By Ryan Makuch
AFC Ann Arbor are delighted to welcome back Jenna Smith to The Mighty Oak for the 2022 USL W League season. Smith played with AFCAA in the inaugural women’s campaign in 2019, and she will join Emily Eitzman and Bella Petrock as fellow members of that side.
Smith returns to AFCAA after having played a vital role in the midfield for The Mighty Oak in her first campaign with the club. Often serving as an attacking midfielder, logging one goal in UWS play and contributing her share of assists to her teammates through the middle, Smith was a regular presence in the starting XI for the club, and she will add some valuable experience to this year’s iteration of the women’s squad.
Aside from her 2019 with AFCAA, Jenna starred at Aquinas College for two seasons in 2018-19, transferring there after spending two years at Schoolcraft. Smith excelled at Aquinas, starting in all 45 games she played, and logging a total of ten goals and 18 assists. Smith says “I really do love assists and setting up teammates with a nice pass,” and that was on full display during her senior campaign as she finished with 11 assists as a senior with three multi-assist games. Expanding on her skillset, Smith would also add, “I think I read the game well so I enjoy keeping possession and controlling the game.”
“My first season with the team in 2019, I felt at home and welcomed by everyone at the club so it was an easy decision to try and play here again,” said Smith, talking about why come back for season number two with AFCAA.
Expanding on the top-class treatment Smith noticed and received by the club, she would say, “Last time playing here, I felt like the club cared so much for each player, so it’s comforting to play in an environment that values everyone.” The off-pitch work has also carried substantial weight for Smith, as well, who said, “I also think over those 3 years the club has embraced its role as being more than just a soccer club and the impact it’s had on the community and the work they’re doing off the field is so important and commendable. It’s exciting to be a part of something that’s more than just soccer.”
Women’s Head Coach Boyzzz Khumalo was delighted to welcome back Smith, and he says he wants to make sure former players know that “the door is always open” for a return. Khumalo notes how she starred at the open tryout earlier this calendar year, and that his knowledge with Smith from the 2019 season made it a no-brainer to bring her back.
Khumalo would say, “She knows what it was like in 2019, and she’s looking forward to proving herself in 2022.”
It has been a time of dramatic changes and differences for Smith, like most of us. Smith graduated from college in May 2020 and, she notes, it was a very blunt end to her collegiate/collegiate soccer career. “Learning how to navigate the world in such a strange time, especially without something so familiar to me like soccer, has been difficult at times,” Smith said, echoing the thoughts of many in these past 2+ years.
But, talking about what excites her of the upcoming challenge, she would say, “I’m definitely a more mature player and it’s been over a year since I have played competitively so it will be interesting to relearn the game and see how the time away from soccer has changed me on and off the field.”
We welcome Jenna Smith back to The Mighty Oak and we look forward to welcoming her back to Ann Arbor alongside the rest of the men’s and women’s squads.
About AFC Ann Arbor
Association Football Club Ann Arbor (AFC Ann Arbor) was founded in 2014 and competes in USL2 (men’s) and USLW (women’s) national amateur leagues. We are a community-based club, focused on equity, justice, and anti-racism. We consider all of our stakeholders, including supporters, players, staff, and ownership to be part of the #AFCAAFamily. Come On You Mighty Oak!