By Alissa Zucker
Contributing Writer
Mira Costa senior Gavin Jernigan tackles the task of balancing two varsity sports, football and soccer, and for his efforts has landed athletic scholarships to both the U.S. Naval Academy and San Jose State for football.
Jernigan invests an extensive amount of time into his sports; most of his free time is spent on the field practicing. Jernigan has been playing soccer since he was five years old, and football has been a part of his life since his freshman year at Costa.
“Including lifting weights, I spend around 15 hours on football a week,” Jernigan said. “Adding to that 15 hours, I put in about 10 to 12 hours of soccer each week.”
Jernigan played club soccer from age seven to 16. He stopped playing club soccer to focus on football, but he still participates in Costa soccer.
“I will be pursuing football in college so I would consider myself primarily focused on football in my future,” Jernigan said.
Previous Costa football kickers Brendan Sofen and Joe Houston have been Jernigan’s inspirations as a kicker. Sofen is in his first year kicking for Princeton, and Houston graduated from USC last year.
“Sofen and Houston consistently helped me with my punting and kicking,” Jernigan said. “They set a tough path for me to follow but also encouraged me to do my best and showed me what it took to be great.”
Jernigan spends time helping the younger students play to their full potential. The lower-classmen have great respect for Jernigan as a player and a person. Jernigan acts as a mentor to sophomore kicker Casey Sublette.
“Having Jernigan as my mentor is interesting,” Sublette said. “He is very knowledgeable about kicking and he pushes me to be my best everyday. With his guidance and teaching, I know that I will become a much better player. It is all very helpful for my development.”
He has not committed to any school yet, but when he makes a decision, he plans to major in psychology, history or criminology at the college level.
“In the future I would like to graduate college, have the opportunity to get a professional tryout and if that doesn’t work out, I want a job I love,” Jernigan said.
One of Jernigan’s favorite things about playing football is the experience of being out on the field on Friday night with everyone watching. No other sport has as large a fan base as does football.
“Playing under the lights is amazing; its such a natural high,” Jernigan said. “I feel like the impossible is possible when I’m on the field. I feel like on any one play you can change the whole game, and it feels really good to know that.”
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