Junior Natalie Barr and her sisters, sophomores Bethany and Serena Barr, have played pivotal roles in the rapid rise of Liberty University’s field hockey program.
Natives of Northern Ireland, the Barr sisters have emerged as star recruits of head coach Jodi Murphy, who started the program in 2011. Natalie and Bethany are studying to be teachers; Serena is in the Department of Health Professions, planning to provide education on disease prevention and nutrition when she graduates.
In just three years of competition in the NorPac Conference, the sisters have helped the Lady Flames win two conference titles and advance to the NCAA Field Hockey Championships. This past season, the team earned its first NCAA Division I Tournament Play-In victory — 3-1 over the University of Richmond — before losing in the first round to No. 1 North Carolina. Murphy was named National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division I South Region Coach of the Year.
In 2013, Natalie Barr, the two-time NorPac East Offensive Player of the Year, became the first Lady Flames player named to the NFHCA Division I All-South Region first team, also earning the FLAMESPY Award as Liberty’s Female Athlete of the Year. She is currently the Lady Flames’ career leader in goals (40), assists (21), points (101), shots (239), and game-winning goals (10). This past season, Bethany and Serena made the NFHCA Division I All-South Region second team, and Bethany was also a Third Team All-American, earning a spot on the All-South Region squad.
For the Barrs, field hockey is a family affair. Their parents, Richard and Janice Barr, fly in from Ireland every season and stay in the U.S. for a few weeks to watch their daughters in action.
Twin sisters Bethany and Serena said they were encouraged by their older sister to join her at Liberty.
“As Serena and I grew up, we always went to watch Natalie play and wanted to follow in her footsteps,” Bethany said.
Serena added, “Natalie has, from a young age, been a big influence on our field hockey careers. She taught Beth and me new skills in the front garden or — to our mother’s distress — in the kitchen.”
There is little sibling rivalry between the Barr sisters, who instead sharpen each other’s skills and complement one another as players. All three are listed as midfielders, though Natalie shifts up to forward and Serena drops back to defense on occasion.
“I really enjoy playing alongside of them, and I believe that we all help one another reach our potential and bring out our best on the field,” Natalie said.
Bethany Barr hugs a teammate as Natalie Barr, right, comes to join them.
All three are compelled to play each match as if it is their last, in memory of their older adopted sister, Charlene, who was born with cystic fibrosis and died in 2010 at age 20.
“It was Charlene who inspired us to win our first (All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championship) trophy together in 2011,” Bethany said. “Through her illness, she showed each of us what it really means to take the loaves and the fish, the talents that God gives us, and multiply them for His Kingdom.”
Bethany said Charlene was not unlike her sisters: “She was extremely competitive, and losing was not an option.”
“While Charlene herself could not play sports due to her illness, she never missed an important game, whatever the weather,” Bethany added. “Having Charlene on the sideline meant so much to us and inspired us to work even harder, to run for every ball because she was there watching. Her tenacious spirit and the way that she tackled life encouraged us to try even harder because we wanted to walk off the field feeling we had done all that we could.”
Charlene died a year after launching “Charlene’s Project” — a fundraising campaign to build Hidden Treasure Primary School for children in Maya, Kampala, Uganda. The Barr family had traveled there together over Easter of 2008 on a trip that transformed Charlene’s outlook on life. Her vision was fulfilled soon after her death.
“Charlene set big goals, goals that seemed impossible, but that never seemed to faze her because Charlene knew God was capable of so much more than she could imagine,” Serena said. “She inspired me to never give up on my dreams because she never gave up on her dreams of what she would do in Uganda, and the work continues.”
Last May, for the second summer in a row, Coach Murphy led a group of her players and coaches on a two-week service project to Uganda, where the team visited “Charlene’s Project” schools. They led clinics conducted by Pathfinder Hockey, Murphy’s nonprofit organization designed to promote the sport and share the love of Jesus Christ with people around the world. The trip was also in partnership with Youth Sport Uganda and Sports Outreach Institute, a Lynchburg organization with an office in the country.
Natalie, Bethany, and Serena have been to Uganda multiple times and plan to return there after graduating from Liberty to share their stick skills and put their education to practical use.
The Barr sisters are not the first three sisters to play on the same NCAA Division I team at Liberty. Triplets Megan, Moriah, and Molly Frazee are the most celebrated sibling trio in Lady Flames’ Athletics history, starring on the women’s basketball court together from 2005-08, two years before Maggie, Jordan, and Chloe Woody were teammates on Liberty’s women’s soccer squad in 2010.
