Back on the field! TLC is documenting the adolescence of transgender teen Jazz Jennings, and in Us Weekly‘s exclusive sneak peek at one of Wednesday, July 22’s episodes of I Am Jazz, her parents reflect on one of the barriers that stood in the way from her having a totally normal childhood.
As Jennings, 14, and her soccer teammates practice, her parents talk to her coach about whether Jazz should try out for varsity or JV soccer when she heads to high school in the fall.
“Coach Betty’s opinion is important to us because we want to get a beat on where she thinks Jazz should be,” dad Greg Jennings says. “I always worry about Jazz just being happy.”
Despite the teen being confident and happy in real life, Jazz’s parents and Coach Betty have noticed that she’s hesitant on the soccer field. “In her real life she’s very confident. I wish in soccer she had the same confidence,” mom Jeanette Jennings tells Coach Betty.
Though Jazz is passionate about soccer, Coach Betty notes that the legal battle the teen faced after being banned from playing girls’ soccer at 8 years old — a two-year fight that she eventually won, causing the U.S. Soccer Federation to adopt a trans-inclusive policy — has had a lingering effect.
“She’s scarred, I feel like,” Betty says. “When you’re banned from playing soccer it’s going to leave some negative memories.”
Watch the clip above. I Am Jazz airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
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