This tall, slender athlete of the week is a multi talented, goal oriented individual who wants to make the world a better place through the things she loves to do.

Her love for baseball was instilled in her heart when she was a toddler, just able to walk.
“Everyone in my family grew up with a baseball and a bat,” J.J.Johnson said, “T-Ball and Little League came later. Everyone in my family plays ball especially with dad and all his coaching years.”

JJ played in the minors, the majors and was playing competitive ball early. She loved the competition, the team spirit and the travel. Last season she played the position of catcher for the Fruita Monument Varsity Girls’ Softball Team.

“Early on she was always clumsy, always running into things, “ Billie Johnson said. “She was a long limbed, skinny kid, sort of like a spider monkey. She had to endure lots of flack with her peers because of this. We always told her she would grow into her legs and arms and be extra strong, and she has. She always has a hard time because she can never find pants to fit at normal stores. She is long and thin. I am so proud of her.”

She is close to her siblings as she jogs and does many things with Lindsay who is a little younger than she. She loves helping Benny learn to pitch as he plays Little League.
Shelby, her stepsister, enjoys being around JJ.

“She’s fun to be around. She does the things she loves so well, baseball and drawing. She is definitely a goofball and can be a pain sometimes. We do many things together.”

J.J. recalled the last season of high school softball. We always played so intensely. When we did lose it was only by a score or two. We always drew good crowds because of that.
Mesa State will be her college as she studies for her teaching degree. After that degree she would like to go on to massage therapy to cover her bases in life.

“With these two careers, I should always have work,” she said.

Her favorite pro team is the Rockies because she is loyal to things Colorado. She really doesn’t have time to watch TV and so she is not into any particular player.

“There is too much to do everyday,” she said. “During school, I wake up early. I am a morning person. I distribute my brothers and sisters to their schools then head to FMHS.

After school I have a sport, then go home do chores, homework and hang out with my family and sometimes with my boyfriend Ben Krane. He is quite a swimmer. He’ll be going to Mesa next term before he goes to School of Mines.”

This summer J.J. will be a kids counselor at an enrichment program where she will teach classes each two weeks long.

“I want to teach them things like survival, fishing, and love for the outdoors,” she said.
J.J. loves to laugh.

“Laughing makes me feel good,” she said. “I love to watch comedies for that reason. I feel I am an optimist, the glass is half full.”

J.J. has learned sigh language. Because other members in her family know it they can converse about baseball plays.

Recently she began to know Phillip Colby, who is deaf and yet is third in State in wrestling, when she talked to him in sign language. They are good friends now.

J.J. feels that signing language should be taught in the schools.

“It is universal and I feel better to learn than foreign languages,” she said.

And so, as she rides off into the sunset, or is it the beginning of a universe, J.J. Johnson will be a success as she contributes to her community and mankind.