(Photo By Donald Lamb)
Hello, my name is Brittany Bowald, and I am a senior jumper / sprinter at Atlantic Coast High School here in Jacksonville, Florida.I am very excited for the opportunity to be able to share with you my story, as well as be able to tell you more about my training and meets throughout this high school season!For my first blog I wanted to share with you my background, how I got into track and field, how I almost walked away from the sport, and what my plans are for this season.
When we are young we always have these ideas of what we are going to do when we get a little older and I can honestly say I never envisioned myself doing or excelling in track and field where I now spend most of my athletic time. From the first moment I was coordinated enough to do any type of sport I wanted to do gymnastics. I wanted to do it so badly my dad had to convince the gym to let me in the class even though I was only two and too young for their classes, but I was determined to do something, so that's where it all started. My parents say I never sat or stood still at any age so the next thing to try was soccer. I competed on a little team and liked it but it wasn't a passion. Next on the list was tee ball, which was quickly crossed off after my countless sand drawings in the outfield. The only sport that really seemed to stick at that point was gymnastics so that's where I stayed for a while.
When my family moved to Jacksonville, Florida I was about 7 years old. We started searching for a gymnastics gym, but at that point I had decided that I only liked to tumble so my mom found a cheerleading gym where I started in a tumbling class. I was talked into trying out for the competitive cheerleading squad by a friend and tried out with the ugliest cartwheel probably ever seen in cheerleading (but hey, it was a start!)
At first I was nervous to start such an intense sport, but my mom said since I tried out and made the team, that I needed to be a team player and stick it out for the year. That's where my passion for cheerleading really began. I love it, and 12 years later I am still hooked. I went from doing the ugliest cartwheels to a throwing a full, which is one of the highest skills in cheerleading. I also was able to compete at Worlds, the most prestigious competition in the cheerleading world with my team, Senior Black at Infinity Allstars, in 2013 and 2014. Cheerleading gave me some amazing coaches and mentors who I still keep in touch with today. This sport will always have a special place in my heart. It taught me how to be a strong and supportive individual in a team sport. I learned how to help others which then bettered myself.
In between all the cheer practices and competitions my dad decided to coach a flag football team with my brother as a player. I decided after attending all the games every Saturday that I might as well play. The next season I was in and going. Of course as a cheerleader every game I had the same ribbon tied in a bow to compliment my ponytail. Through this process I found out I was pretty fast and I was encouraged to try out for track. I played running back and rusher. I loved it so much and the bonding time it gave my with my brother and dad that I kept at it for 5 more seasons. Flag football taught me how to deal with adversity well as it was mostly a boys sport but to be comfortable with who you are and how to bust your way into non stereotypical roles. At the beginning of the game the boys would write me off but by the end of the game all you could hear was the coach yelling “watch that girl" or saying it was unfair how fast I was rushing their quarterback. “Let the talent/skill speak for itself" was always the motto.
In middle school my 8th grade year, I decided it was a year to try new things. I started by trying out and making the volleyball team and that went so well that it encouraged me to continue to try other new sports. Then track season came around. Everyone always said I was fast so I figured I would give it a try. It was the social and cool thing to do in middle school. I tried out for the team with the 60 other girls and boys and was a bit nervous. One day at tryouts, we did sprints and I decided it was now or never to test out my speed. Coach Harris, the track coach, went crazy because I tied some of the boys and was on the heels of the fastest girl in our school. He had no idea who this little white girl was so he called out “Hey, purple shorts, come over here". I was so confused but everyone was looking at me and then it all clicked as I was in purple shorts. From then on it stuck and that was my nickname throughout my first season in track.
Coach Harris asked us all to try a field event so I decided to try long jump for some reason I was drawn to it and it seemed just my cup of tea. Run fast and jump. It kind of sounded like tumbling just without all the flips I did in cheer. From then on I decided that was my event and was told to learn some jumping skills from YouTube, which I guess worked in some ways as I went on to win districts that year with a 15'1 jump. Coach Harris, thanks for starting me off right!
Once Coach Harris found out I was headed to Atlantic Coast, he got in touch with the track coach at ACHS, Coach Holmes, to make sure he knew who I was as he hoped I would continue on in the sport. My freshman year of high school I did school cheer and thought about either doing flag football or track in high school. I really was not sure about track but throughout the cheerleading season Coach Holmes was determined to get me out. He would find me at the football games that I cheered at so he could pull my mom and me aside to make sure I was coming out for the team. The week before track tryouts he pulled me out of class multiple times to remind me and assure I would be there. Even through I would smile tentatively and nod I wasn't totally convinced as most of my friends were doing flag football instead. I finally went out to a practice and found out I was the only little white girl with all the sprinters. I knew it was going to be a challenge but I was there so I was going to give it my all. We did a speed drill during that first practice and Coach Holmes told me to run my heart out and
I 
would fit in just fine. I just had to show I belonged there with the sprinters.
Freshman year track season held a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time jumping at a semi-elite level and doing triple jump (which is an animal all in itself), which I learned conveniently right before a big meet from both YouTube once again and Coach Holmes. By the end of my freshman year, the track team and jumping ended up captivating my heart pushing me all the way to the state meet in the triple jump!
My sophomore year was a bumpy year as I did not have a jumping coach nor could my parents and I find one so I was really just jumping on my own and trying to figure out what worked and what didn't. Although my parents tried to help me out, they knew as little as I did. I was able to work with a Jacksonville University graduate for the summer, Natasha who was a long jumper, it was not easy to get out to her and once school started, I was alone again. I was back to trial and error and I was not getting better but worse. I was more than frustrated and at the point of just walking away from the sport all together. I figured that I gave it a good try, but was way too frustrated not getting better. I competed in the Bolles Bulldog Classic that year, sick as a dog and being coached by myparents and anyone who was watching could see the struggle of lack on knowledge on everyone's part.
At the very next meet Eli Sunquist came up to my mom as she was coaching me again and gave her his card for a club called JAC (Jacksonville Athletic Club) and asked if I would be interesting in joining his track club or just in working with him on my jumping. I had never had any interest in doing track out of season and my mom basically said no thanks she is focused on cheer but took the card. It was right before districts and my parents convinced me to try one practice with Eli and see how it went. I am so NOT a creature of change and balked at the idea but I tried one session. It was at that point where Coach Sunquist, in just one practice, helped me feel my love for jumping again. He wasn't trying to extremely change my jumping or my run he was working with my strengths and helping me be the best me I could be. It was that year I found the much needed coach that every athlete needs at some point in their lives. If meeting Coach Eli wasn't fate, a blessing I almost passed up, and a sign to stick it out, I don't what is. That year I went on to the state meet in both my jumping, setting personal bests in both events, and winning 5th in long jump and 3rd in triple jump at States. I figured out I had more to give and was ready to push myself even further, and see where I could go!
That summer I decided it was the make or break year to see if track was what I wanted to do and if I wanted or even could go to college for this jumping thing. In one of the hardest decisions to date, but I decided to take a break from competitive cheer and focus on track and jumping. It was the first year I did track year round. It was more than exciting for me to see what came of working with the JAC track club, having an inspiring and motivating coach, teammates with like-minded focus and attitudes, and pushing myself to work harder. Don't get me wrong my junior year still had its ups and downs but I went on to the state meet in both events winning 3rd in long and 1st in triple jump as well as placing 3rd as the third leg in the 4X1, on one of the most rainy, lightening delayed, and crazy days of May. The two weeks before the state meet, Coach Eli had been checking the weather. When he saw that it was going to rain at the state meet, he had me do some of my jump sessions in the rain. He told me that if I was confident in the rain, and was mentally tougher than the other jumpers, that I would have a huge advantage. By the day of the state meet he had me believing that I loved the rain! That's so like Coach Eli to have me ready for anything. I guess it paid off (I pr'ed in both events at the state meet in the pouring rain) and winning State as a Junior was quite an honor!
It was amazing to have interest from a lot of colleges and get a chance to continue my athletic career in track during college. Academics and athletics are the two most important things in a school for me and I am fortunate enough to call myself a Dolphin next year as I signed a scholarship with Jacksonville University in November. I looked at some SEC and ACC schools, but felt most comfortable at Jacksonville University, and can't wait to be coached by such an accomplished coach as Coach Ron Grigg.
Senior year track season is starting up. The bar has already been set high and I am going to push myself to reach my goals including winning State a second time. All my experience in athletics and all the various team sports helped me to prepare for track. We are a team of individuals in track and even though we may not all be doing the same thing we are there to encourage and support each other. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for my support system and incredible coaches. It was quite a process getting me into the sport of track and field and keeping me in the sport, but life is a journey and I'm very happy this is mine! Here's to many great things!
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