Brea Seabrook: Trusting Her Own Journey in Field Hockey

12th grade. She was honored when she made team captain during 10th grade.

"It meant my team and coaches trusted me to lead the team," she said. "It also meant they trusted me to be someone they can come and talk to if they needed something,” she said. Brea earned many All-Star awards for field hockey during high school. In 11th grade, she became All-State 2nd team, During 12th, she became Athlete of the Week and AllState 1st Team.

Brea recognizes her high school coach Susan Woznock for her success.

"She saw something in me and fought for me to get to all the right places," she said. "She helped me find scholarships and helped make a recruiting video for me. She guided me to value myself and helped

Brea loved playing field hockey because it was a new sport she enjoyed its competitiveness at a highly, physical level. She also loved the team aspect of the sport.

Brea was an accomplished student as well. She earned the "Act Right Award" during 12th grade. This award showcased what it meant to be an overall, exemplary student.

Brea toured a lot of colleges but St. Francis University in Loretto, PA felt like home to her. She loved that this school gave her the opportunity to play field hockey while studying to become a nurse.

"Most big, Division 1 universities do not allow you to study at a high level like that," she said. "My first two years at school I studied Nursing and decided to switch majors. I switched to Public Health and ended up graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. I had an amazing career both athletically and academically at SFU and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Brea continued to receive many athletic accolades in college and even ended her career on the dean’s list.

She was invited to try out for the US Women's National Field Hockey Team, but decided it was in her best interest to finish her studies at Misericordia University where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Brea volunteered coaching field hockey at Wyoming Area High School. "I taught them the importance of coming to practice and playing hard for those couple hours and leaving everything off the field for that short time," she said. "I wanted them to value themselves as ladies in sports and to trust themselves through their own journeys."

Brea's life and cur rent relationship brought her to Columbus, Ohio where she works as a Registered Neuro Nurse. She still plays field hockey, now with a very competitive adult coed team. They train on weekends and compete in high-level tournaments and games year round.

Brea was very honored to receive induction into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame. "I just had lost my brother, who was my best friend and it felt like he was giving me this achievement to help pick me up," she said. "I wish he could have been there as I received it in hand, but he was there in spirit." H

– Ben Freda