A Day in the Life: Jenna Kirby

Jenna Kirby is in constant motion.

That shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone who has watched the junior midfielder play for Miami Field Hockey, but at this moment, she isn't even on the field.

It's Wednesday, October 26, and Kirby is hustling from practice to her 1:15 p.m. class. Kirby, Isabelle Perese, Hadley Evans and Mary Kate Barbee are walking briskly toward the parking lot, doing their best not to be late. Perese is headed to a Broomball class and says her goodbyes as she peels off in a different direction. Evans is on her way to American Studies. Barbee is the designated chauffeur. And Kirby is en route to learn about Deaf Culture.

It's the life of a student-athlete, and there's not a minute to spare. Especially when practice doesn't end until 1 p.m. on the nose.

Kirby manages to change her shoes as she climbs into Barbee's car, but the clock is ticking, and the rest of her wardrobe will have to wait. She gets dropped at the curb outside Bachelor Hall, never breaking stride as she weaves her way through the hallways and plops down at a desk on the far side of the classroom, still wearing her practice jersey and shorts.

The clock says 1:14.

- - -

Kirby's day began about six hours earlier with a 'Zebra' drink (half dark chocolate, half white chocolate) and breakfast wrap at a local coffee shop. She was on her way to an 8 a.m. biomechanics lab and knew she'd need the energy boost for the earliest class on her schedule.

Jenna Kirby

As a kinesiology major, Kirby spends a good portion of her week at Phillips Hall. Her first of three classes today would be no exception. Kirby was one of about 10 students in the Phillips weight room when KNH 381L got underway at precisely 8:00. The majority of the next hour would be spent sifting through five-syllable words like isokinetic dynamometer and equilibrium, visiting the basement to see a Vicon motion capture system, and learning what a force plate does.

You see, a force plate is like a scale, but more accurate. It has something to do with using Newtons to measure muscle fatigue and recovery.

At least, that's how Kirby explains it.

Because as a midfielder who runs five miles or so during an average game and needs time for muscle recovery afterward, she already knows exactly what a force plate does.

- - -

Ironically, about an hour after STUDENT-athlete Jenna Kirby finished learning about force plates in class, student-ATHLETE Jenna Kirby found herself standing on a force plate.

"19.5!"

"20.1!"

"20.9!"

The room, filled with Kirby's teammates, erupted in cheers as associate head coach Chip Rogers dramatically called out and recorded each number. Kirby completed three consecutive jumps in a second-floor meeting room at Yager Stadium—each ending with a louder 'thump' than the one before it—and then sat back down as the next player took a turn.

Her team would usually be outside on the practice field by 10 a.m., but on this day, the routine was a little different. The next 40 minutes were allotted to leadership expert Dr. Eric Buller for a conversation about how the team is doing, both on the field and off. Buller comes in once every few weeks to meet with the players at head coach Inako Puzo's request and help them make progress toward their goals for the year.

There were no coaches in the room during the sport performance session, which was designed to allow the players to share freely. Buller and the athletes talked about communication, standards, attitude, preparation, fitness, approach, diet, and what it means to be a high-performance elite program.

13_Paula_Peña_Martinez_and_20_Jenna_Kirby

13_Paula_Peña_Martinez_and_20_Jenna_Kirby

No detail was too small to discuss or analyze. Even the team's warmup routine was dissected to determine how a too-casual approach might affect a potential outcome. 'Sluggish' or 'slow' in pregame? Well, how do you change that before it's too late?

The phrase 'close the gap' was brought up several times. Miami Field Hockey is trying to play —and beat— the true national powerhouses of the sport. This year's schedule was loaded with matchups against five different programs that qualified for the 18-team NCAA tournament in 2021, including a looming date with defending national champion Northwestern that would wrap up the regular season on Sunday.

The group talked about a key win at Michigan State and the momentum that beating another 'Power Five' school can bring. Miami owns three such victories this season, more than every other team in the Mid-American Conference combined. 'I've played MSU three times in my four years here and I'd never beaten them," one player said.

But at the same time Miami is looking to enhance its national reputation and standing, the RedHawks are trying to 'keep a gap' between themselves and the rest of the MAC. Miami would head to Ball State Friday with a chance to sew up its sixth consecutive regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, so looking too far ahead to Northwestern was not an option.

Buller emphasized the importance of understanding the stakes of the team's next game. "We can't be afraid to admit this means more," he said. "High-performing elite teams never look at something as 'just another week.' They focus on why it matters.

"Our competitive goals are still in play," he added. "You should feel really good about that."

- - -

By 11 a.m., the team was on the field and ready to begin practice. The whiteboard near the bench area detailed the plan for the day, which included several 10-minute scrimmage periods. "When we have an intense, competitive practice, things usually go great," said Puzo.

Jenna Kirby

That was music to Kirby's ears. "I'm a competitive person in everything I do during the day," she said. "I just want to be the best at everything, and I will do anything to make that happen…

"I'm going to put everything I have on the field whenever I'm out there and give it all I have," she continued. "I'm the person who will go for the ball and put my whole body in front of it in order to get it."

The practice ended with work on penalty corners, perhaps the most important type of play in the sport. As the offense executes a set play to try and get a shot off, Kirby and the other defenders come racing out of the goal frame, outfitted temporarily with extra protective equipment, to try and disrupt the scoring chance. It's a dangerous situation in a dangerous game, but Kirby embraces the opportunity.

"It's fun for me," she explained later. "I like defense, and I enjoy the chance to block a shot. It's an exciting feeling: I made that stop. I made an impact."

She would have plenty of opportunities to do just that on Sunday.

- - -

Puzo expected that national champion Northwestern would likely have more scoring opportunities than the RedHawks in the teams' non-conference showdown.

He probably didn't anticipate that the visitors would be awarded 10 penalty corners before Miami had even attempted one.

Unsurprisingly, Kirby would be in the thick of things defensively Sunday afternoon, especially as part of the 'DPC' unit (defending penalty corners). It takes a special kind of player to run directly at someone who is about to shoot a ball as hard as they can directly at you…and then stop right in front of them.

And Kirby does it constantly.

Penalty corner number one on Sunday: Blocked by Kirby.

Penalty corner number two on Sunday: Deflected by Kirby.

And on and on it went.

However, the multitude of opportunities for Northwestern ended up being too much for Miami to overcome. The Wildcats prevailed 3-1 in a hard-fought contest, thanks in large part to 17 penalty corners. But to Puzo, Kirby, and the rest of Miami Field Hockey, these are the kinds of games they want to be playing week in and week out, no matter the result.

"If you come to Miami, which is an amazing academic institution, people come here because they want to be challenged," Puzo said after the game. "My philosophy is: If you want to be challenged in your academics, you probably want to be challenged in every single part of your life, including field hockey.

"So when these players come here, they come here because they know we play a strong schedule. They know we're going to play the Northwesterns, the UVAs [Virginia], the Michigans: we will play these teams constantly. And these games are really helping us to pull the standards up.

"It's about the pace of the game, it's about the physicality of the game, and it's about testing us every single day against the best. If we want to close the gap with the best, we have to play against the best.

"In these losses, you learn a lot. You feel it. You get out of the field knowing that you have to be faster, you have to be stronger, and you have to pass the ball a little bit better. Everything has to be polished… Jenna Kirby

"We believe here in the process. So playing this game is part of the process, and being challenged is part of the process."

Kirby agreed. "I think it's more fun to play these hard teams, even though it's going to be a very intense game and the outcome might not be what we want it to be, but it's more fun to me than beating a team 7-0 or 8-0…I want to beat those big teams. I think we all play better when we play better competition as well.

"You have that internal drive: You want to prove that even though they're ranked No. 5 in the nation, we can go out and beat them. We can hang with them."

While the coaches and players don't regret the daunting schedule, they did finish the weekend somewhat battered, bloodied, and bruised. One player was wearing a mask for Sunday's game after taking a ball to the nose during practice Wednesday. Another, Luli Rosso, had to be carried off the field in the first half against Northwestern before returning later to score Miami's only goal of the game.

Kirby didn't escape unscathed either. She was injured in the third quarter against the Wildcats and had to come out for a few minutes to get treated and get her wind back after getting hit in the face with the ball. "She has a nice bump under her chin," Jenna's father Brad Kirby reported after receiving his usual postgame text message. "She said she's fine, but 'It's hard to chew and eat – my favorite activity!'"

Jenna's mom and dad joke that the family should own stock in Neosporin with how often Jenna hits the turf. "I think she spends more time on the ground than she does on her feet!", laughed Yvonne Kirby.

"It's definitely [at least] once every game," Jenna admitted. "It's not a true game or practice if I don't fall or get pushed. And half the time it's just my own fault. I'll trip over my own feet, or I'm just running and all of a sudden, no one's even around me, but Jenna's on the ground and no one knows how!"

- - -

"Does anyone know what 'zeitgeist' means?'

Although Wednesday morning had been about Kirby's major and her sport, Wednesday afternoon was about her minor, Disability Studies. That meant back-to-back classes related to 'Deaf Culture' and 'Allies and Activists for the Disability Community.' The busy afternoon would require Kirby to switch gears seamlessly from a discussion of the 1988 'Deaf President Now' protest at Gallaudet College to engaging with an article entitled 'It's Time For Autism Research To Do Better By People With Autism.'

In the first class, she raised her hand to participate in the conversation about the Gallaudet protest. "Didn't they drive buses in front?," Kirby asked. The professor nodded, elaborating on the protesters' tactics of parking a bus outside the university gates and deflating the tires to effectively shut the school down until their demands had been met.

In the final class of the day, participation came in the form of online short-answer responses.

"Why do disability justice activists say that a civil rights framework is a critical but limited framework?"

"What do you see as the next step to create liberation for disabled people?"

And so forth and so on.

Jenna Kirby

Kirby typed in her responses one by one, expounding on 'able-bodied people' and their role in the disability justice movement. She finished the last sentence and closed her laptop a mere eight hours after her day of classes had begun.

Although Kirby is pursuing a career in occupational therapy (something she's been 'almost addicted to' since way back in sixth grade!), she sees her minor as an important piece of her preparation for that particular job. "I'm going to be working with people who have strokes or other disabilities, so I think it's important for me to have that background information," she said. "Just to build my education on that community and understand their perspective on certain things, I feel like that can help me in my field when I'm older so I can help my patients."

"Jenna is smart, disciplined and she works hard," said Puzo. "Her academics may even be more impressive than her field hockey!"

There's no other way to say it: A day in the life of a student-athlete, at least this student-athlete, is intense. From Biomechanics lab to treatment to three hours with the field hockey team to Deaf Culture to Allies and Activists, there was not time for any sort of break, mental or otherwise.

And remarkably, other days are even harder than October 26 was. For instance, trying to excel in physics despite missing physics classes, labs and tests because of away games. "My brain just shut down," Kirby said, recalling her most recent exam in that particular class. "It's not like it's rocket science, but it does feel like it at times!" At least on this Wednesday, Kirby was able to attend each of her classes in person.

"The balance between social life, academics and field hockey is a really big challenge at some points," she said as she walked back to the field to retrieve her car and finally head home for some dinner (or maybe a long-overdue lunch?!?). "I pride myself on doing well with that, having a good balance between all of them, but sometimes it can get hard…having to go to the professor and tell them you're going to be missing class…having to reschedule exams when my busy schedule is already difficult.

"But luckily, all of my professors have been very understanding this year. They love watching all the sports here and they support the athletic department and all of our athletes. They'll work with us however they can to help me succeed."

- - -

"Hi, Frank!"

Once Kirby's day of classwork finally concluded, she'd head back to the 'hockey house', where she lives with Perese, Evans, Barbee, and Kailie Connor. But before settling in for a night of catching up on laundry, packing for the Ball State trip, organizing her 'Coneheads' costume for the team's upcoming Halloween party, and (of course!) doing homework, she took a few minutes to FaceTime her dad and mom.

Well, to be entirely accurate, her dad and mom and Frank. Jenna Kirby

Frank is a beagle the Kirbys adopted a few years back. A toothless beagle, to be precise.

"He's just such a funny dog to be around," Kirby smiled. "He had surgery a few days ago, so he has half his body shaved. Right now, he's half bald and half hairy, which I love getting pictures of and seeing.

"He's just a great dog, so cuddly and everything."

It's obviously hard for Kirby to be so far from her Spring City, Pa. home. She misses Frank (almost as much as she misses Brad, Yvonne, and younger brother Aaron, a freshman at Penn State). "I'm very close to my entire family," she said. "It's hard sometimes being so far away, and not seeing them as often as other girls see their families. But it's always so heartwarming when they come out and visit me and I get to be with them."

Still, despite the geographic distance from home, Kirby couldn't imagine playing field hockey anywhere besides Miami University. Jenna Kirby

"When she was a [high school] sophomore, she visited campus and she fell in love, you know?", Brad Kirby remembered. "She came home —I'll never forget it—and she's like, 'I want to go there.'

"I said, 'Yeah, but it's eight and a half hours away!'

"Meeting the coaches, my whole worry was, 'We're eight and a half hours away: I need her to be taken care of.' They've done that too, in every aspect. Whether it was her being sick and they've taken care of her, or when she had a minor accident and Coach took care of that and helped her out through that whole process."

On this particular afternoon, the family FaceTime discussion included a variety of topics: everything from Netflix comedy specials (one of Kirby's favorite ways to spend the precious little free time she does have) to potential Master's degree program applications to putting air in car tires to possible NCAA host sites to…well, you get the idea.

There was also some good advice from father to daughter for upcoming exams: "Keep working hard, get help if you need to, get a good night's sleep and be prepared."

And then the teasing advice back from daughter to father: "Dad, you need a haircut! I can see it from here. It's pointy!"

- - -

In the first 16 games of the season, Jenna Kirby scored zero goals.

In the 17th game of the season, with a championship on the line at Ball State Friday, she scored two goals.

- - -

Miami Field Hockey's identity is encapsulated in two words: position and possession. "That's our DNA," said Rogers.

The RedHawks had worked on both of those ideas relentlessly during Wednesday's practice, and with a MAC championship at stake Friday afternoon in Muncie, Ind., it paid off big time.

Late in the first quarter, Kirby received a pass along the right sideline in the offensive half of the field. She took three big touches and followed immediately with one big swing. The resulting shot deflected off the Ball State goalkeeper and in to give the RedHawks a lead they would never relinquish.

"She was able to get in position where we figured Ball State was going to force her, get herself free, and use her speed and strength to take the ball up the field," Rogers said. "Jenna is not going to be flashy or fancy, but she is going to be steady.

Jenna Kirby

"She can generate a lot of attack by carrying the ball and distributing it, or, in this case, taking it herself."

"She's an unsung hero," said Puzo. "Never looking for the spotlight, she just does the right thing and is not worried about the reward.

"She's talented, athletic, smart, disciplined, professional, hard-working, and has everything [skill-wise], but that's second to her personality and character."

With her defensive responsibilities as a side midfielder, Kirby knows her stat lines will never blow away a casual observer. But that doesn't matter to someone who's all about reading the game, doing her part for the team, and ultimately, winning.

When asked what she's proudest of in her field hockey career, it's the little things, not the big things, that stand out to Kirby.

"I'm not really proud of any goal or anything, but helping my teammates behind the scenes," Kirby said Wednesday.

"I've never been the person who needs all the goals and needs the public recognition. I know I'm doing what I can, and I'm contributing what I can to the team. If I'm happy with my play and my teammates and coaches are happy with my play, then I'm happy. That's why I feel like I'm a great fit on this team…

"I know I'm in a position that I'm not going to be scoring a lot, and I don't really let it bother me."

In the fourth quarter at BSU, Kirby finished off the first multi-goal game of her college career to help pad the RedHawks' lead in an eventual 7-0 victory. She was positioned perfectly at the edge of the circle when the ball deflected off a defender and right to her. Two touches later, she finished the play with a big swing to the right corner of the frame.

"We talk all the time about being in goal-scoring positions to make something happen," Rogers said later. "The ball popped free, and that's what we want a heads-up player to be able to do."

- - -

What makes a good field hockey player?

What makes a good field hockey program?

To Jenna Kirby, the answer is dedication. She has loved the game for as long as she can remember, ever since she realized she wasn't cut out for soccer as a young girl and made the switch to the sport she was truly born to play. "I think my parents thought I was not going to be an athlete after playing soccer," Kirby smiled. "I was the kid who picked the flowers and sat on the field.

"But field hockey was a complete 180 change. When I went to put the stick in my hand, I just wanted to run people over! I don't know what that stick did, but it changed me…

"In high school, I trained during the season, but didn't do much of the running or lifting in offseason. Getting here and seeing how other girls train at other programs, it made my 'competitive self' decide, 'Okay, I want to be better than them. I want to be the best field hockey player I can be.' And then I started looking at what I have to do behind the scenes and how much work I have to put in to be the best player I can. I am okay sacrificing certain things in my life, like the social time I might have with friends, in order to further my field hockey career…

"It makes me very proud, knowing that all of my hard work and dedication that goes on behind the scenes and during the preseason and offseason really does pay off, and people can see that."

She also credited Puzo and the coaches for recruiting student-athletes that fit Miami Field Hockey, not just in the way they play, but when it comes to their personalities off the field. "He picks people he knows will mesh together and just be really like a big family," Kirby said. "Looking at other programs that I visited, I've never seen a bond this strong between players, which is something that I think also helps our success."

Kirby and the RedHawks hope their individual and collective dedication translates into a historic postseason run this November. Miami begins the MAC field hockey tournament Friday in Oxford, needing a pair of wins this weekend to secure a trip back to the national tournament for a sixth consecutive appearance. The RedHawks won their first-ever NCAA home game in 2021 before dropping a heartbreaker in the final seconds at third-seeded Michigan, but are looking to advance deeper in the event this fall. Jenna Kirby

"Winning two rounds of the NCAA tournament is something our program has not done in its history," Kirby said. "We were so close last year with Michigan, losing in the last minute, and I think it'd be a great feeling to be a part of the first team to be able to do that."

After spending a day around Kirby and her teammates, it would come as no surprise if the RedHawks reach that objective, or perhaps even exceed it.

Winning games?

Claiming trophies?

Chasing championships?

Whether scoring goals or accomplishing goals, it's just another day in the life of Jenna Kirby.

Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

Want to cheer on Kirby and the RedHawks to a championship this weekend at the MAC tournament? Miami hosts Ball State Friday, Nov. 4 at 11:30 a.m. and would advance to the final on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. in Oxford with a victory. All MAC students can get in free with their school ID. Adult tickets are $7 per day and youth tickets are $5. Tickets can be purchased at the gate. As a reminder, Miami is a cashless campus.

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