Jennifer Powell’s love of sports has grown into her intended career: the 20-year-old athlete, in her junior year at the University of Miami, has set her sights on a degree in sports management.
Long before Powell began thinking about career goals she was an athlete. In fact, by her own admission her interest in sports was born about the same time that she took her first steps. She undertook T-ball, swimming, ballet and tennis at the youngest acceptable age.
The sporting public may remember Powell’s prowess in the swim programme – her national records in the long and short course in the 100 metres and 50m freestyle races still stand. Of course Jennifer and her sister, Shauna, were part of the CARIFTA swim teams that established Cayman as a regional swimming powerhouse.
From athlete to sports manager – perhaps this is the reason that Merta Day, Cayman Islands Sports Department Women’s Coordinator, selected Powell as a woman to highlight for Honouring Women Month.
‘Jennifer’s growth in the sport community is one of the reasons I selected her. She is a role model for those who know her. During the summer months Jennifer helps us out in the Sports Department, and we have high hopes for her,’ Day said.
So what led Jennifer to pick a career in sports? ‘I like the business side of things,’ she said. ‘But most of all I like the lessons that sports teaches young people, such as responsibility and discipline.
‘Sports also helped me with time management, which makes it easier to have a schedule and stick to it later on in life. When you are an athlete you have to be dedicated to the point where others are affected by your actions and outcomes.’
She said that sports have also provided her with unique opportunities that she would not have gotten otherwise. ‘Travelling everywhere, from El Salvador to Australia, was a great experience. It was a great way to get around the world and see places I probably would never have had a chance to see.’
What does think the future will hold for her professionally? ‘In a couple of years I should be wrapping up my master’s, depending on where I decide to study. In five years I should be working back in Cayman wherever they need me within the Sports Department.
‘My goal is to get our young people more involved in sports, and I want to help with the new projects that are coming up.
‘I also want sports to become a big part of Caymanians’ lives. Right now we have a different mentality toward sports than most countries with regard to pride when we’re competing. I’d like to see that change. Furthermore, most people are unaware of the benefits of sport and exercise, and I hope they become more open to that in the future,’ she added.
Powell likes the idea of Honouring Women Month because ‘a lot of women don’t get the recognition they deserve for the work they put in. This month we really get an overview of everyone that makes a difference in our community’.
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