For Penn Senior London Jackson, the sport of basketball serves as an outlet to escape the challenges of being a teenager in the modern world.
Jackson first picked up a basketball in the fourth grade when she and her friends would play during recess. Little did she know that she would continue to play the game she fell in love with on the elementary school playground for the next eight years of her life.
Now, as a senior at Penn High School, she still holds that same love for the game of basketball, which is what made playing in her final season so special.
“I’m going to miss being around the people I’ve made relationships with every day,” said Jackson on what she will miss most about being a part of the Penn girls basketball team.
Jackson has been a member of the PGBB program since seventh grade, where she competed for Schmucker Middle School and in the Penn Fall league. She then joined the Lady Kingsmen squad her freshman year and was a varsity letter winner her senior season.
“The biggest thing I learned was discipline and how to manage my time between school and athletics. It also taught me to do the little things routinely,” Jackson said on some of her biggest takeaways from the last four years on the team.
In her senior season, Jackson recorded eight rebounds and two assists in 11 games played. While she wasn’t lighting up the stat sheet every night, she brought something the team needed much more than points or rebounds: leadership.
“London was someone who I looked up to in the season. Being a freshman coming in was definitely intimidating, but she always made me feel comfortable,” said freshman JV player Audrey Knapick.
Another skill Jackson brought for the Lady Kingsmen was her consistent energy and effort. In her sophomore year, she was the recipient of the Defensive Heart & Hustle award, voted on by her teammates, for her contagious competitive spirit and unflinching ability to give it her all for the team.
She has also shined in other aspects of high school, in both athletics and academics. Jackson is a four-time All-American and Hall of Fame athlete in the weight room and was a sprinter for the track team through her junior year. Academically, she is a high honor roll recipient and two-time academic letter winner.
While the basketball chapter of her life is closing, the rest of London Jackson’s story is still unwritten and destined for great things. She plans on moving across the country, where she will pursue a degree and follow her dreams.
“I’m going to attend the University of Arizona, where I am going to study law.”
