The Rookie

At 31, World Cup rookie, Jobson, is definitely not a wide-eyed college student. In fact, she is the head coach at Division I Northern Illinois University. And, she earned her first cap in 2005 at the ripe age of 29. She has been training with the team ever since.

Greg Ryan, who was Jobson’s (née Miller) coach at SMU, notes her strong defensive presence, work ethic and team mentality as attributes she brings to the National Team. He has indicated that she is a player that he can turn to against strong, physically aggressive teams that are good in the air and also when he needs to protect a lead.

Gayle Bryan asked Jobson about how she came to be the oldest World Cup rookie.

Give us a timeline of what you did playing-wise when you finished college.

I finished college in 1998. I went straight on to Germany to play there for a year, with Turbine Potsdam. Some of their World Cup players were actually on my team, so that’s kind of cool. I went from Germany to play for the Atlanta Beat. The combine try-outs were about three months after I came back from Germany. I made the Atlanta Beat and I was there until the league folded. I went from there and played with the Charlotte Eagles for a season and then I played for the Atlanta Silverbacks for a season. Mid-season with the Silverbacks, I got the job at Northern Illinois University. I took that job and literally a week later I got called up to my first camp. So, I had just taken a college job when I got called into my first camp.

Obviously you had stayed in the game and had stayed fit, but in your wildest dreams, did you see this coming?

No. No.

Was it your dream?

Sure. I think everyone has the dream of making a World Cup team or making an Olympic team, but I don’t think I ever thought in the last eight years that it was a likely thing that would happen. Even when I got called into my first camp, I was really excited. I didn’t know if it was going to last a week or if it was going to last a month or what. I never thought, two and a half years later, I’d be making my first World Cup roster. But, as I got with the players and got more and more experience playing with such awesome players and was able to keep getting fitter and went through a couple little injuries and got healthy, I was excited that I could still play at this level.

When you went to play in Charlotte, were you thinking about trying to play at a higher level or was it more for fun?

It was a little bit for fun. Charlotte was a Christian organization. I’ve always been really interested in sports ministry and so it was a chance for me to get a little more experience in sports ministry stuff as well as to keep playing. I didn’t really know what I was going to do at that point. I was a little bit at a crossroads. Was I going to go back overseas and play? Was I going to hang it up? Charlotte was an opportunity to just go and learn more about sports ministry and figure out what God has in his plan for me. It was an awesome experience.

Not many people would still be fit enough at age 28, when you first got called in, to take advantage of such an opportunity.

I’ve always been fit, but this is a whole other fitness level. It took me a little bit to get to this next level fitness-wise and to learn what the standard was. It’s like in high school, you learn what the college standard is, in college you learn what the pro standard is and now I’ve learned what the National Team standard is. I’ve always been a hard worker, so I knew I could get there. I just had to work, work, work. I’m not, I think, as naturally talented as some of the other players so I knew I had to work a lot extra. I had to work a lot extra on my fitness and all the other things.

In the press conference when Greg introduced the first 18, he talked about how you have been able to help some of the younger players with the ups and downs of the process.

I don’t look at things that way. What’s important to me is building relationships. I’ve been so fortunate with this team to build some really neat relationships with different girls. They’ve helped me a lot too. Stephanie Lopez: it’s interesting because she’s the same age as the girls I coach, I feel close to her and she’s a really dear friend. Carli and Cat. I could go on and list a bunch of the players. I’ve just been so blessed to be able to develop some of those relationships and get to know people and have them get to know me. So, I don’t necessarily look at it as, ‘Oh, I’m helping them.’ It’s my role to build those relationships, and they’ve helped me and they’ve blessed me in a lot of ways.

What are you looking forward to about the World Cup?

Obviously, we have to be very focused as a team. I’m looking forward to being with the team for hopefully a month and trying to win a World Cup. I’m looking forward to competing at the highest level possible against the best teams in the world. There’s nothing better than that.

Will your husband be able to go to China or will he be coaching your NIU team while you’re gone?

We just booked a very expensive ticket for one game for him. He’s coming to China for one game. Our girls at Northern are very important to us. They’ve been very supportive. Northern Illinois has been very supportive to allow me to do both Division I coaching and to achieve this goal. It’s important that we give everything they need to have a successful season. Paul’s coming in during one weekend when we have one non-conference game and then he’s jetting back to DeKalb.

What’s the mood on the team like right now? (This was just after Greg Ryan had named the 18 to the roster, but there were still a handful of players that didn’t know their future yet.)

We’re a really close group and we really support each other and we allow each other to be ourselves but we are kind of waiting to see who those other three people are because we care about everyone on this team. It’s going to be exciting, but it’s also going to be a little bit of a downer to have that one, two or three people who don’t get named. Those people who don’t make the team have played such a huge role on the formation of our team and camaraderie of our team and they share in our success. There will be alternates, ready to go in case something happens. They know they’ve played an equal part in helping us get prepared for the World Cup.