Aug. 28, 2008
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The path for Jeanne Fairchild to find happiness in college volleyball could have been a simple journey. Four years ago, she could have packed up the volleyball talent she developed at St. Pius X, moved it over to Johnson Center, and accepted her destiny to be a Lobo.
But it didn’t happen that way and maybe it wasn’t meant to happen that way. For some reason, Fairchild’s path to the University of New Mexico needed to carved out through frustration, wrong choices, burnout and a huge dose of homesickness.
“I think Jeanne was meant to be a Lobo and just didn’t know it right way,” said her mother, Susie Fairchild. “It’s almost like she was being pushed away by different things. She had so much opportunity to go anywhere in the country and maybe she was living up to other people’s perception of what was right or better for her.”
In a way, one of the things pushing Fairchild away from UNM was the uncanny talent lodged in her 6-foot-1 frame. She was big-time and when Fairchild graduated from Pius in 2004, the two-time state champ and two-time New Mexico Player of The Year, was being wooed by big-time programs from coast-to-coast.
It was probably fitting that all this talent decided to commit to the Southern California Trojans, the two-time defending NCAA champions at that time.
| “One of my favorite things in volleyball is winning a fifth game. You remember the fifth game. You are sweating bullets and feel like you can’t find another ounce of breath and somehow you find a way to win.”Jeanne Fairchild, Lobos senior hitter |
“I wanted her to go to USC,” said mom. “My perception of the elite athlete is USC, UCLA, Stanford, so it was difficult for me to be objective when discussing schools. UNM’s program wasn’t really an option at that point. It was not at a good level. She had hundred of letters and it was, “What should I do?”
What Fairchild did was make a choice geared more to suit her physical talent than to please her heart. But things soured at USC before Fairchild even enrolled and she ended up as a freshman at the University of San Diego. Of course, she excelled. Named to the Dean’s List. Named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team.
And left after one semester.
“I just wasn’t happy with what I was doing or where I was at,” said Fairchild, now a UNM senior. “It was burnout, too. Part of that was just being tired from so many years of volleyball and club travel. I wasn’t happy with a lot of things about volleyball at that time.”
The burnout thing obviously was something that needed to be solved. But there was a geography issue, too.
“I think she need to come home,” said mom. “She is a native New Mexican and she missed home. She said it was being burned out on volleyball, but I think it was more not being where she needed to be. She came back home, got her break (from volleyball) and found out she missed it.”
After bolting from San Diego, Fairchild immediately enrolled in the spring semester at UNM. Of course, she was immediately spotted and approached to become a Lobo.
“I still needed to be away from the game,” said Fairchild. “I was hoping that if I got away from it, I would find I missed it, the passion would return and I’d want to get back out there. I was contacted again that summer, thought about it a couple of weeks and decided to play. I hadn’t touched a ball in eight months.
“I just started to miss so many things about the game. I missed being part of a team, missed the hard work, missed the competition and remembered what it was like to be doing something I loved. And I love the game now more than ever and I’m having more fun than ever.
“My (UNM) coaches have such a passion for the game. They bring in so much energy and competitive energy. You see how much they love the game and it makes you appreciate it even more.”
Fairchild’s athletic roots, her family tree, suggest that she should be playing basketball for Lobos coach Don Flanagan rather than standing in front of a volleyball net for Jeff Nelson. Her father, John Fairchild, played basketball for Brigham Young and for the Los Angeles Lakers. Her brother played hoops at Hope Christian in Albuquerque.
“So I gave it a shot,” she said. “But I didn’t have the passion for it. I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. It just wasn’t my thing. Not what I wanted to do.”
Said her mother: “There was something about basketball she just didn’t like. I think it was having the opposing players right in her face. For some reason, she didn’t seem to like that.”
For some reason, having a net in her face doesn’t bother Fairchild at all. She was All-Mountain West Conference as a junior in 2007. She finished third in the MWC in kills and fifth in points. She was an Academic All-MWC.
Her team goals are to help the Lobos win the MWC and advance to the NCAA playoffs. Her personal goals include leading the league in kills and points and becoming an All-American.
“She has the talent to do it,” said Lobos coach Nelson. “She is an unbelievable athlete and she plays at a high level.”
Another factor that might help Fairchild achieve All-American status is that she is finally happy with what she is – a Lobo – and where she is at – home.
“This just seems right for her,” said mom. “This is where she was meant to be.”
Editor’s note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune.