Washington, D.C. -- Jen Grubb almost decided
against playing in the WUSA. Fortunately for the Freedom,
at the last minute she changed her mind. <br>Grubb
entered the supplemental draft, which was the second
draft for players out of college or those who were
unable to be a part of the initial draft a few months
earlier. Freedom coach Jim Gabarra heads the list of those
who's glad she did. <br><br>"When I found out she had
entered the draft, I was thrilled to have a shot at
getting her," he said. "She easily would have gone in the
first few rounds of the first draft, and I'm not sure
our chances of getting her were good. Obviously, I'm
glad she made the decision she did." <br><br>"It was a
personal decision," Grubb says without elaborating. "I
just wasn't sure if I would play in the league. I
literally made up my mind just days before the draft."
<br><br>Grubb, one of the top players ever to come out of the
University of Notre Dame, also has 12 caps for the U.S.
national team, and has scored two goals for her country.
As a defensive midfielder in Gabarra's system -
where she usually pairs with Amanda Cromwell -- she has
already become one of the team's key components, winning
balls in the air, breaking up attacks, and also acting
as the link which transitions the team from defense
to offense. <br><br>She's also a lethal option on
free kicks, where she has the ability to curl the ball
up and over the wall and into the side panel. She
demonstrated this at a recent practice, where she and teammate
Mia Hamm took turns displaying their accuracy by
shooting over and around two-, three- and four-person
walls. <br><br>In addition to being a part of the first
season of the WUSA, Grubb is no stranger to
participating in significant events in women's athletics. She
was also the kicker for her high school football team
outside of Chicago. Ever shy, however, she likes to
downplay the whole thing. <br><br>"Actually, they came to
me," she says. "I initially told them 'No way!' It was
only after the captain of the team asked me to play
did I agree. It was never an issue of gender. Nobody
ever put any pressure on me, and the other teams were
great, too. I never felt any hostility from any of
them." <br><br>She also didn't had any trouble adjusting
to life in the Washington DC area. <br><br>"I'm from
Chicago," she says. "It's not too different. It's just a
matter of figuring out the traffic patterns. Plus, a lot
of the team lives together in groups of three or
four in apartments pretty close to each other. It's
definitely gotten us closer as a group." <br><br>As Grubb
gets used to her new teammates and new city, she can
look back fondly on the day she decided to enter the
draft. <br><br>"Absolutely not!" she says. "This whole
thing has worked out even better than I could have
hoped for!" <br><br>© womenssoccer.com 2001