It stands to reason that one of the best all-around athletes at Trenton Catholic Academy over the past four years would have burst onto the sports scene with great success as a youth.
So much for reason.
Marissa “Magoo” Jenkins (more on the nickname later) has just completed a four-year run in which she won 12 letters with the Iron Mikes—four each in soccer, basketball and track & field. She has been good enough as a soccer goalie to draw the interest of Cabrini College, where she will play next fall and is also considering basketball as well.
But it wasn’t always this easy for the Hamilton Township resident.
Jenkins, the daughter of former Trenton High basketball player Ed Jenkins and former Steinert softball player Renee Rogers, inherited her dad’s size at an early age (she now stands nearly 6-2). She also has her mom’s passion for sports.
Renee is the admissions officer at TCA’s high school, and also works closely with the athletic department, while also serving as head soccer coach of the lower school’s soccer team. She guessed that her daughter might follow the same pattern.
“Marissa was pretty big, and her dad was a standout basketball player,” Rogers said. “I figured she’d play something and at a young age. I wanted to do something to keep her busy.”
The first project was T-ball.
“She didn’t like that,” Rogers said. “She found that very boring.”
So boring, in fact, she would perform cartwheels in the grass while the game was going on.
The next sport was basketball, when she was in kindergarten. Jenkins’ size and court awareness were a little ahead of her teammates back then. During one game, a teammate was looking out the window and Marissa threw a pass off her head.
“She felt bad about that,” Rogers said. “So we backed off of basketball for a couple years. But I knew it would be inevitable because of her dad.”
The basketball coach at Immaculate Conception School talked her into coming back out in grade school, however, and she has been in the sport ever since.
Her soccer career, which Rogers didn’t think would amount to much, began at age 5 in the Hamilton Recreation League.
“We put her in soccer, and who knew?” Rogers said. “She liked running around and because she was so big they tried her in goal. I had heard about travel teams but we didn’t even think about playing travel, but they sought her out.”
“They” were Tom Slater, director of the Hamilton Wildcats soccer program, and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, the Wildcats U12 travel coach back then. They put the 10-year-old Marissa on DeAngelo’s team.
“She actually saved quite a few shots,” Rogers said. “Coach Wayne and Coach Tom were instrumental in training her. They were the ones who really got her going.”
But during one practice, Jenkins let an easy shot roll through her legs, which led DeAngelo to calling her “Magoo” because it looked like she didn’t see the shot. Jenkins didn’t even know who Mr. Magoo was but embraced the name. When she found out what it meant years later, it was too late to turn back, and she even has it on her license plate.
After Immaculate closed, Jenkins headed for Trenton Catholic, in fifth grade. By the time she reached high school, her athletic skills had been honed.
Soccer emerged as the frontrunner for her best sport, as Jenkins was named to the All-Burlington second- and first-teams her junior and senior years, respectively. She also played on three state basketball champions, including the Tournament of Champions winner as a sophomore.
“Winning the TOC was the greatest moment of my sports career at TCA,” Jenkins said. “All of the hard work my team and I put in paid off in the end, and I consider myself fortunate to have been part of such a talented team. Winning the trophy for our school and seeing the pride in our classmates’ and teachers’ eyes made it even more special.”
What makes her just as proud, are her contributions to the soccer program. Successful basketball is a long-time staple at TCA but for years, soccer was in the dregs until recently.
“Making it to the second round of the state tournament during my junior year is equally as important to me,” Marissa said. “No one expected us to have a winning season or go that far because we were a young team with inexperienced players. That says a lot about our commitment to our team and pride in the Iron Mike legacy. We put TCA girls’ soccer back on the radar.”
To round out her four years of “big moments” the shot put/discus/javelin thrower was part of the Iron Mikes first home track and field meet in 35 years on April 30.
“It was really cool to have a home track meet,” she said. “Our track is really good, and we have specific areas for javelin, discus and shot put, too. We have many good track athletes on our team, and it’s nice to know that we are the start of the return to a competitive track program at TCA. It’s great to be a part of new traditions at TCA.”
Jenkins is a rarity in this day of specialization. While many athletes focus on one sport—often due to pressure from AAU or travel coaches—Marissa gains too much joy from each of her sports to ever give any of them up.
“Every coach I’ve had wanted me to give up the other sports in favor of focusing on one sport, but I didn’t give in,” she said. “I enjoy all of the sports I play and am equally committed to each sport each season, and am able to come to the first practices pretty much in shape.
“When I was younger, I did play travel soccer and AAU basketball year round, but it was just too much—so much that my AAU coach gave my mom his EZ-Pass to pay for the tolls going from sport to sport on the weekends.
“Now that I’m older, I’m glad I didn’t focus on just one sport. I will have an opportunity to play two sports in college, and the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my sports career at TCA has made me better prepared for my future as a high school teacher who can also coach more than one sport.”
And despite her Magoo-like tendency in that practice eight years ago, Jenkins has become a top-flight goalie. She has gained a high confidence level in her goalkeeping skills.
“I had to sharpen my skills myself so I would not let my team down,” she said. “I am the last line of defense in a game. The soccer skills I have are unique to the team, and only I can make myself better.”
She says she likes being able to coach from the back.
“I can help my team out play by play to make sure they see what I see,” she said. “Being able to see the entire field is a good advantage too because I can see plays about to happen and let my team know who to mark up and when to move toward the ball or drop back.”
Those are skills she hopes to use in her career. Inspired by her grandmother Arlene Rogers, a retired teacher in the Hamilton system, and her mom, a long-time coach, Marissa wants to be a teacher and coach. She helps her mom with the lower school soccer team and has also helped Lisa Gmitter and Jess Pandolfini with their travel teams.
“The kids really like her,” Renee said. “She has a really good rapport with kids. She’s so big, so they have to get over that when they first see her. She has a lot of patience.
“She has such a unique perspective on sports. As a goalie she sees the whole field and knows the game inside and out. And playing basketball at TCA she got to see some great players play the game and learned a lot from them.”
Jenkins is also an outstanding student and understands that academics come before sports. She knows if she doesn’t fare well in the classroom, she won’t have the opportunity to play sports. And that would devastate her.
“Sports mean the world to me,” she said. “If it wasn’t for sports, I wouldn’t as confident as I am today. My coaches taught me things that can be applied to life; being a leader, being a strong individual, and working together with people I am around. Sports taught me lessons both on and off the playing area.
“I choose to excel in both sports and school because both venues build strong character. My strength of character can be seen in my dedication and commitment to my teammates as well as my education. Hard work, both on and off the field, gives me the chance to follow my dreams and achieve excellence academically and physically. The lessons I have learned through team sports regarding hard work, fair play and commitment will stay with me throughout my adult life, and have made me a better all-around person.”
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