2008 Woodie Awards
Ford finds fierce fire within
Sean Woods '07
Issue date: 11/10/06 Section: Sports
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Brittany Ford slams the basketball to the floor after being called for a foul in a preseason scrimmage. Her face grimaces and her nostrils flare. It's here that her game needs the most work, and her problem isn't even foul trouble; in fact she is a great defender.
Ford spent the last year recuperating from an ACL tear that forced her to red-shirt her freshman year. But all the hard work she put into getting back into competitive shape didn't help her overcome her biggest flaw as a player.
"I have a bad attitude," Ford bluntly offered. "I don't yell, but I get annoyed and make a mean face. My coaches see it and they don't like it."
It's hard to imagine the soft-spoken forward getting loud on the court, but her actions speak loud enough. At 6'1, her sassy face beams frustration like a lighthouse over the court.
"I usually look up at my dad and my mom in the stands when I get upset," she says. "That helps me cool down."
Her father, Ronald, and mother, Sharon, make it to as many of Brittany's games as possible, but the Wilmington, Delaware natives won't be there to settle her during away games.
"I don't know what I'll do then," Ford said with a smile that could stretch the width of the court. "I'm working on it. I can't get any more technicals. That won't be a problem this year."
In her first year of real competition at the collegiate level, Ford will have to find a way to respond to challenges. Already seasoned a year, she has the maturity to accept that.
"I was way out of shape before I came here," she confessed when recalling her injury. "I always took the easy way out because in high school I was always the better person on the team and didn't have to work as hard. Coming into college I knew it was going to be real intense, I just wasn't ready for it."
She knew what it was when it happened. Ford wasn't a stranger to ACL tears. She sat out her junior year in high school with a similar injury to her right knee.
Ford spent the last year recuperating from an ACL tear that forced her to red-shirt her freshman year. But all the hard work she put into getting back into competitive shape didn't help her overcome her biggest flaw as a player.
"I have a bad attitude," Ford bluntly offered. "I don't yell, but I get annoyed and make a mean face. My coaches see it and they don't like it."
It's hard to imagine the soft-spoken forward getting loud on the court, but her actions speak loud enough. At 6'1, her sassy face beams frustration like a lighthouse over the court.
"I usually look up at my dad and my mom in the stands when I get upset," she says. "That helps me cool down."
Her father, Ronald, and mother, Sharon, make it to as many of Brittany's games as possible, but the Wilmington, Delaware natives won't be there to settle her during away games.
"I don't know what I'll do then," Ford said with a smile that could stretch the width of the court. "I'm working on it. I can't get any more technicals. That won't be a problem this year."
In her first year of real competition at the collegiate level, Ford will have to find a way to respond to challenges. Already seasoned a year, she has the maturity to accept that.
"I was way out of shape before I came here," she confessed when recalling her injury. "I always took the easy way out because in high school I was always the better person on the team and didn't have to work as hard. Coming into college I knew it was going to be real intense, I just wasn't ready for it."
She knew what it was when it happened. Ford wasn't a stranger to ACL tears. She sat out her junior year in high school with a similar injury to her right knee.
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