Bethany Bramble isn’t the typical athlete of the week, but for Allan Hancock College Women’s Basketball head coach Cary Nerelli, she’s a special part of the team.
Nerelli said Bramble earns the distinction not just for her basketball skills, but her blue-collar work ethic and caring more about “we” than “me,” he explained.
Bramble said she doesn’t see too much action on the court, so it came as a surprise that her coach would choose her from among her teammates.
“It feels really good, I was super surprised, but it’s cool to be recognized for not necessarily doing much,” she said. “He still sees us, even the bench players.”
But for Nerelli, players like Bramble make up an important aspect of a team.
You don’t have to be the star player with the most points to make a difference, he explained.
“Bethany is a role player, meaning that her value to AHC is to push the players in the rotation to become more effective,” Nerelli said. “Players like Bethany have the toughest job on the team because they come to practice every day knowing that they will not be rewarded with meaningful playing time in games.”
Bramble, who was a starter at Valley Christian Academy, now finds herself in a new role on Hancock’s team.
“It’s definitely different, but I found my place on the team,” she said. “I know what my job is even if I’m not a starter. I should be encouraging my players and doing my part to help the team.”
A lot of players wouldn’t have the same attitude going from a starter to a bench player, so Bramble definitely deserves credit. The transition from high school to college-level play is just one of the challenges she faces playing for Hancock.
“Just the league is different. College ball is so fast pace, so much different,” she said. “It was difficult at first to transition from small ball to college ball. It’s a totally different game.”
Another challenge Bramble faces at Hancock is remaining ready throughout the game, even if she doesn’t play much in it.
“It’s just staying in the game, calling out the plays like our coach does, and encouraging the players,” she said. “Keeping my head in the game and not spacing out.”
Bramble said she hopes to face her challenges head on, up her game, and earn more playing time in her sophomore year.
“I definitely as a sophomore hope to be one of the starters or an option,” she said. “I know what I have to improve on so I’m going to work on it now instead of trying to work on it next year.”
This article appears in Feb 2-9, 2017.