In PacificTown-Army’s last elimination round game, a roaring voice echoed throughout the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The man behind the resounding “Go Army” cheers was none other than Jenelle Jordan’s father, Darin Jordan.
“They’re very supportive of me,” the Lady Troopers admitted as her dad and brother, Jonah Jordan, showed their support for her. “It’s not more of a shock to me that they are here.
“I know they are coming when I told them that I was playing here in the Philippines. It makes me happy.”
Save for a huge ring and a burly build, one would not think of Darin as a former National Football League pro who had won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994.
After all, he came to the game as a father who wholeheartedly cheers on for his daughter from the sidelines.
“I’ve been on the sidelines for about twenty years now. Since she’s about eight years of age, I’ve been behind her and yelling,” the former American football linebacker recalled. “It’s what I do: I motivate her and try to make her stay focus on what she needs to get done for the team as well, right?
“Not just for her, but the team as well.”
All the motivation that Darin provided – not just for Jenelle, but also to her team – bore fruit, as PacificTown-Army breezed past the BanKo Perlas Spikers. Moreover, the Lady Troopers secured the third semifinals seat.
And after Jenelle tallied 11 points built on seven attacks, three blocks and an ace in a winning cause, her dad couldn’t help but marvel at his daughter’s performance.
“I haven’t seen her play this well for a long time, she’s playing really well, she’s playing inspired volleyball,” the 54-year-old said of Jenelle, also a first-timer in the country. “She looks good, she’s healthy, the team’s healthy and they are all playing together, right?
“So, it’s great to see her play and I haven’t seen her play in a while.”
The NFL champion arrived in the country on Thursday, bringing Jenelle’s brother with him. He also disclosed that his wife and the Chief Surgeon in North Carolina Children’s Hospital, Andrea Hayes-Jordan, will also fly in to support their daughter within a week.
“Yeah, you know, we came for the playoffs. At the end of a season, it’s all about the playoffs. We want to make sure that when she wins a championship, that we are here for that,” Darin shared. “Well, hopefully, we’re going to do our best to cheer on and her team on to go as far as they can.”
Asked about what certain trait that he wants his daughter to inherit, the former football athlete smilingly responded: “Tenacity. The ability to overcome and the ability to make the people around you better.”
He continued, “I don’t play the game just to play the game, I play the game to dominate the game. I play the game to win the game. So, I expect the same thing from her, if she’s going to play the game, don’t play just to play, play to win and play to dominate.”
Having a parent as successful as Darin in the sidelines cheering can bring a lot of pressure for any athlete, but PacificTown’s middle blocker admitted that hearing his dad scream his heart out in support gives him plenty of motivation.
“He’s been here since I was fifteen, since I started playing volleyball, and yelling the same exact things on the court. The yelling does not faze me at all,” Jenelle confessed.
“It’s really nice to hear his voice again in the audience and just have that feeling that he’s there, still supporting, always encouraging all the players, not just me. So it was really nice to have him there,” she added.
“I think it will be a big benefit in the semifinals and the Finals.”
