year vet already, having first stepped on the pitch at age five. At one point she took a two-year break from the sport, but couldn’t resist the siren call of the sport.

“What I enjoy most about soccer is when I play on the field, I feel like I am home,” Spark said. “When I step on the field, all my worries disappear.”

A multi-sport star (she also plays basketball and sometimes volleyball), Spark, who seemed to spend a lot of time this season bouncing on and off the turf, fighting for every play, would be the first to admit she’s not laid-back on the soccer field. But that’s a positive.

“I think my strength is my defending, my aggression and my kicks and passes,” Spark said. “I feel like I need to work on my dribbling skills and my movement off the ball.

“My goals are to stay strong back in the defense and be able to help on the offense,” she added. “My goals for the team are to be able to work together well as a team and moving the ball up the field and putting some balls in the back of the net.”

A fan of “She’s the Man,” “High School Musical 3” and “Mean Girls,” who listens to a range of music from hip hop to rock, Spark is a work in progress. Helping her along the way have been a wide variety of people, from a family friend (Tony Mulbreght) who aided her and younger brother Ethan to get a financial scholarship for soccer, to her coaches and parents.

“I would like to thank my mom (Kali Barrio), because she supports me in soccer and in life,” Spark said. “She pushes me to do my best in everything. She tells me that if I set my mind to something, I can do anything.

“I would also like to thank my select coach Sean LeVine, because he has helped me improve so much in soccer,” she added. “I don’t think I would be where I am today if he hadn’t coached me. Everything I know about defense he taught me.”