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Sitting on the bench for a year can be hard, but for Britta Bourne, it was worth the wait.
The senior forward on the Rainbow Wahine soccer team had to sit out last season after transferring from the University of Montana Grizzlies. But this season, she is proving to be a force, leading the team in goals (four), total shots (34) and shots on goal (18).
Head coach Pinsoom Tenzing praises Bourne for her work ethic and likable personality.
“She is liked by everybody and she works very, very hard,” said Tenzing. “She couldn’t play last year and she was (still) the hardest worker. She’s a role model for the younger kids and a joy for me as a coach.”
After graduating from Academy of the Pacific in Honolulu in 2005, Bourne attended the University of Montana. In high school she didn’t know where she wanted to go, but she did know that she wanted to leave Hawai‘i.
“I had it in my mind that I wanted to go to the mainland, and I ended up in Montana,” Bourne said. “I didn’t want to go and see Montana, but that’s just where I ended up to play soccer.”
After three seasons with the Grizzlies, Bourne decided she no longer wanted to play there. She looked at several schools and finally settled on returning home to play for the ’Bows.
“I didn’t want to come back home necessarily,” Bourne said. “I talked to Pinsoom and he just had the nicest things to say about his players and his program and he was so supportive and he believes 100 percent in it.
“From talking to him, I was like, ‘This is somewhere that I want to be,’ and I decided to come home,” Bourne continued. “I haven’t regretted it for one second and I’ve been nothing but thankful for the opportunity to come home.”
So far things have worked out well. She has started seven out of eight games this season, although she sat out in UH’s game against Pepperdine because she received a red card against Pacific the previous match.
But that one game hasn’t taken anything away from Bourne.
“The whole athletic experience is so much fun here in Hawai‘i,” Bourne said. “We have a really good team and we have a really supportive community and coaching staff, and I couldn’t ask for a better place to be.”
A highlight for Bourne this season was her goal against then-No. 2 Stanford in the team’s season opener.
“That’s an uncommon feat because Stanford didn’t have two goals scored on them their entire (last) season,” Pinsoom said. “But we managed to score two and she scored one of the two.”
Bourne plans to graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology and leisure science. From there she plans on attending a physical therapy school, but she wants to continue to be involved in soccer.
“I can’t imagine my life without soccer, so it’s kind of scary to think that a couple of months down the road I’m not going to be a part of a team,” Bourne said. “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve always had a whole team of best friends and we play soccer every day of the week.”
As a child, Bourne and her three siblings played sports everyday. She tried multiple sports but fell in love with soccer.
“I think it’s the greatest sport in the world. It can be really beautiful to watch and it’s exciting,” Bourne said. “And you have to be a smart player. I like that about it; you have to be thinking all the time and there are strategies from every point of the field.
“There are just so many components to it, and I think that’s why I love it so much,” she continued.
Despite the ’Bows being 2-6-1, Bourne still believes the team can get to the NCAA Tournament and compete at that level. The ’Bows begin Western Athletic Conference play in October, and the winner of the WAC Tournament will receive the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAAs.
But no matter what may happen this season, Tenzing believes Bourne is someone to watch in the future.
“She will make her mark when the conference games start,” Tenzing said. “You will hear a lot about her. What she can do in soccer is yet to come.”
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