LAKE SPORTS
Lake-Sumter CC adds the county player of the year to its volleyball team.
LEESBURG -- For much of Jessica Brady's volleyball playing career,
Jim Hoffman has been around. He has helped with the Leesburg High
School volleyball team and has coached in the Lake County Juniors
program.
Now, Hoffman, the head coach at Lake-Sumter Community College's volleyball team, again will be a part of Brady's volleyball playing life.
Now, Hoffman, the head coach at Lake-Sumter Community College's volleyball team, again will be a part of Brady's volleyball playing life.
Brady,
a 6-foot-1 Leesburg senior and the Sentinel's two-time Lake/Sumter
player of the year, signed with the Lakers Thursday afternoon. Her
signing concludes LSCC's recruiting for the year. Hoffman said the
Lakers would have 14 players under scholarship and two more players on the team as walk-ons.
Brady was projected to go to a four-year school, but she opted to stay local, partly because of upcoming surgery in late May that is scheduled to correct problems with the arches in both her feet. She said she would be in a wheelchair for three months after the surgery.
"I'm feeling comfortable right now with the situation [at LSCC] and with the surgery," Brady said. "I was born without any arches and I don't have any cartilage in my ankles. They are going to go in and put screws in both my feet.
"I should be ready to play in September. I was going to have the surgery now, but my parents want to see me walk, not roll [in a wheelchair], at my [high-school] graduation."
Hoffman agrees with the decision to wait until late May for the surgery.
"I just signed the best player in Lake County," Hoffman said. "Not a lot of community college coaches can say that.
"I am not like a lot of other coaches. I told her to go to her prom, to walk graduation and then have it done. I don't want her to miss out on those things, but I also want her to be healthy."
In addition to being familiar with Hoffman, Brady will feel right at home with her team. Six players from Leesburg's volleyball program will be playing at LSCC next year. Brady will join former high-school teammates and 2005 Leesburg graduates: Alicia Hindman, Jennifer Simmons, Sara Hoffman (Jim Hoffman's daughter), Mallory Baisden and Callie Owenby-Gingras.
In addition, there are other players on the Lakers' team that Brady has played with in club volleyball.
LSCC, with a freshman-dominated team and with Hoffman carrying the title of interim coach, went 3-21 last season. But the Lakers won three of their final five matches, including victories over two teams that made it to the state tournament.
This year, LSCC will play a stronger schedule, going from a 24-match season to as many as 41 matches. The Lakers will travel to Alabama for a couple of tournaments and also will play against some four-year colleges.
"The first thing I said to Coach Hoffman is that I am here to win," Brady said.
That approach does not surprise Hoffman.
"The first word you want to put in front of her name is passion," he said when asked to describe Brady. "To me that is the most important thing. She also has great talent, great skills."
Brady was projected to go to a four-year school, but she opted to stay local, partly because of upcoming surgery in late May that is scheduled to correct problems with the arches in both her feet. She said she would be in a wheelchair for three months after the surgery.
"I'm feeling comfortable right now with the situation [at LSCC] and with the surgery," Brady said. "I was born without any arches and I don't have any cartilage in my ankles. They are going to go in and put screws in both my feet.
"I should be ready to play in September. I was going to have the surgery now, but my parents want to see me walk, not roll [in a wheelchair], at my [high-school] graduation."
Hoffman agrees with the decision to wait until late May for the surgery.
"I just signed the best player in Lake County," Hoffman said. "Not a lot of community college coaches can say that.
"I am not like a lot of other coaches. I told her to go to her prom, to walk graduation and then have it done. I don't want her to miss out on those things, but I also want her to be healthy."
In addition to being familiar with Hoffman, Brady will feel right at home with her team. Six players from Leesburg's volleyball program will be playing at LSCC next year. Brady will join former high-school teammates and 2005 Leesburg graduates: Alicia Hindman, Jennifer Simmons, Sara Hoffman (Jim Hoffman's daughter), Mallory Baisden and Callie Owenby-Gingras.
In addition, there are other players on the Lakers' team that Brady has played with in club volleyball.
LSCC, with a freshman-dominated team and with Hoffman carrying the title of interim coach, went 3-21 last season. But the Lakers won three of their final five matches, including victories over two teams that made it to the state tournament.
This year, LSCC will play a stronger schedule, going from a 24-match season to as many as 41 matches. The Lakers will travel to Alabama for a couple of tournaments and also will play against some four-year colleges.
"The first thing I said to Coach Hoffman is that I am here to win," Brady said.
That approach does not surprise Hoffman.
"The first word you want to put in front of her name is passion," he said when asked to describe Brady. "To me that is the most important thing. She also has great talent, great skills."
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