Drew Bridges, a sophomore field hockey player and chemistry major, is this issue’s Athlete of the Week. She had eight goals, one assist, 50 shots and 37 shots on goal. Bridges was the leading goal scorer for our Jays this year, followed by first-years Hannah Long and Mia Fino.
Starting her field hockey career at 11 years old following her neighbor giving her an old stick, Bridges began with camps and clinics and fell in love with the sport. Being a two-sport athlete (lacrosse in the spring) and a STEM major isn’t easy, with a challenging schedule and most of her free time being taken up with sports. Etown being NCAA Division Three does help this though, with a slightly smaller time commitment towards sports. Bridges’ biggest role model and supporter is her dad, who is always there and excited when she plays; his presence at games always makes her play better, with her calling him her number one fan.
One of her favorite parts about field hockey is the matches, especially against the better teams. According to Bridges, “It makes you play more intensely, fiercely and better than you could before,” leading to a more accomplished feeling after the games. Her favorite part about field hockey at Etown is the players and atmosphere, with a lot of her best and closest friends being on the team. She loves competing with her teammates, believing that friendly rivalries and competition makes everyone better.
Bridges is extremely proud of making the All-Conference Second Team, showing to her that all her hard work this season paid off, and is also proud of her team for helping her have this opportunity. While the team didn’t make it as far as they would’ve liked in the playoffs, Bridges said it was the best game they played all season.
As with most athletes, Bridges does have some good luck charms and routines before games. One that she’s had since high school is her mismatched socks/sleeves, which are unfortunately covered by the long field hockey socks; she typically rocks a banana-patterned sleeve on one leg and a cartoon bear sleeve on the other.
One of the biggest things Bridges takes from the pitch to her day-to-day life is confidence. She believes that to succeed in sports and life, you must have confidence and take pride in what you do. Like many students, she’s a nervous test taker, but she’s able to remind herself that she’s got it and can succeed, this applying to academics and sports.
Having volunteered a lot with youth field hockey in the past, Bridges would love to be able to coach high school field hockey in her post-college life. She says coaching anywhere would be awesome as you get to help them do something they love and aid them in playing in college and beyond. Her one word of advice for younger players is that if you love doing something (specifically field hockey), keep doing it. You don’t have to know everything as even Bridges herself continues to learn new things.
Congratulations to Bridges for making the All-Conference Second Team and for being the Etownian’s Athlete of the Week, and best of luck in the future with field hockey and school.
