University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Ceci Bresch
March 17, 2021 | Equestrian, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Growing up near Chicago, Georgia equestrian rider Ceci Bresch was very into ice hockey, and she still is. In fact, Bresch played hockey throughout high school. It might be hard to find two sports more different than equestrian and hockey, but Bresch loves them both.
A sophomore Hunter Seat rider from Barrington, Ill., about 40 miles from Chicago, Bresch has to hunt around on TV or online to find her beloved Blackhawks games. During a recent Quick Chat, Bresch talked about hockey, crowds, Chicago-style pizza, and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: It seems like a lot of the riders I interview were practically born on a horse, or close to it. How did you get started with horses and riding?
Bresch: It's kind of funny, I moved when I was really little, probably around 3, to a suburb (of Chicago) that is like a horse community, and my mom became best friends with our new neighbor who had horses. My mom started riding with them and then slowly but surely I was like, I want to ride horses.
That's kind of how I got into it. I then begged to start taking lessons and from there it just kind of grew.
Frierson: When did the competition part of it get started?
Bresch: I started taking lessons when I was around 4 and then I kind of just did that for four years or so. When I was about 8 I told my mom that I wanted to compete, and I begged and begged and begged, and then finally we moved to a competition barn and they found me a pony that I did my first competition on. From there I was like, yeah, I have to do this [laugh].
Frierson: Did you play other sports growing up and equestrian won out over them or was it all horses all the time?
Bresch: I played a bunch of different sports; I played lacrosse, I danced, I actually played ice hockey all the way through high school, but riding was definitely always my No. 1 priority.
Frierson: What position did you play in hockey and how into it were you?
Bresch: Both my brother and my dad play so we're a hockey family, we love hockey. I played forward, I kind of varied between the different forward positions. I was not into defense, at all [laughs]. I was definitely into it and I loved going to the games, but the practices were torture enough for me that I was willing to give it up for riding.
We're a huge hockey family, like we go to NHL games all the time. My dad still plays, my brother plays with his fraternity at his college, so we're all really into it.
Frierson: Do you miss having hockey around while you're down here in Athens?
Bresch: Yeah, I do, and it's hard because down here we don't get the channel that shows my home team's games, so if I want to watch it I've got to find the stream (online). I definitely miss being around hockey all the time; even in my hometown, our high school team is a pretty big deal. I do miss it being part of my everyday life.
Frierson: Was going into Chicago a regular thing growing up?
Bresch: It's funny, anybody you ask will tell you that I don't like the city. I'm not a city person, I don't like crowds, I don't like being in big places and stuff like that, but now being at school I miss Chicago so much [laughs].
I always went downtown during Christmas season and saw the lights. I do miss it more than I thought I was going to, because we never went downtown that much but we definitely made traditions out of going downtown. It's something that I kind of took for granted when I was so close to the city. Over the summer we try to go to the zoo that's downtown and stuff like that that I can appreciate more now that I'm down here more.
Frierson: I always ask Chicago people about the pizza. Is Chicago-style pizza your preferred kind of pizza? For me, one slice of that deep-dish is tasty but it also feels like I just ate four slices of a regular pizza?
Bresch: And that for me is why I'm not a deep-dish person. I love, love, love pizza, it's probably my favorite food, but I don't love tomatoes. For me, deep-dish pizza is just too much tomato.
It's funny, it's the same thing with the Chicago hot dog — I don't like the Chicago hot dog. I like ketchup on my hot dogs but a Chicagoan will argue with you to the death that ketchup doesn't belong on hot dogs.
Frierson: When you get to college and you're more in charge of your diet than you've ever been before, have you had to learn to be smart about what you eat?
Bresch: When I'm at home my mom cooks a ton, so she cooks almost every night. Coming to college, that was something I had to realize wasn't going to happen. However, this year I'm very lucky because my roommate loves to cook. She'll cook for us, but for lunch and stuff like that I have to think about it a little bit more. I'll be like, no, I can't just eat Goldfish for lunch, though sometimes I do.
I've been lucky with a roommate that loves to cook. Last year in the dorm, I had to utilize Grab-N-Go (the UGA training table) and of the free food that we got through athletics. It's been an adjustment in that way, for sure.
Frierson: How are you in the kitchen?
Bresch: Um, I can cook, I can follow directions really well, so if I have a recipe that's very detailed I can follow it and I can get it done and it's good. But I'm not good when something's vague, then I don't know what to do. I can't improvise in the kitchen, but as long as I have a recipe that's very detailed then I can do it.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there anything creative you do or wish you could do?
Bresch: I wish I did; I always say I wish I could sing. I played the piano a tiny bit growing up but that was short-lived when I was playing three different sports. I wish that I could.
It's funny, I'm in an art class right now and the projects are harder for me than they should be because my creative side is lacking a little bit [laughs].
Frierson: Is that why you took the art class, to maybe awaken that creative side?
Bresch: A little bit. I like art, I really do, like I love looking at art. My grandma's an artist and I do love art, I'm just not good at it [laughs]. It's been an interesting class for me, but good.
Frierson: As somebody that doesn't like crowds, how do you handle a Georgia football game?
Bresch: I love a football game [laughs]. I guess the difference with that is usually when we go to football games I'm standing with all of my teammates. I think being in a crowd but surrounded my everybody I know helps a lot. For some reason that doesn't really make me nervous.
When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup we went to the parade downtown in Chicago, and that was borderline traumatic [laughs]. An experience that I won't forget, for sure.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Â
Staff Writer
Growing up near Chicago, Georgia equestrian rider Ceci Bresch was very into ice hockey, and she still is. In fact, Bresch played hockey throughout high school. It might be hard to find two sports more different than equestrian and hockey, but Bresch loves them both.
A sophomore Hunter Seat rider from Barrington, Ill., about 40 miles from Chicago, Bresch has to hunt around on TV or online to find her beloved Blackhawks games. During a recent Quick Chat, Bresch talked about hockey, crowds, Chicago-style pizza, and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: It seems like a lot of the riders I interview were practically born on a horse, or close to it. How did you get started with horses and riding?
Bresch: It's kind of funny, I moved when I was really little, probably around 3, to a suburb (of Chicago) that is like a horse community, and my mom became best friends with our new neighbor who had horses. My mom started riding with them and then slowly but surely I was like, I want to ride horses.
That's kind of how I got into it. I then begged to start taking lessons and from there it just kind of grew.
Frierson: When did the competition part of it get started?
Bresch: I started taking lessons when I was around 4 and then I kind of just did that for four years or so. When I was about 8 I told my mom that I wanted to compete, and I begged and begged and begged, and then finally we moved to a competition barn and they found me a pony that I did my first competition on. From there I was like, yeah, I have to do this [laugh].
Frierson: Did you play other sports growing up and equestrian won out over them or was it all horses all the time?
Bresch: I played a bunch of different sports; I played lacrosse, I danced, I actually played ice hockey all the way through high school, but riding was definitely always my No. 1 priority.
Frierson: What position did you play in hockey and how into it were you?
Bresch: Both my brother and my dad play so we're a hockey family, we love hockey. I played forward, I kind of varied between the different forward positions. I was not into defense, at all [laughs]. I was definitely into it and I loved going to the games, but the practices were torture enough for me that I was willing to give it up for riding.
We're a huge hockey family, like we go to NHL games all the time. My dad still plays, my brother plays with his fraternity at his college, so we're all really into it.
Frierson: Do you miss having hockey around while you're down here in Athens?
Bresch: Yeah, I do, and it's hard because down here we don't get the channel that shows my home team's games, so if I want to watch it I've got to find the stream (online). I definitely miss being around hockey all the time; even in my hometown, our high school team is a pretty big deal. I do miss it being part of my everyday life.
Frierson: Was going into Chicago a regular thing growing up?
Bresch: It's funny, anybody you ask will tell you that I don't like the city. I'm not a city person, I don't like crowds, I don't like being in big places and stuff like that, but now being at school I miss Chicago so much [laughs].
I always went downtown during Christmas season and saw the lights. I do miss it more than I thought I was going to, because we never went downtown that much but we definitely made traditions out of going downtown. It's something that I kind of took for granted when I was so close to the city. Over the summer we try to go to the zoo that's downtown and stuff like that that I can appreciate more now that I'm down here more.
Frierson: I always ask Chicago people about the pizza. Is Chicago-style pizza your preferred kind of pizza? For me, one slice of that deep-dish is tasty but it also feels like I just ate four slices of a regular pizza?
Bresch: And that for me is why I'm not a deep-dish person. I love, love, love pizza, it's probably my favorite food, but I don't love tomatoes. For me, deep-dish pizza is just too much tomato.
It's funny, it's the same thing with the Chicago hot dog — I don't like the Chicago hot dog. I like ketchup on my hot dogs but a Chicagoan will argue with you to the death that ketchup doesn't belong on hot dogs.
Frierson: When you get to college and you're more in charge of your diet than you've ever been before, have you had to learn to be smart about what you eat?
Bresch: When I'm at home my mom cooks a ton, so she cooks almost every night. Coming to college, that was something I had to realize wasn't going to happen. However, this year I'm very lucky because my roommate loves to cook. She'll cook for us, but for lunch and stuff like that I have to think about it a little bit more. I'll be like, no, I can't just eat Goldfish for lunch, though sometimes I do.
I've been lucky with a roommate that loves to cook. Last year in the dorm, I had to utilize Grab-N-Go (the UGA training table) and of the free food that we got through athletics. It's been an adjustment in that way, for sure.
Frierson: How are you in the kitchen?
Bresch: Um, I can cook, I can follow directions really well, so if I have a recipe that's very detailed I can follow it and I can get it done and it's good. But I'm not good when something's vague, then I don't know what to do. I can't improvise in the kitchen, but as long as I have a recipe that's very detailed then I can do it.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there anything creative you do or wish you could do?
Bresch: I wish I did; I always say I wish I could sing. I played the piano a tiny bit growing up but that was short-lived when I was playing three different sports. I wish that I could.
It's funny, I'm in an art class right now and the projects are harder for me than they should be because my creative side is lacking a little bit [laughs].
Frierson: Is that why you took the art class, to maybe awaken that creative side?
Bresch: A little bit. I like art, I really do, like I love looking at art. My grandma's an artist and I do love art, I'm just not good at it [laughs]. It's been an interesting class for me, but good.
Frierson: As somebody that doesn't like crowds, how do you handle a Georgia football game?
Bresch: I love a football game [laughs]. I guess the difference with that is usually when we go to football games I'm standing with all of my teammates. I think being in a crowd but surrounded my everybody I know helps a lot. For some reason that doesn't really make me nervous.
When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup we went to the parade downtown in Chicago, and that was borderline traumatic [laughs]. An experience that I won't forget, for sure.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Â
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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.
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