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Baby daughter changes basketball players life j
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
Jill Fosdick has changed.
She used to go out with her friends
whene\ er she wanted to. She had two wor
ries. basketball and school.
All that changed when hei daughter,
Jaylin, was born 14 months ago.
Parties are now out of the question. So is
going to the bars with other 21-year-old
friends. Even going to a movie is unlikely.
“1 feel like P c gone from a kid to an
adult in the matter of nine months,” said
Fosdick, who moved back into her parents'
home in Lincoln after one year in the resi
dence halls. “(Jaylin) takes up all my time. I
rarely have free time. That's the only draw
back, but she's definitely worth it.”
Initially, Fosdick wasn’t so sure a child
was worth it.
She said she was scared when she found
out she was pregnant.
“I was wondering what people would
think, what my parents would think.”
She knew marriage with Jaylin’s father
wasn’t an option. She knew she was going
to be raising her child by herself.
Fosdick's parents, Mike and Jane, took
the news at first almost as if it were a death.
"(Being a single mom) isn't the way we
wanted it for any of our children," Jane
Fosdick said. “You grieve first. Then you
deal with what you have to deal with. Our
main concern was the baby.”
As upset as Fosdick's parents initially
were, they knew a support staff would be
necessary for her. Jane, who has six chil
dren of her own, knew her daughter would
need help being a single mom. So the rest of
Fosdick's family - four sisters, a brother and
her parents - decided to help raise Jaylin.
Telling her family was just the first of
many obstacles Fosdick had to overcome
during her pregnancy.
The next was a health complication.
Fosdick had a problem with her cervix, and
doctors told her if she walked for prolonged
distances she would risk delivering the baby
prematurely.
So Fosdick took the 1997-98 fall semes
ter off and stayed at home.
Once Fosdick overcame her health
problems, she faced the reality that her bas
ketball career might be over. She missed the
entire 1997-98 season.
Fosdick went to all the home games
after Jaylin was born, but not being in a uni
form was difficult for her.
“Watching encouraged me. but it was
hard to stay away from something I lov ed to
do," she said.
Having Fosdick away from the sport she
loved was hard on her mother, too.
"This was the second part of the griev
ing process.” Jane Fosdick said. “We
thought we were going to have to say good
bye to all her dreams of playing basketball."
Then, a door opened as NU Coach Paul
Sanderford told Fosdick she didn't have to
give up basketball. Sanderford told her he
had coached other women with new chil
dren and gave her the option to return to the
team.
“Getting pregnant is something that
happens,” Sanderford said. "If you're devot
ed to the sport and can raise a child and go
to school, more power to you. Jill has
invested a lot of time and effort into the pro
gram.”
Knowing she could return to basketball
helped Fosdick stay positive throughout the
1998 fall semester.
“1 received great support from the
coaches,’’ Fosdick said. "1 couldn't have
made it through without them."
Fosdick returned to school January
1998 and to the NU basketball team last
fall.
Sanderford said the year and a half away
from basketball hurt Fosdick’s development
as a player.
"Her skills have to catch up to the other
players." Sanderford said. “She's always
enthusiastic.”
Fosdick has played sparingly this sea
son, but just the fact she's out there in a uni
form makes her mother proud. After red
shirting last year, Fosdick has two years of
eligibility remaining.
When Fosdick is at class, practice or
away for games, her mother takes care of
Jaylin. On March 5-7, the Fosdicks took
Jaylin to watch her mother at the Big 12
Tournament.
But it was Fosdick who did more of the
watching.
“She kind of gets me in trouble because
I can’t stop looking up at her,” Fosdick said.
“She’s very, very special.”
4 4 |
1 feel like I’ve gone
from a kid to an
adult in the matter , „
- Jill Fosdick
of nine months.” nu basketball
player