Breakers' Jennifer Nobis Marches to the Beat Of a Different Drummer

My Dad uses an expression to describe a person who is a little bit different than the norm.  A person who is slightly out of step with the other soldiers in the parade. He describes that person as "marching to the beat of a different drummer."

I'm going to be honest. I've never met Boston Breakers forward Jennifer Nobis, despite including her as part of the Meet The Breakers series.

But sometimes, you can learn enough about a person in reading their bio to know that they are the type of person you'd like to meet.

After watching Jennifer's YouTube interview below, it is clear that Nobis exudes personality and positive attitude. Towards the end of the piece, she discusses not only the visualization techniques she uses as part of her pre-game ritual and then discusses how she chooses her nail color each game.

The way she speaks, laughs, and explains herself makes it clear that perhaps Nobis "marches to the beat of a different drummer."

Then I ventured to the pages of Nobis' profile on the Breakers' site and it confirmed my thoughts. I read through Nobis' "off the field" portion of her profile and chuckled...no laughed out loud at nearly every answer.

1. If you didn’t play professional soccer, what other profession would you try, and why?  Dentist because I am obsessed with teeth: color, straightening, big teeth.
2. What are the three things you can never be without while traveling?  Underwear, Cell Phone, Toothbrush
3. What’s your perfect day off?
   Shopping in an outlet mall/strip by the beach in my swimsuit and then lounging out all day and playing football or sand soccer with a significant other.
4. What famous person most inspires you and why?
   Kristine Lilly because she is the oldest and fittest on the team and all after having a baby...you’re my hero.
5. If you had a dinner party, who are the four people you would invite (can be living or dead)?
   God, Beyonce, Lil Wayne, Benjamin Franklin
6. If there were one adjective to describe you, what would it be?
   CRAZY!!!
7. What’s on your workout/pre-game iPod playlist?
   The Dream – Rockin That Thing, Out There Grindin, Kelly Clarkson – My Life Would Suck Without You and Prince – Seven.

This is what Dad was referring to when he used the "drummer expression."

On the field, Nobis has been in step with the rest of her teammates, however, and has already netted two goals on the season. Despite playing in only eight of the team's 16 games, she ranks fifth in shots (16) and shots on goal (9).

Nobis was selected with the with the 29th pick by the Breakers in the 2009 WPS Draft, after playing in Sweden's top league (Damallsvenskan) for Umeå Södra FF in 2008. She scored three goals and three assists in 18 matches for USFF.

Jennifer also played for Danmarks IF (Sweden) and Charlton Athletic (England) and spent two seasons with River Cities FC (2006-07), where she was named the 2006 WPSL Player of the Year. She led the (WPSL) in scoring and total points in 2006.

Nobis played her college soccer for the Missouri Tigers, where she set a Mizzou school record with 14 assists as a senior in 2005. Her 0.78 assists per game in 2005 ranks fourth all-time in the Big 12.

For her college career she ranks second all-time in career goals with 32 and third in both points (93) and assists (28).  She was selected to All-Big 12 Second Team as a junior in 2004 and was a Soccer Buzz Third-team All-Central Region.

The highlight of her junior year was a four-game goal streak to open the season from Aug. 26-Sept. 5, including a game-winning goal against rival Iowa on Sept. 5. She also scored two goals in MU's 6-1 win over Oral Roberts during the spring season.

As a sophomore, Nobis played the role of play-maker as opposed to scorer when she dished out three assists against No. 4 Texas A & M.

She led the team in assists recording eight overall, including game-winning assists against Iowa, Texas A&M and Nebraska.

She was the team leader in shots on net percentage as a sophomore, hitting the net on 32 of her 50 shots (64 percent) and was named to the Nike Tiger Invitational all-tournament team . She also earned academic All-Big 12 second team honors. 

As a freshman, Nobis was named a Soccer Buzz All-Central Region freshman team honoree and was named a member of the 2002 Big 12 Conference All-Freshman Team.

She was third on team with 19 points and eight goals including a five point game against Iowa State by scoring two goals and one assist in Mizzou's 3-0 victory. That game earned her Big 12 Player of the Week honors.

Her high school/youth club highlights included:

• Led Quincy High School (Ill. ) to third place in the state as a freshman
• A three-time Western Big Six All-Conference selection
• All-State and Chicago Tribune All-State selection in 2001 and 2002
• Quincy all-time leading scorer with 107 career goals and assists leader with 50 career assists
• Played for four Missouri club state champions (Wolfpack - 1998 and Busch - 2000-02)
• Led Busch to a Region II title in 2002 and a trip to nationals.

And to think, she accomplished all of this with painted nails, big, straight white teeth and having dinner with Benjamin Franklin, God, Beyonce and Lil' Wayne, while making sure her underwear is packed in her suitcase.

Dad calls it marching to a different beat. Nobis calls it CRAZY.

The above story was part of Todd Civin's Meet The Breakers series. Civin is a free lance writer for the Bleacher Report. He can be reached at [e-mail] for hire or comment. He is a supporter of A Glove of Their Own which teaches children to pay it forward through sports.

Visit AGOTO at www.agloveoftheirown.com and purchase under today's donor code GSB 133 Good Sports Boston. $3.00 from each of today's sales of the book will go to GSB. 

Photo Credit: David Silverman