Becky Burleigh is a big fan of symbolism.
Since the start of the season, the coach of the No. 10 Gators soccer team has presented both an orange rowing oar and a wilted yellow flower as a means of trying to convey a lesson to her players.
This week, Burleigh showed up to her weekly press conference with two items.
The first was a photo from Sunday’s 4-0 win at Jacksonville University.
Captured in the picture was redshirt junior goalkeeper Valerie Tysinger jumping into the arms of freshman goalie Kaylan Marckese following the game’s final whistle.
The moment was sparked by a penalty save by Marckese in the 85th minute of the match to help secure a clean sheet in the freshman’s first collegiate start.
The picture represents a concept that some athletes find hard to embrace: The inexistence of intra-team competition.
"It takes a really special person to be truly excited for someone else’s success," Burleigh said.
Tysinger is familiar with that type of mentality.
Until this season, she was the backup keeper for the recently departed Taylor Burke, one of the best goalies in program history — she’s tied for the most career shutouts at UF.
Now, even as the team’s primary goalkeeper, she still embraces the idea of sharing in the celebratory moments from the sidelines.
The second object was a green bouncy ball.
Following Friday’s 2-1 loss to No. 6 Texas A&M, as part of the team’s "watch the player, meet the person" campaign, the team gave a speech about resilience to the children whom attended the game.
The purpose of the Gators’ campaign is to show fans that the players are not just players, and that they can provide as much joy off the field as they do on it.
Burleigh said that what people tend to love about soccer is the human element.
"What people really relate to is the people," Burleigh said in reference to the game of soccer.
Along with the speech, each child received one of the green balls.
The ball symbolizes resilience, and just like a rubber ball, resilience involves recovery.
"Resilience is bouncing back from adversity." Burleigh said.
The type of feistiness that Burleigh harped on was evident during the loss to TAMU.
Despite the game being one of the sloppiest in recent history, filled with miscommunication and preventable errors, the Gators were still in the game following a goal in the 77th minute by junior forward Savannah Jordan.
It was a one-goal game the rest of the way, with Florida having the bulk of the momentum.
Poor play did not stop Florida from trying to regain traction that it lost earlier in the game, and the team almost came away with a tie in a game that seemed one-sided in its entirety.
Much like the green bouncy balls, Burleigh’s team was able to find a way to bounce back and get back into the game.
"That says a lot about our resilience."
Follow Kyle Brutman on Twitter @KBrut13
UF goalkeeper Val Tysinger (right) battles for possession with FSU forward Cheyna Williams (19) during Florida's 3-2 win on Aug. 30, 2015, at James G. Pressly Stadium.
