Ange Bradley wants her players to be a part of something bigger.

She wants them to have NCAA Championship rings on their fingers, like her 2015 team. She wants them to walk into a job interview and talk about their experiences being part of a team. She wants them to be successful on the field so that they can be successful off it.

“My why is to help empower the women that I coach,” Bradley said, “so that when they go into the workforce, they’re prepared to compete with any man for any position.”

Bradley, one of the just two woman head coaches at Syracuse (6-4, 0-3 Atlantic Coast), has created an environment for her players predicated on women’s empowerment. For the Orange, who haven’t won a conference game this year, her message to players off the field is as clear as her teachings on it.

Leadership skills, teamwork and how to be strong as a woman are all things goalie Borg van der Velde said she’s learned from Bradley and fully expects to need beyond college. Bradley tells her players to fight for their places. Bradley, freshman Laura Graziosi said, is teaching her players that women can compete with men after college.

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In Bradley’s 12 seasons coaching Syracuse, many of those players have seen on-field success — final four appearances, one national title — but that’s not all Bradley wants to prepare her players for.

Senior Roos Weers sees Bradley as a life coach on top of her field hockey coach. In her four years at SU, she said she feels she’s changed as a person. A lot of that is due to Bradley.

Bradley, Weers said, knows how to “push all the right buttons” to motivate her players.

“She’s very big in character and in the way you present in life,” Weers said.

Still tied at one at the end of two overtime periods against Penn on Sept. 23, the game went to a shootout. Bradley and her team huddled up. She asked for volunteers. Weers, Claire Webb and Carolin Hoffmann all stepped up.

Bradley often allows her players to step up in big moments of the game. Before taking a penalty corner, Weers said the team similarly huddles and, after a suggestion on which play to use from Bradley, they decide who will take the ball out of the circle and who gets to shoot. Players volunteer whenever they’re feeling good.

“She wants us to be strong and tough, like all the time,” Graziosi said.

Mental strength is something freshman Kira Wimbert has already learned from Bradley. The idea of not giving up and staying strong mentally has helped Wimbert in school. When something is hard, she stays mentally tough and finishes through. Similarly, during a game when it’s getting hard, players apply that mental toughness to get through the game.

Said Bradley: “That’s my whole mission as a coach.”

Published on October 3, 2018 at 11:03 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu