JENNA Collingridge has secured a prestigious four year scholarship with the Southeast Missouri Redhawks in the United States and will fly out later this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The talented soccer player has spent this year living in Picton, near Wollongong and playing for the Illawarra Stingrays, who have had a great season.
Jenna will head to the States with her Wollongong housemate Tenealle Hay, who signed with the Redhawks a couple of months ago.
It was through Tenealle that Jenna heard about the opportunity.
Worth tens of thousands of dollars, the scholarship covers all of Jenna’s living expenses and her university tuition.
Jenna is currently taking a gap year, having deferred university in Australia to spend time concentrating on her soccer and enjoy a break.
Before the Redhawks opportunity came up, she had planned to study at the University of Western Sydney, Richmond campus.
She now plans to study animal science in Missouri.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Jenna said.
She flies out on July 28 and will be home in Cootamundra this week catching up with family and friends, including her parents, Cathy and Paul Collingridge, who have been with Jenna every step of the way in her soccer career and could not be prouder of this latest achievement.
Jenna said the level of soccer she will be playing will be higher
than that which she currently plays in the Illawarra Premier League.
The Redhawks play twice a week and Jenna indicated they train every day except Monday, which is a rest day for the girls.
Already one Australian girl is part of the team and along with Jenna and Tenealle, there will be a third Aussie from Queensland awarded a scholarship, a girl Jenna knows through soccer.
Jenna’s story on the soccer field is one dreams are made of, however it hasn’t happened without a lot of hard work and sacrifice from not only her but her parents who have always supported her and her sister Kristy in their sporting endeavours.
She always showed great talent with a soccer ball and loved playing. She was a Strikers junior before playing for the senior side and has a number of success in the CHS (Combined High School) system to her name.
Jenna has twice been awarded Cootamundra’s Sportsperson of the Year.
She remains humble about her achievements and says she can’t wait to get over to the States to play
soccer.
While the scholarship covers four years, Jenna has signed for 12 months to begin with, saying she will re-sign each year.
“It should be a great experience; I’m really looking forward to my time over there,” Jenna said.