University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Ciara Bryan
May 09, 2018 | Softball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
You can't often see Ciara Bryan's fingernails when she's playing, and the same goes for the rest of the Georgia softball team. The Bulldogs may have their hands hidden in gloves a lot of the time, but their nails are looking sharp.
This is one of the things I learned Tuesday when Bryan and I sat down for a Quick Chat. For the record, Bryan's nails were a color I would call tangerine.
A sophomore from Covington, Ga., Bryan and I first sat down for a Quick Chat a little more than a year ago, late in her freshman season during which she started 46 games and batted .351. You can read that conversation here: http://gado.gs/91y.
We sat down again on a sunny Tuesday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium, where the No. 8-ranked Bulldogs were preparing for this weekend's SEC Tournament in Columbia, Mo. Georgia, the No. 2 seed, will play Thursday at 2:30 p.m., against the winner of Wednesday's Arkansas-Kentucky game.
Bryan and I chatted about the past 12 months, getting her nails done, softball's rules and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:Â
Frierson: When you think about everything that's happened in the last year, what comes to mind?
Bryan: Hard work. We've been working hard during practice and for the most part we've been getting the results that we want during games. In regular-season play, everything we've worked on in practice has come to light during games.
Frierson: What's it like at this time of year, when school's out, most of the students are gone and the team is just going along, practicing and playing games?
Bryan: School being out relieves some of the stress; we can really just key in and lock in and focus on softball.Â
Frierson: When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Bryan: I think of family. Even though they're an hour away, I miss them (laughs). My parents both work, both of them work at night, and my sister's still in high school, she'll be a senior. We text all the time, so our relationship has definitely grown, but I do miss them.
Frierson: When did you know you were a good athlete, a good softball player? Was there a season or anything in particular when you realized you had the potential to be where you are right now?
Bryan: If you want to know the truth, I thought that I was a pretty good softball player and I had real potential around middle school, I believe. I always had speed, that was my key, but my hitting has definitely come along. I used to be a right-handed hitter and then my dad switched me over to the left side, and I was awful, but it came along.
Frierson: Why did he switch you over to the left side, just to get you closer to first base?
Bryan: I believe that was the first reason why, and you can do a lot more on the left side than you can on the right.
Frierson: What's something your teammates are really into that you just don't get? Or what's something you're into that they don't get?
Bryan: We're really all into the same things. We're all into the same type of music, we all like getting our nails done, we all like wearing braids — it's kind of like, if she likes it, we like it; if we like it, she likes it.
Frierson: Is there a team ritual going on with the nails?
Bryan: I want to say it's a team ritual, because starting off the season we went almost every Monday and get our nails done. I think it's a ritual.
Frierson: If you could be really, really good for any other sport for a day, what would you like to do?
Bryan: I would have to make the decision between track and cheerleading, but not the basketball, football cheerleading, more so the competitive side with the tumbling and the flipping in the air. I did those in high school.
Frierson: I always get so nervous watching that competitive cheerleading, with all those jumps and pyramids.
Bryan: That's the fun.
Frierson: What's something you really like now that say a year ago you didn't like at all or maybe didn't even know existed?
Bryan: I like this food, edamame. I like sushi and seafood, but I think the first time I tried edamame it had to be a couple of months ago. It looked like a green bean, but you don't actually eat the whole thing, you just pop out the seed. And I really like it — I had it last night.
Frierson: Say your body no longer required sleep, how would you spend those extra six or seven hours a day?
Bryan: I don't know, maybe go to the pool. We've all been talking about how we hate these suntans that we have, so I'd like to go even it out (laughs) at the pool or the lake.
Frierson: A popular answer to that one is Netflix.
Bryan: I don't even watch Netflix. A lot of my team watches Netflix and they have seasons of shows they watch, but don't even watch it. I don't really watch TV.
Frierson: Is there a rule in softball you would change if you were made commissioner for a day?
Bryan: Oh, yeah, I would change a lot of these rules. My number one would probably be stepping out of the [batter's] box early. For us slappers and bunters on the left-hand side, a lot of us get called out for being out of the box when we make contact. If we bunt and our left leg touches the plate or is out of the box, we're out, and I feel like that takes away a lot of our game.
And another rule, probably leaving early [when on base]. Let us leave early (laughs).
Frierson: Is any of that stuff reviewable?
Bryan: Does softball even have the replay rule?
[We turn to look at sports communications ace Sean Stevenson, who shakes his head no.]
Frierson: I guess because baseball has it I just assumed softball had replay too.
Bryan: The review rule would be nice to have. ... Shoot that might be the first [one I'd change], the replay rule.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
