WXXV Student Athlete of the Week: Gautier’s Jennifer Lopez

If anyone needs more than 24 hours in a day, it would be this weeks WXXV Student Athlete of the Week. Introducing the incredibly talented, and gifted in many areas, Gautier’s very own Jennifer Lopez.

Having the same name as a famous singer and actress, soccer standout Jennifer Lopez has grown up with all eyes on here. While she currently holds the title for the best student athlete at Gautier high school, J Lo has lived up to that hype to say the lease.

It all started when she was 8-years-old.

“My dad was the one that basically started my whole career,” said Lopez. “He was my first coach and he just did everything for me. So without him I wouldn’t be here right now. I remember when I was like really bad then the next thing I know my dad was like come on, wake up, and let’s go practice. I just got better and better everyday and I fell in love with it and I feel like I can’t keep going without playing it.”

It didn’t take long for Gautier’s head soccer coach Cooper Kimbrell to take notice of Lopez’s hard work and talent.

“She had a lot of confidence, a lot of room for growth, and I thought it would benefit her in the long haul to play in varsity as a 7th grader,” said coach Kimbrell. “It doesn’t happen much in high school sports, especially as a 5A school, so I just brought her up and this is year six. So it has been a good journey for her.”

A good journey to say the least. In he past soccer season, Lopez has been named rookie of the year, offensive player of the year, and most valuable player. It’s pretty safe to say her senior year has a shot at being her best season yet as she currently holds the record for the most goals scored in the entire country!

“It makes me feel really excited because in my past years I haven’t really focused on it but this year I started focusing on it and every time I score I put it in MaxPreps so I can keep getting my numbers up,” said Lopez. “I love it because my parents are showing me off and it is so crazy because I haven’t seen anyone at Gautier be number one in the country and I love it.

If she wasn’t already impressive enough…soccer is only one of the four sports she plays for the Gautier Gators, Lopez is the right side hitter for the volleyball team, has won a state championship with Gautier’s track team, and this year she was able to make history for the Gautier football program.

“Our kicker, Eric, got hurt and they were just looking for somebody and Coach High knew ever since I was a freshman I wanted to kick,” said Lopez. “No female has ever done it in Gautier history, so I was the first girl to be on the Gautier football team and it was so fun I loved it.”

Play four sports at once is not an easy task to say the lease. In addition to her time on a court, field, or track, Lopez knows that what’s really important is her time in the classroom.

“I just try to get my work done in class as quickly as I can and when I’m out on the field I concentrate on that,” she said. “If I have extra time I’ll do any school work that I have to catch up on, but most of my school work I just do in school because it’s easy enough.”

Soon all the juggling, miles driven, and hard work will pay off as she’ll sign to play soccer at the next level.

“She’s grown up a whole lot as a soccer player, but also as a young lady and it ahs been great to be a part of that,” said coach Kimbrell. “I’m excited to see her continue play because she deserves it and she’s going to MGCCC and coach Ryan Joiner is going to push her and help her grow even more, so I am really excited to see that relationship grow and it just means a lot for me as a person and coach to be a part of her life. I am so proud of that.”

Lopez added, “I am so excited for it and I just don’t want to stop at college. I want to keep moving on and I’m going to work hard to continue and go pro in Mexico so I am going to try and make that happen.”