‘I want to be the very best’

Lady Flames aim for Big East Championship

 

During the 2016 season, the Liberty University field hockey team (0-2) fell one game short of the Big East Championship.

This year they have senior captains Cassidy Bremner and Alynn Richardson, as well as first year coach Nikki Parsley, leading the charge for the team.

 

As the team prepares for the 2017 season, they know they have much to play for, especially since they received their preseason
top-25 ranking.

 

“I think that’s like a huge privilege just because we’ve worked so hard,” Richardson said.

 

“It definitely just shows the progress we’ve been able to make over the last years that we’ve been in this program,” Bremner said.

 

They praised the work of the seniors who have worked for four years to get to this point, and recognized the efforts of the underclassmen as the team begins to take more steps forward.

 

In her first year as head coach, Parsley said she is more excited than nervous about taking over and thinks it is a great feat to be nationally ranked.

 

“It feels familiar,” Parsley said.

 

Parsley was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, according to her biography page on Northwestern University’s website.

 

She is used to the spotlight, and feels like a coach must be ready to step right into the spotlight otherwise this might not be the best position for him or her.

 

“Our main focus is to run the best player development program in college field hockey,” Parsley said.

 

“Your work ethic and your intensity is absolutely something you can control.”

The more one puts into the sport, the more they will get out of it.

 

Parsley said the focus should be playing one’s heart out and giving the best effort one can no matter how lopsided the matchup may look.

 

“Pouring into these girls like obviously on the field spiritually, helping them socially, you know in the classroom as well, we think that that’s going to give us you know a really good chance to ultimately win that Big East Championship,” Parsley said.

 

She said that while it is nice to win a championship, that is not what the sport is all about.

 

She wants her team to go out and give it their all each and every game, playing with heart and desire, regardless of the outcome.

 

One of the more unique things about the team is the fact that they show a Christ-like attitude at every opportunity.

 

“I think when people come onto our campus we really try to be hospitable,” Bremner said.

 

“We want our campus to feel different than others and just be welcoming and loving, but also on the field, being respectful of the umpire and each other and the other team.”

 

She stated that the rest of the Liberty staff is very welcoming and loving as well and that the team comes together in prayer with the opponent after every game.

 

“We just hold our standards very high,” Richardson said.

 

“They are ambassadors and followers of Christ.”

 

When asked how they plan to pass the torch and leave their legacy, the players said the team is more of a collaborative team and is not very “hierarchical,” in the words of Bremner.

 

“We lead by example because [the freshmen] still have four years to build this program up,” Richardson said.

 

They want to show that it is a team effort and a team plays as one, not individually.

 

As the team prepares for the season, it plans on having numerous promotions during their home games to interest more fans.

 

Chambers is a sports reporter