Century's Jenny Gilbert is an actress, a singer, a Girl Scout and an office holder in her school's chapter of the National Honor Society. The junior carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average (4.6 weighted) and has a passion for the sciences.
She's also one of the premier field hockey goalies in Carroll County, as she showed by recording shutouts over Middletown in the regional final and Patuxent in the Class 2A state semifinals.
How did you become a goalie?
It's kind of funny. I started playing field hockey in gym class, and I played forward line. I was really excited because I thought I was going to try out in high school and I was going to be really good. Then I went to a summer camp [Century] coach Gayle [Taylor] did, and I was terrible. So goalie was sort of my last resort, because I knew that I really wanted to play field hockey. Goalie is not really a popular position, but it's really fun. I'm glad that I ended up being terrible at field because I guess I found my niche.
What do you like most about being a goalie?
I like that I don't have to run too much. I also like that playing goalie you get to see the whole game being played. You can see the team and see what's working, and you can see the other team and how good they are. You're a lot more into the game, and you get to observe everything. You have a really good spot on the field.
Your team had a couple rough patches during the season, but come playoff time you really stepped up and played well. After advancing to the Class 2A state final, do you see yourselves being able to pick up where you left off next season?
It's going to be tough because we're losing a lot of really strong seniors, but seeing the girls on JV -- our JV team at Century is really good. I think we're going to have some great players coming up, and obviously there are some amazing people like [midfielder] Claire Brady returning next year. We're going to have a really strong team.
Have you played any other sports?
I'm really busy outside of sports and school, so I think one sport is as much as I can handle. In the spring, Century always has a musical, and I participate in that. Then I'm in chorus at school, I'm the secretary for our chapter of the National Honor Society, I'm a member of the executive board for our class office and I'm a Girl Scout.
How long have you been in the Girl Scouts?
I've been a Girl Scout for 11 years. My mom [Kathy] is our leader, so I do basically everything that we do in our troop. Right now I'm a Senior Girl Scout, but currently I'm trying to get my Gold award, which is the equivalent of an Eagle Scout award.
You take part in so many different activities. How do you budget your time to make it all work?
I get stressed out, but one of the important things for managing my time is that I just know to prioritize things. Like during the season, field hockey is my No. 1 priority, and I know that after school that's what I'm doing. Then I always make sure I have enough time to do my homework. My parents are pretty good with, if I can't make something, not forcing me to go. If a Girl Scout meeting is at a bad time for me and I have a lot of homework, then it's alright if I miss it.
Aside from all the other activities, you're also a straight-A student taking Honors classes. Is there a particular area of study you'd like to pursue in college?
I'm really interested in sciences. I love science -- it's my favorite subject by far. I'm hoping to go into biology or zoology in college. I love learning about animals, and I'm also really interested in environmental sciences and things like that, so I'm going to be a hippie.
Do you get that from your parents?
The science part definitely comes from my dad [Allen], who's an engineer, but I think that my interest in natural sciences probably comes from Girl Scouts and going camping and being outside a lot. I've just always really enjoyed that. It also has to do with all the things on the news. One movie that I really enjoyed was
An Inconvenient Truth
. I saw that with my grandparents, and it was one of the things that really sparked my interest in climate change and things like that. Hearing all of these problems that we have with the environment makes me really want to get out there and try to help and do what I can.
What makes a good field hockey goalie? What do you need to do to have success at this level?
I think it's really mostly a mental position. One of the huge parts of being a goalie is angles, then you also have to be able to keep in the right frame of mind. It's a nerve-wracking position since you're the last line of defense. Sadly, when you make a mistake playing goalie, it can cause your team to lose. So you have to just understand that when the ball comes in the goal, it's going through 11 people, and you're not the only one who makes a mistake. You have to be able to shake off your mistakes and just concentrate on what you're doing. Then it also helps to have good reflexes.
Do some of your other endeavors, such as being on stage and the nerves it takes to do that, play a role in making you a strong goalie?
I think that's definitely true. Coach Taylor would always tell me I needed to be more vocal when I'm in goal, and being on stage we learn how to project. That totally helps when I'm trying to tell my team that there's a girl open on post or something like that. And then just being involved in other activities gives you more experience working with people. When you play goalie and are on a team, it's just really important to have people skills.