Student Athlete of the Week – Jaden Donovan
Jaden Donovan is dominating from the backfield this season for the Shadow Hills Knights. But just a couple years ago Donovan wasn’t in the backfield, he was a back-up at left tackle.
“When he was younger, he was a little chunkier,” Head Coach Ron Shipley said.
“I was a little bit chunkier,” Donovan said.
It made him mad, so he turned that frustration into motivation.
“I went and worked for it, slimmed down and everything, and here I am now,” Donovan said.
“One thing about Jaden is that he works toward his goals. He dedicated himself to the weight room, dedicated himself to the kinetics program and worked on his speed, ran track every year and got faster and stronger. Now he’s starting as our best tailback. So he’s come a long way.”
Besides just the extra workouts, Donovan has one other secret to his success.
“I always eat eggs everyday,” he said. “I have to have eggs.. I love eggs. My mom makes them. Shoutout to my mom.”
That’s another thing about Jaden, his family is extremely important to him. Especially, his younger brothers, who are his biggest fans.
“I just try to be the best on the field and at home, you know, I’m always calm with them, always talking to them, trying to play with them and go to their games,” Donovan said. “They’re on the flag football team at Amelia Earhart, the elementary school. They were both fighting for number one, because that’s my number this year and the other was trying to get number 15, because that was my number last year.”
Just like he’s a role model for his little brothers, the senior tailback is a leader on his team.
“He’s the one never taking plays off, the one getting the extra set in the weight room, the extra sprint, and so he’s always holding himself accountable, to work harder than everybody else. That brings everybody up to his level,” Shipley said. “It motivates the kids to rise up. It’s not just us trying to get them to do that, he’s the one doing it and modeling it and challenging everybody else to come up to that.”
A year from now, Donovan’s goal is to be on a college football roster. And if the past is any indication, nothing will stop him.
KESQ 2019
