Jayla Smith, a senior at Warren Central, has strived and put in countless hours over the last three years to be the best girls golfer at Warren Central. Smith is not just a good golfer, but she is also an amazing teammate. Smith has the ability to boost the team's morale, and boost the overall play by showing up and setting a good role model for other teammates to see.
“Jayla keeps the mood up by making us laugh, and she knows how to keep us all on task,” senior Ashley Wallace said.
Smith balances school, golf and she works part time as a caddy at Hillcrest golf course and country club, where she carries clubs for members, and is support for the player. At school Smith is enrolled in the CNA program. Smith hopes to get credit from this course toward college as she wants to major in nursing. Smith is a very caring individual and is known to be a calm and collected individual, this allows her coaches to coach Smith up, as she does not resist learning new methods. Smith also puts in 110% at practice. Smith has learned new ways to improve her swing, and it is starting to show as she has won two medals so far this year.
“What impresses me the most [about Jayla] is that she is so competitive, wants to win every time. Jayla had one year of playing before I arrived. Her swing was not fundamentally good. I changed a few things, but they didn’t work. If you don’t put in the practice time to get it. Jayla did [put in the practice] and now is starting to show,” Golf coach Stephen Crumlin said. Smith has been improving her skill by going to practice and reaching out to coaches when certain clubs aren’t working. Smith is really good at taking advice from coaches, she listens and practices what her coaches tell her. Smith has already shown in her first two matches that she has played as she has had the best score out of all teams playing. “Jayla has been medalist (best score from both teams) in both our matches this year. Jayla listens and accepts coaching very well and I think with the right situation she could play in college,” Warren golf coach Stephen Crumlin said.
Smith immediately acknowledged when her coaches changed that it was time to step up and become not only a great player but a good teammate on and off the course. This was seen not only by teammates but also coaches, and she was praised by coaches and teammates. Smith was still rapidly growing during this coaching change, Smith however felt comforting knowing she can advance her game by listening to her coach.
“Since we have a coach with more experience than we had before, we have to function with different aspects. We learned to advance our game by listening to our coach,” Jayla Smith said.
Smith is without a doubt, all in to play her hardest and pick up inspiration as she goes. Smith gains inspiration knowing that she plays a game that is 90% white. Smith is inspired smith to play harder and show off her skill. Smith has a lot of potential not just for this season but also in the future as she looks to play golf in college. Smith is looking at a couple college offers right now.
“Jayla listens and accepts coaching very well and I think with the right situation she could play in college. Our players start out behind good teams in that they’ve been playing for almost ten years longer than our golfers. Jayla has to make up that time and do it quickly. She has done just that. I hope a college coach takes a chance and brings her on the team. They will be surprised how quickly she adapts,” Warren golf coach Stephen Crumlin said.