Finding her niche on the backline

Jenny Bass tried goalie once. It was in grade school and was not a fun experience for her after she allowed four goals in a quarter.
Playing forward didn’t suit her either. It was a personality-thing more than anything else. She preferred staying back, directing the flow of the ball, even stopping it, as long as she wasn’t in goal.
So, she settled into defense.
Bass doesn’t remember how she ended up on the backline during her illustrious soccer career, but she never complained about playing there.
And neither did her Woodbridge High School soccer teammates, especially Bass’ senior year in 1989 when she was the centerpiece for a team that reached the Group AAA state final.
Bass was the quintessential sweeper that season, always in position, steady and in control, as she cleared balls, thwarted mounting attacks and gave her fellow defenders support wherever was needed.
Bass, a four-year member of the Vikings’ varsity and an all-state performer her senior season, established herself as a soccer standout for all those reasons.
Quiet, but confident, Bass was a fixture who found her niche on the backline and became a preeminent performer by leading by example.
“Personality-wise, I’ve never been a big extrovert and I am not saying you have to be to be a great goal scorer, but for me, I was more comfortable in the back, defending,” said Bass, who along with nine other former Woodbridge standouts and coaches will be inducted into the Vikings’ Athletic Hall of Fame tonight during a ceremony at the Old Hickory Golf Course Clubhouse in Woodbridge.
After Woodbridge, Bass took her talents to Duke University, where in 1992 she became the first all-American in the history of the women’s soccer program. That same year, she also helped lead the Blue Devils to their first and only appearance in the NCAA Championship game.
Duke lost to a Mia Hamm-led North Carolina team 9-1, but Bass did score the Blue Devils’ only goal.
It wasn’t the first time Bass faced Hamm. The two squared off in 1989 in the Group AAA state championship game. Hamm and Lake Braddock beat Bass and the Vikings 4-1. The two also trained together with the U.S. National Team.
Although Bass is modest about her soccer accomplishments, she knows she held her own against some of the nation’s finest players. Whenever Hamm or others like Kristine Lilly or Julie Foudy showed up on television representing the United States in the World Cup or the Olympics, Bass’ husband Scott was quick to point out to their two kids that their mom played against and with those players at one time.
“And then they look at me and say, ‘Right, whatever,’ ” Bass said.
After graduating from Duke, Bass stayed in the game for one more season, serving as an assistant women’s coach for Berry College (Ga.) in 1993 and helping the team win the NAIA championship.
But her future was changing quickly. Continuing to play seemed out of the question. Bass was in a lot of pain her senior year at Duke, so much so that she had to wear a back brace for a couple of months.
In addition, Bass had become engaged to her future husband, who was a fellow engineering student at Duke, while also preparing to enter the Navy.
A number of military tours moved the couple around until Scott got out of the Navy and the family eventually settled in Meridian, Idaho, a suburb of Boise.
With her husband trying to start his own business, Bass currently works part-time for a company in Boise. She also keeps her hand in soccer, playing in adult leagues as well as coaching and managing her kids teams.
Coming back to Woodbridge this weekend will be a big thrill for her. She not only gets to visit with her parents, who now live in western Maryland, but also her brother, who lives in Fredericksburg.
Then of course, will come tonight when the lights go down and the tributes begin. As is her custom, Bass will deflect it the best she can, pointing out no doubt about how much of an honor it was to play for a Woodbridge team that was established even before she arrived.
Or she will point to the fact that she had the good fortune to play for Alan Ross, also one of the inductees tonight and the architect of Woodbridge’s dominance of area girls soccer in the 1980s, which included a state title in 1988.
Or she will point to the fact that she had the good fortune to play with talented teammates like Ali Bradley, another inductee tonight who went on to play soccer at West Point.
It was Bradley who called Bass to tell her she had been inducted.
Not recognizing the number the day Bradley called, Bass didn’t answer the phone right then.
But the message was delivered and the 37-year-old Bass is glad to be here in person, almost 20 years removed from when she last left her mark on the area soccer scene.
“It’s pretty cool to be inducted,” Bass said. “It’s awesome.”
David Fawcett is the sports editor of the News & Messenger. Reach him at (703) 878-8052 or at dfawcett@potomacnews.com