Marvis Jackson better known by her athletes as Coach Mjay has been coaching for seven years, three of them at Hazelwood West for the Women’s Basketball team. Mjay has been playing basketball since she was 5-years-old but started to truly grow in her personal connection around the age of eight.
As athletes graduate high school and begin to move on from the sports in their childhoods, the connection they form with that part of their life can last forever. “It was my outlet up until I couldn’t play anymore”, Mjay said. Still having a drive for the love of the game Mjay now puts that same drive into coaching.
Early March the Women’s Lacrosse team got the devastating news that they would no longer have their primary coach Desmond Simms.
Never hearing of lacrosse, Mjay was tempted but took the opportunity and soon fell in love with the intensity of it all. Being exposed to what it took to play such a thrilling sport and learning the rules and the game itself reeled Mjay in after watching the team play afterschool.
Though feeling as if they’d lost an an important piece of the team it wasn’t all bad. There was only one person that would be fitting for such coaching position.
When Mjay and Simms met each other they slowly clicked sharing some of the same witty personality and humor. They began to share a sibling dynamic soon enough. Having shared the same interest simms presented MJ with the opportunity to coach alongside him during the lacrosse season.
Having found a love in such sport, some who shared the same passion were met along the way, one being Desmond Simms. Simms was a coach at Hazelwood West HighSchool for two sports, Lacrosse and Basketball as well as a math teacher.
“Being hit with that news threw me off, I was losing hope” Tracy Theuri, 12 said. Players losing their coach is never a good feeling. Especially in an overlooked country club sport like lacrosse at Hazelwood West High School. These athletes felt as though they’d not only lost a coach that day but the voice of their team.
Losing Simms was already a devastating blow but having someone familiar step in was a beacon of hope and faith in the season for the girls. “Theres no way I would’ve just left you all hanging” Mjay said. Facing lots of hardships throughout out the season Mjay stayed dedicated even when times took a toll on her without having her sidekick Simms.
“She knew what we were capable of even when we didn’t” Mary Kenguri, 12 said.
