Jaiden Brooner, 21, has played for the Santa Rosa Junior College women’s volleyball team as a Libero for three years. She also is currently in her first beach season with the new women’s beach volleyball team.
Brooner has been playing volleyball for 10 years now and has been coaching a youth team apart from her studies at SRJC.
She is currently working to get an Associate’s Degree in Kinesiology to add to her Associate’s Degree in Natural Science. She plans to transfer to San Francisco State University in the fall to continue her studies.
Volleyball coach Ally Sather coached Brooner on a 16-year-old club team, for two years on the SRJC volleyball team and now in beach volleyball.
“She’s grown immensely as a player,” Sather said. “She’s gotten obviously exponentially better, but she’s also really expanded her volleyball IQ.”
Sather is impressed by Brooner’s work ethic and her ability to manage playing on a team, coaching a youth league, working in the training room and taking the hardest class on campus – Anatomy.
Brooner brings energy to her teams.
“She’s gonna be one of the most vocal players out on the courts, especially with beach this season,” Sather said. “She’s definitely one of the loudest, most boisterous, more communication driven with her partner.”
In an interview with the Oak Leaf, Brooner answered questions about her life and sport.
Q: Why volleyball?
A: “I guess I loved watching volleyball on the screen, and all my siblings did soccer and track, and I guess I wanted to be the odd one to play volleyball. It was more fascinating to have to keep a ball in the air.”
Q: Do you have any role models that have inspired you in your life or career as a player?
A: “One role model who inspired me was the former Libero at the JC before me, Daya. I looked up to her and she inspired me to improve my skills to be just as good as her so I was prepared for my second year at the JC.”
Q: What obstacles have you faced through your athletic career?
A: “One major important one was my physical health. I had a ACL and meniscus tear early in my career, and it wasn’t even because of volleyball. I was playing a different sport, but that happened when I was like 14. The burnout gets to me sometimes, so that’s probably one of the obstacles that I’m facing now.”
Q: What do you think about during games?
A: “What can I do for myself and for my team to earn this win or earn the points that we want to get in this game.”
Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals? After the game?
A: “Before: Watching game film and all that stuff, prepping. After: If it was a bad or good game, I still like to look at film, because then I like to look not just at my highlights of my good plays, but also my bad plays, because I feel like that’s very important for taking the steps of what you need to fix for your skills and also for, the team.”
Q: What has driven you to switch from indoor volleyball to beach volleyball?
A: “I knew a lot of people that did indoor, started doing beach, and they said it was really fun. “
Q: Have you adapted any training from previous coaches?
A: “I would say, like when it comes to diving, because people are saying there’s a specific way you need to dive, but there’s a lot of ways you can dive in several different scenarios. So when learning even to take a risky dive, I could still safely protect myself.”
Q: What does your game look like in the future?
A: “Not only do I want to keep playing volleyball, but I also want to, like, focus on my education, my career path, because volleyball isn’t the only thing in my life. I know I said volleyball is my life, but it’s not the only thing in my life, because I’m trying to become an athletic trainer.”
Q: Any advice for players?
A: “If you are interested in the sport, if you’re a new player, you’re interested. Just get out there. Sometimes things are not going to be given to you.”