it is to watch it all end, I still
can’t believe it happened at
all. I’m so grateful for the op-
portunities tennis has given
me,” stated Robins. “I feel so
many emotions: proud, hap-
py, sad, grateful, but more
than anything I feel blessed.
These past four years I was
able to do so much: travel to
so many new places and do
so many incredible things.
But best of all I had incred-
ible people to experience it
all with. There’s a quote from
Winnie the Pooh that sums
up exactly how I feel as I pre-
pare to leave my career at
Daemen. It says, “How lucky
I am to have something that
makes saying goodbye so
hard”.
Saying goodbye is never an
easy thing. Robins will leave
the program in better shape
than when she stepped on
campus four years ago. She
has eclipsed so many records
while at Daemen College,
and her leadership is second
to none.
All those days and nights
of extra practice have paid
off.
“That
accomplishment
meant a lot to me. I knew I
could reach it and it took a
long time to get there, but
I’m very happy and proud I
made it. My biggest reflec-
tion after was realizing how
quickly all those matches
and seasons had gone by,”
stated Robins. “They go by
in an instant. Our second
most all time wins just hap-
pens to be the girl I played
with throughout my entire
middle school, high school
and college career- Gretchen
Ringler. We accomplished a
few great things together in
high school, so being able to
share another accomplish-
ment with her at Daemen
makes it even more special
to me.”
You can see the type of
leader Robins is. The team
has gone through its strug-
gles this season - having not
won many games. Not win-
ning is not easy for any ath-
letes. It can easily weight on
the minds of any athlete.
Self-doubt starts to set in
and the losses mount up.
While the wins on the score
the sheet haven’t been seen
by the players and staff,
that doesn’t mean the team
hasn’t won. Small victories
for a young team are just as
important as any team victo-
ry can gain, and Robins has
seen her fare share of team
victories.
“This season, the best way I
could give support and lead-
ership was just to always be
court-side, rallying for our
girls. More importantly, to
always celebrate our indi-
vidual
accomplishments,
no matter how big or little
they may be,” stated Robins.
“On paper it says we haven’t
achieved any team victories
yet, however, there have been
several victories for each of
us. Whether it’s something
as simple as learning a new
shot, or as big as winning
your first ever college match,
these are things to be proud
of and excited about. My
goal this season was to al-
APRIL 2019 | SportsUnion
ways celebrate these “little
victories” as I’ve mentioned
many times now.”
Her goal this season was
to duplicate what she did
last year. Robins had a tre-
mendous junior year and the
pressure to outperform what
she did last year could have
been intense.
Robins didn’t see it that
way, however. Instead she
just wanted to go out and
play her game to the best
of her ability. She knew all
eyes would be on her as the
season started. But, she also
knew if she let the pressure
get to her that her game
wouldn’t be the same.
“This year, I really haven’t
felt the pressure to duplicate
my results from last year.
Of course, I want to, and of
25
course I will do everything
I possibly can for my team,
but we’re all in a bit of a dif-
ferent position this year,”
stated Robins. “We have all
worked extremely hard this
season, so no matter the re-
sults, I won’t let myself be
disappointed. I’ll leave this
season knowing I did every-
thing I could. That’s all you
can really do.”
Daemen College has been
lucky to have a young lady
like Jessica Robins grace
its halls and courts for four
years. She has shown that
she is the type of person that
the college can attract.
Like Winnie the Pooh said
“How lucky I am to have
something that makes say-
ing goodbye so hard.”