Iona Holloway looked out of place.

Her ‘crazy’ hair flowed down past her shoulders. She wore a white buttoned-down, collared shirt, cargo shorts that went down to her shins and dark, low-cut Chuck Taylor’s. This was her attire on the first day of Syracuse’s field hockey camp in August 2009.

Taking one glance at the freshman, Ange Bradley immediately burst out laughing.

‘(Ange) just burst out laughing at me and said, ‘What has Scotland sent me?” Holloway said between chuckles. ‘I don’t think it was maybe the best first impression, but the only way was up from there, I guess.’

Since taking the helm in 2007, Bradley has transformed a mediocre, middle-of-the-pack Syracuse (11-2, 3-0 Big East) program into a legitimate national contender by expanding SU’s recruiting efforts and utilizing promotional summer camps. She has brought in players specifically geared toward helping the team from across the Northeast, as well as five different countries — like Scotland. And the result has been a 79-20 record and winning percentage a shade under .800.

Bradley will coach her 100th game with Syracuse on Friday when SU hosts Georgetown at 6 p.m. and looks to continue its conference dominance. The Orange also hosts Vermont (6-7, 0-2 America East) on Sunday at noon.

Bradley wasted little time in her first year at SU after leaving Richmond after the 2006 season. She coached the Orange to a 12-7 record, its best since 2001.

And as Holloway referenced, it only got better from there. The junior back said that SU’s current ranking — fifth in the nation — compared to the team’s unranked status when Bradley took over is proof enough.

‘I’m not sure of the exact statistics of the sort of over her tenure how it has improved, but it’s just been an exponential curve of improvement,’ Holloway said.

That steepness can at least be partially accredited to Bradley’s ability to bring in talented recruits locally, nationally and internationally. Scrolling through SU’s 19-player roster, four are from the New York and New Jersey areas and six, including Holloway, came from outside the United States.

Bradley has dangled SU’s winning reputation in front of potential recruits, resulting in an improved freshman class each season, Holloway said.

Amy Kee, who lived in England her entire life before coming to Syracuse, never met Bradley before committing. The two had only spoken over the phone, but she was convinced.

‘I think she does a really good job recruiting, her and the assistant coaches,’ Kee said. ‘They go to all different areas, and they really know what kind of freshmen we want for our team and what’s going to work.’

But rather than exclusively visiting recruits, Bradley has built a tradition of holding camps at Syracuse — like the one Holloway participated in as a freshman.

The camps are open to everyone and are not specifically geared toward assessing potential recruits, but it helps to have talented players attend, Bradley said. Holding the camps in the summer allows Bradley and the rest of her coaching staff to see the myriad players without having to worry about in-season obligations.

‘That’s why you coach camps in summers, so you can see kids,’ Bradley said. ‘You run your own camp so kids can get on your campus and have an opportunity to train and work with your staff.’

The freshmen and younger participants form teams and compete against one another in two-day competitions — the first of which is an eight-hour session. Bradley uses these camps as a measuring stick to gauge which of the current players can consistently perform at a high level, Holloway said.

And it has worked.

In just her second season at SU, Bradley earned National Coach of the Year honors, leading the Orange to a No. 1 ranking and its first-ever Final Four appearance. They were the first female team at SU to be ranked first nationally.

Starting that season, the Orange dominated Big East play, winning two of the last three conference tournaments and three straight regular-season crowns. And on the national level, Syracuse has held a top-10 spot in the NFHCA Coaches Poll for each of the last 38 weeks.

Bradley has revitalized the Orange.

‘She came in and within what, two or three years, they went to No. 4 in the country. It’s incredibly impressive,’ Kee said. ‘She’s obviously done a lot to build this program.

‘I feel like it’s a field hockey powerhouse at the moment.’

sebail01@syr.edu

 

Published on October 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1