Jennifer was born on September 4, 1974 In St. Petersburg, Florida, and soon after was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. This condition has left her without the use of her legs, limited use of her arms, and difficultly speaking.

However, she has never let her disability get in her way of whatever she wanted to do. She graduated from Pinellas Park High School in 1995. She then continued her education and graduated from St. Petersburg College with an Associates degree in 1999. Ultimately she hopes to get a degree in Sports Psychology or Therapeutic Recreation to develop a year round sports program for the physically disabled.

She first became interested in wheelchair sports through the Bay Area Youth Wheelchair Athletic Association (BAYWAA) where she participated in their monthly Super Sports Saturday. She enjoyed the feel of competitive sports and attending local and state competition. She first focused on track and field events including wheelchair races, slalom, high toss, and soft discus. She also was a member of the St. Pete Chargers Power Soccer Team. She competed regularly against a team in Tampa. During this time, she learned to love the feeling of competition of excitement before and during a competition, as well as the sense of accomplishment as her medals and trophies increased.

In 1994, Jennifer decided to focus her attention and capabilities on a sport requiring a great deal of physical as well as mental skill called Boccia. Boccia is an Italian ball game similar to lawn bowling, which involves trying to throw your ball closer to the target ball than your opponent.

In June, 1997, Jennifer won her first national title at the National Sports Festival for the Disabled. Jennifer placed first in individual competition as well as team competition. In 1998, Jennifer was chosen to represent the United States at the World Boccia Championships in Rhode Island, New York.

Over the years Jennifer has represented the United States Boccia Team in several international competitions including the 2000 Paralympics Games in Sydney, Australia, Portugal and New Zealand. The USA Boccia Team did not qualify to go to the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. Only the top 12 teams in the world to qualify to go to Paralympic Games. During this time, Jennifer took a year of from competing, so she would not get burned out.

In January of 2005, Jennifer received a call from a friend saying that Power Soccer had made a huge come back. She was asked to go checkout a team named “Tampa Thunder.” Within weeks, Jennifer became a member of the “Tampa Thunder Power Soccer Team.” While playing for the team, Jennifer found out that Power Soccer had not only become a huge sport across the USA but it was also a huge hit around the world as well. Jennifer also continued to play Boccia. She competed at the National Championships in Michigan. Jennifer also represented the USA in the America’s Boccia Cup held in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. The team came in 4th place at this competition.


When Jennifer was still in Argentina, She and other teammates started talking about getting together more often to practice and compete together as a team in the USA. In February 2006, Jennifer was selected to represent the USA at the 2006 world Boccia Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The second Step, for the USA Boccia Team to Qualify for the 2008 Paralympics held in Beijing, China. Jennifer will also be attending the National Boccia Competition in Chicago, Illinois in August. If Jennifer does well at Nationals, She has a good chance of being selected to represent the USA at the 2007 Boccia World Cup in Canada.

As Jennifer says, she wants to serve as a role model so other disabled people can take three things away from meeting her. “1. No matter if you win or loose, if you try your best, you will always be a winner; 2, If you follow my lead, you will walk (or ride) away with the skills you need to succeed in life: 3, If you believe in yourself, you can do anything you want in life as long as you put your mind and heart into it.”

"When the financial realities are faced by Jennifer for training and travel along with limited budget of the program where she trains and the hard work of volunteer coaches. International competitions become an expensive endeavor. The team is not able to get together that often. This money will provide training camps for the team as well as cost of travel, meals caretakers, and equipment needed for the competitions.

Yes!

I would be honored to support the efforts of athletes like Jennifer Jay!

I would like to make the following donation:

____ $5.00

____ $10.00

____ $25.00

____ $50.00

____ $1000.00

____ _______ Other


The National Disability Sports Alliance is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and holds a 501 c 3 non-profit status. Jennifer would appreciate contributions to the NDSA on her behalf. After receiving funds the NDSA will send a letter of acknowledgment of the gift to the contributor with a receipt for tax purposes. All checks should be written out to the NDSA with a note or memo designating the amount of on the behalf of Jennifer and Team Boccia. The contributions should be sent to:


NDSA
25 W. Independence Way
Kingston, RI 02881
(401) 874-7465

Thank you!