Titan Spotlight: Bria Braddock ’20

TITAN SPOTLIGHT

Seeing the SilverLining

By NATHAN LARICCIA | SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR

Lacrosse star stays Titan strong after season cut short

enior Bria Braddock, the Westminster women’s lacrosse team’s

Scareer-leader in points and goals, is no stranger to playing through adversity. A serious car crash in the fall of 2018 left Bria with a torn hip labrum and a torn shoulder labrum, rotator cuff and capsule—and questions of whether her playing career was in jeopardy.

Doctors recommended surgery, but she didn’t want to miss out on the upcoming 2019 spring season and put off the treatment to be part of the team she helped build since the start of the program in 2017. She had no idea that her painplagued junior campaign, during which she helped guide the Titans to their most successful season ever, would be her last chance to win a Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship.

Bria dealt with her injuries simultaneously. The very least she could do, her doctors—and her physical therapist dad—told her, was to rest to minimize the pain and prevent further damage.

Even knowing what she would endure physically, Bria made a choice. She chose to play her junior year. Surgery could wait.

“Playing or not playing was never even a question to me,” Bria said. She fought through the pain of the season that ultimately proved to be a winning one. Westminster went on to win the

team’s first PAC Championship and Bria was named the PAC Defensive MVP and earned All-PAC First Team honors. Westminster qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament—the first appearance in program history—and advanced to the second round.

Immediately following the national tournament, Bria dealt with her shoulder injury. After a successful surgery, Bria then had to think about her torn hip labrum going into the final year of competition.

“I postponed doing anything about my hip until after my senior season was over because I wanted one last year of playing the sport I love,” she said. Just like her championship junior season, Bria was determined to take to the field again, regardless of the physical pain she knew she was going to experience. The choice was hers—and she chose her sport and her teammates. She had control over whether or not she was going to play.

But 2020 had other plans.

The 2020 Titans had just concluded their non-conference portion of their schedule and were looking forward to conference play and defending their PAC title. But on their way back from a March 12 road game against Stockton University, Bria and her teammates heard the NCAA officially canceled the remaining winter and spring championships because of the coronavirus pandemic—and they started to think that this season might be different.

The following morning, the Presidents’ Council of the PAC officially announced the suspension of all varsity athleticallyrelated activities for the “health and safety of its students, faculty, staff and campus communities.”

Just like that, no more lacrosse, a sport Bria sacrificed to play every game since she arrived in New Wilmington. This time, she did not have a choice to continue to play, no matter how determined she was. No one did.

“Like most other athletes in this situation, there was a wave of sadness. I was heartbroken,” she said. “I remember standing next to (fellow senior teammate) Cortlynn (Douds) and she just grabbed my hand as (first-year Head) Coach Bethany Snider shared the news. There was nothing anyone could do. There was no alternative plan, there was not one more practice or one more game.”

A unique moment transpired across the nation. Every spring student-athlete at every level of competition was affected. Student-athletes on a full-ride scholarship at a Division I program or playing at a non-scholarship Division III school were both evenly affected. Male or female. They all had something in common. Their respective seasons were suspended indefinitely or cancelled altogether.

“As an athlete, you can’t help but think about what I could have done better for myself and my team,” Bria said. “I think that’s what hurts the most. It was hard enough to have our season taken away, but to know the girls you have spent every day with will no longer be the people you see every day is absolutely devastating.”

“I want nothing more than to play one more game with my best friends,” she said.

There may not be any more games to play. No more bus rides. No more practices. No more team camaraderie. But the friendships developed with teammates? That’s what remains past the playing days. They are teammates for life.

“Among the hurt that I’m sure students felt and are still feeling, we can also celebrate and be grateful for what we were given,” Bria said. “The season may not have lasted as long as we anticipated, but the memories are one thing that cannot be taken away from us.”

Bria said she understands that this isn’t a Westminster situation. This is a worldwide situation affecting many people across the globe. Even with how suddenly and abruptly everything happened, Bria said she sees the big picture and, most importantly, a silver lining.

“The reality of it is that this pandemic has impacted more people than I can imagine,” Bria said. “It has taught me the value of Bria is grateful for her two inspiring head coaches, Kim Eldridge and Bethany Snider.

family and friendships and to cherish each memory I have created along the way. It has shown me that my identity is not just who I was as a student or who I was as an athlete and will never be. This has given me the opportunity to learn that life is so much more than what I was seeing every day and was molding me into the person I have become. My parents have always taught me that faith prevails, and I look forward to discovering the plans that have already been made for my life. I hope we can all take this time and use it as a learning experience and find new ways to encourage each other and grow as individuals.”

Bria’s determination can be a lesson to all of us—especially our student-athletes: Embrace every opportunity you can. Learn to appreciate the ups and downs and the long, grueling practices. Bria did not let anything stop her from playing if she could help it. Make the most of every opportunity, because you never know when it could end.

And while her time at Westminster has come to an end, she says if given the chance, she’d do it all over again and still choose to play through the injuries. She wouldn’t change a thing.

“To say playing was ‘comfortable’ and ‘pain free’ would be a lie, but I would be uncomfortable all over again to wear my jersey one last time for Westminster,” she said. S