[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12688]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH JACKSON, MORGAN BOAEN AND THEIR PARENTS

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneouse 
material.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit for the Record a 
great article on Elizabeth Jackson, who is a high school junior in 
Savannah, Georgia, going to St. Vincent's Academy. The article also 
talks about another young lady that I have had the privilege of knowing 
most of her life, Morgan Boaen.
  Elizabeth is the daughter of Libby and Kevin Jackson, and Morgan is 
the daughter of Danny and Robin Boaen, all of Savannah. These two young 
women are very aggressive, very hard-working, very strong up-and-coming 
athletes. The article talks about how they play aggressively, how they 
play on the team, how they give it their best effort, and how they play 
to win.
  It is interesting, having known these young women all their lives, to 
know what great competitors they are. And although all parents are 
very, very strong supporters of their children, Robin Boaen is 
certainly a great enthusiastic parent from the stands, and Kevin 
Jackson, who is Elizabeth's father, is also very, very vocal and loud 
as a parent. And I always say if you are going to go to one of these 
games, you do not want to be sitting in between Kevin Jackson and Robin 
Boaen because they will be calling every shot from the stands.
  But it takes great parents to have great athletes, and both these 
young ladies are blessed to have parents who are supportive, and 
getting them there through those tough moments and the long practices 
and the long drives across the State of Georgia to go to some of those 
games. So I applaud the efforts of the families and Elizabeth and 
Morgan.
  And I want to say that I am sure in the next few years they will be 
playing college-level soccer, and we will be hearing about them 
regionally and nationally in the years to come.

                Jackson Set Up SVA for Successful Season

       When Elizabeth Jackson takes the center of the soccer 
     field, she expects to be heckled.
       The 5-foot-1 midfielder knows sooner or later she'll win a 
     50/50 ball against a smaller girl.
       That player will end up on the ground looking to officials 
     for relief.
       Parents follow by blaming Jackson for the next series of 
     grass stains.
       Fair play or not, she is the one viewed as dirty.
       ``I'm a very aggressive player,'' Jackson said. ``When I 
     step on the field it's game time. I don't play around. I go 
     for the ball. I don't care who the player is.''
       Conversely, coaches and opponents immediately recognize the 
     girl nicknamed ``E.J.'' by her St. Vincent's teammates.
       Not just because of how Jackson goes after the soccer balls 
     but what she does with them at her feet.
       At St. Vincent's this season, the junior emerged as the 
     communicator, the workhorse, the power and the playmaker for 
     the Saints (15-1-2).
       She merged the talents of a speedy defense behind her and a 
     precise offense in front.
       Her efforts helped the Saints move forward to the Class AAA 
     semifinals and earned Jackson 2005 All-Greater Savannah Area 
     Girls' Soccer Player of the Year honors.
       ``She didn't go out and plow through everybody,'' said 
     Sister Pat Coward, who coached St. Vincent's with Andy 
     Kaplan. ``She listened, analyzed her opponents and figured 
     out what she had to do (to make the play).''
       Her teammates responded.
       Midfielder Morgan Boaen, for instance, signaled Jackson 
     again and again this season with a click of her right hand. 
     Her index finger pointed straight to goal.
       ``She would put her hand up and that was my key,'' Jackson 
     said. ``I'd put it right where she wanted it.''
       With just one or two touches, Jackson could move the ball 
     from her skilled fullbacks to the midfield.
       Her teammates would bounce passes back and forth as though 
     parts of a pinball machine.
       If Jackson wasn't delivering the breakthrough chip or 
     through ball, she directed the players who did.
       The Saints facilitated goals and wins off the well-scripted 
     plays.
       Boaen ended the year as the statistical leader of the 
     Saints' offense with 20 assists. Jackson initiated many of 
     those connections.
       ``This is my role on the team,'' she said. ``I don't care 
     if I'm not the finisher.''
       Her chief heckler did mind for a time, though.
       Jackson's father, Kevin, a former University of Georgia 
     football player, used to wonder about his daughter's style.
       No doubt he roared a wish or two from the sidelines that 
     she would ``Shoot!''
       ``All I ever wanted her to do was score,'' Kevin Jackson 
     said. ``I'd say, `You didn't have a good game because you 
     didn't score any goals.' Then you realize there is so much 
     more to it.''
       Many more people likely realized the thrust of Jackson's 
     talent this season.
       She didn't just put down opponents.
       She set up St. Vincent's.
       ``What would we have been like without Elizabeth?'' Coward 
     asked, rhetorically. ``Who would know? Game after game we 
     never took her out. We never tried it.''

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