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Utah Tech University Athletics

WSOC21: Jill Bennett

Women's Soccer Corie Sue Holmes

Get to know the Trailblazers: WSOC Jill Bennett

It's not everyday one hears of an artist who is also a competitive athlete but senior defender Jill Bennett of the Dixie State women's soccer team uses both "artist" and "athlete" to describe herself. 

Bennett started playing soccer as most young kids do in the American Youth Soccer Organization at five years old. 

"I always joke that I started playing soccer because that's what you do when you're five years old, get signed up for soccer," Bennett said. "I have a twin sister and we just fell in love with it and we loved competing together. When we were eight we started playing competitively." 

The desire to compete and keep playing pushed Bennett to seek out opportunities to play after high school. Bennett from Salt Lake City, Utah, wanted to stay in-state to play college ball. St. George had the appeal of nice weather and close to home. When Dixie State reached out she jumped at the chance to become a Trailblazer. 

"I'm really happy, I chose to be at Dixie," Bennett said. "I am a fine arts major and they have a really great department for that. I had soccer and the schooling I wanted so it worked out really well for me to come here." 

Bennett hasn't had an easy journey. In her four years, she's had four different head coaches and three different conference changes as well as one major division jump. She's also been in the world of athletics during a worldwide pandemic. 

"I think at the end of the day Dixie is great, obviously I think it speaks a lot to the school that I wanted to stay and play," she added. "You know, with all the changes it's not easy and it's not always fun. The level of play has always been competitive and I'm lucky enough to have been a contributor in my four years here."

Head Coach Molly Rouse came into Dixie State with new eyes and a team she's never seen before. Bennett immediately stood out as a team leader. 

"She is easily one of the most competitive people on our team," Rouse said. "She hates losing and will do anything she possibly can to be the one who wins at the end. She's incredibly thoughtful and offers a different perspective on things. She's somebody who, we as coaches, feel like we can go to and pick her brain about different things that come up within the environment. She's also a really strong internal leader, with the team we ended up doing a leadership committee and the team at the beginning of the fall and Jill was on there pretty much by a landslide." 

Soccer at Dixie State has come with great highs and hard lows. But, Bennett attacked each low and high with the same gusto and competitive edge. 

"Our run in the Division II NCAA tournament was a huge moment for our team and probably one of my favorites," she said. "Our team was playing really well together and even though they were giant games, probably the biggest games, I will ever get to play in my career, it felt like I was just playing soccer. I was enjoying the moment and having fun. I can remember every game. I was legitimately enjoying the sport that I've loved my whole life so even getting the trophy for winning the region and holding that up with my team was a special moment and I was happy to be a contributor.

"On the flip side of that, the biggest challenge has been a new coach every year," she continued. "I don't know what a four year university is supposed to be like. I joke with some of my friends on the team, especially the other seniors, that we always feel like freshmen every year because we have to continually keep proving ourselves. It can take a mental toll on you because you've been here on the team and have to start over with a new coach. The new coach might not like you and you have to work hard  to earn it all over again. You know there's a confidence that comes with knowing that a coach knows you. Having a new coach figure out who is going to be on the field come game time has been a fun challenge to overcome. It has taught me how to lock my mindset in."

According to Rouse, Bennett has handled the changes and the challenges incredibly well. 

"She really understands how much of a struggle this was for the team to change coaches again because she's done it four times and four years is a lot," Rouse said. "She recognized the struggles and she was somebody who I was able to rely on to get insight into the group as to what the areas are that were points of contention and what things were that worked really well in the environment."

Overall the challenges of new coaches has sculpted Bennett into a better soccer player.

"It has been a challenge to continually prove myself but it has made me better overall," she said. "I think it's made me a better all around soccer player. Learning new styles and learning a new coaches and has taught me a lot about the game." 

As Bennett looked into Dixie State, one of the biggest deciding factors was if they had a fine arts degree. On her first visit she didn't even know if there was an art program. When she found a room full of ceramic wheels it solidified her decision to come to Dixie State. Jill Bennett Ceramics

It's unusual to have a competitive athlete also embrace an artistic side. Bennett fell in love with ceramics as a freshman in high school. Her teammates on the soccer team at the time all took ceramics and encouraged her to take the class. 
 
"I owe a lot to my old teammates who persuaded me to take ceramics," she said. "I connect my art and soccer. They are really close knit for me. I just really fell in love with ceramics. That became my passions, ceramics and soccer. I feel really lucky that when I was a freshman in high school, I found this really awesome art form that I connected so strongly too. I declared really early that I wanted to be a Fine Arts major and it ended up that Dixie State has an amazing art program." 

Bennett closely relates her athleticism and her artistic creations. Both endeavors spark from her competitiveness. Ceramics was not something that came easy and her competitive drive pushed her to become better at it. 

"I hated ceramics at first, because it's really hard," Bennett said. "That's also the reason I do ceramics is because it's really hard and there's a large physical element to it. You're really working with your hands and it's an art form that reminds me a lot of sports and soccer specifically because you have to continually work at it to become better at it, so I put a lot of time and effort into it." 

Bennett went on to describe how she developed her skills in ceramics by spending hours practicing. Jill Bennett Ceramics

"It's physically taxing and a mentally challenging art form," she elaborated. "It took me a long time to get good at it and then having my soccer teammates and my sister in high school pushed me to be the best at it. I spent a lot of time being competitive to learn it.  And then through that competitiveness and wanting to be able to make something to prove I was good and not just be covered in clay all the time and have nothing to show for it. I've also had some great professors that have pushed me to be better."

Having an artist on the team was something new for Rouse as well. 

"When I learned Jill was an artist I was perplexed," Rouse said. "I don't know and have not coached many artists who are also athletes. For whatever reason I've not come into contact with that a lot. It was interesting to pick her brain on what about art is interesting, what about that are you passionate about and she is an incredibly creative person, and I mean she finds a lot of beauty and a lot of joy about things that most people would just gloss over."

During the fall semester of 2020, Bennett broke her arm. Not only did that take her out of playing soccer but it took away her ability to do ceramics. 

"I couldn't play soccer and I couldn't do ceramics for three months so now what am I supposed to be doing with my life?" she explained. "I can't do either of the things that make me feel like me. I couldn't do ceramics because it really involves a lot of pressure and weight on your hands and then when my hand started healing I actually was able to do some hand building. I was not on the wheel creating, but I was still making ceramics with slabs. I didn't want to do that because I only like the wheel, but then, because my injury it forced me to try something new."

The pieces she made with her injured hand were her last completed pieces which are currently her favorite pieces she's made. 

"I made these hand built bottles and they have a white glaze, raw clay body and a gold luster," she said. "I made about 12 of them and they mean a lot to me, too, because I had a professor, Glenn Blakley, who recently passed away, helped me with these and he gave me the gold luster to add onto them.  So those are the last finished pieces I have. I had to overcome challenges with my hand and it turned into a creation process I'll never forget." 
Jill Bennett Ceramics

Bennett's future will hopefully continue to involve art and soccer. 

"I would love to go to grad school and get an MFA in ceramics," she said. "If I get my MFA I would love to make it as an artist and sell my work and show. On the counter end of that I think it would be really cool with an MFA to teach and coach at the university or high school level. I hope to be involved with soccer in some form, whether that's coaching or supporting I don't know whatever I can do, but that's my plan is to be a full time artist and teacher and possible coach."

You can catch Bennett in action on the soccer field now as the Trailblazers are playing out the 2020-21 season. You can also see more examples of her work by following her instagram @billceramics. 










































 
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Players Mentioned

Jill Bennett

#21 Jill Bennett

F
5' 8"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Jill Bennett

#21 Jill Bennett

5' 8"
Senior
F