THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190201
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 34 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
NO ONE CAN EVER accuse Oscar Smith sophomore Jamie Burke of doing anything halfway.
Not only does she carry a 4.125 grade point average that has her at the top of her class, she's also a three-sport athlete who competes in junior varsity girls basketball, junior varsity football and varsity girls soccer.
This spring, she's making her mark as the Tigers' goalkeeper and is, according to Oscar Smith co-coach Andy Overton, ``part of the backbone of the team.''
Burke, starting in the goal for the second straight season after earning second team all-district honors, has allowed only three goals in nine games. She's posted six shutouts while her team has run its record to 6-3 overall.
``I'm just back there picking four-leaf clovers,'' Burke, 15, joked. ``Nah. Sometimes my team rags on me for not earning my keep. But in games like the Catholic one (the Tigers won 1-0) where I can prove myself, I think they appreciate me back there.''
Though Burke is most often by herself at her end of the field, she tries to stay involved and is probably the most vocal player on the field.
``Somehow I have to become a part of the game,'' she said. ``I like to make my voice heard. I usually try to watch and feel out who their best players are and where they are and who's marking them.''
But, she admits, the lonely life of a goalkeeper with a talented offensive line sometimes gets the best of her. Daydreaming, she said, isn't uncommon.
``In the game the other day, there was this baseball game going and I kept turning around to watch it,'' she said.
Watching sports all her life is what got Burke started.
She's an avid fan of baseball, football, soccer, field hockey. You name it. She's watched it. Or played it.
``I love all sports,'' said Burke, who can't stand to sit still and either runs or swims during her summer vacations.
And though she's competed in a variety of athletics, soccer remains her favorite. She began playing when she was just four years old when her father coached a recreation team in Annapolis.
``I hated it at first,'' she said. ``I was trying to kick it and I couldn't. They had me playing forward when I finally learned how. But then they decided to put me in the goal and I found my niche.''
Since then, she's wanted to return to the open field and sometimes gets her chance when Oscar Smith gets a good lead.
``I'm a glory hog,'' Burke said. ``It gives me a chance to show off my other skills. I've had quite a few shots but haven't scored yet. That's my goal. I told my teammates I was going to score by the end of the season so I could get my name in the paper.''
Without scoring, Burke has still made quite a name for herself with her teammates in whatever sport she's playing.
During football, Overton, her junior varsity coach, said the guys had no doubts that Burke, a sturdy 5-10, 165 pounds, was the right girl for the offensive tackle job.
``She's tough,'' Overton said of Burke, who started in all of the Tigers games last fall. ``All of the players respected her.''
And so, it seems, do her coaches.
Burke, a pure athlete, assesses her skills more realistically than most high school athletes and says it was her heart, not her skills, that landed her a spot on the junior varsity basketball squad.
``I'm not that great of a basketball player,'' she said. ``Coach (Ed) Lowery saw that I had a lot of heart and that's why he kept me. I don't have a lot of skill, but I'll give it all I've got.
``That's how it has to be in all sports. You can't leave anything inside. You have to leave it out on the field and give 120 percent every time. I just can't do anything halfway.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Jamie Burke of Oscar Smith protects the goal against Deep Creek.
by CNB