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Bolt Leads Team to Success
by Patrick Creaven, Daily 49er
October 24, 2006
With the phone against his ear, slouched in his couch, Long Beach State
women's head soccer coach Mauricio Ingrassia was feeling demoralized.
His all-star recruit, the player he had known since she was 12 years old,
who he coached for the Olympic Development Program, who even graduated
from the same high school he did, was on the phone - and it didn't sound
good.
Ingrassia was in a tough recruiting battle with the University of San
Diego for one of the top midfielders in the country, Hayley Bolt.
Bolt called Ingrassia to tell him her decision, but the crafty midfielder
made her new coach sweat it out until the very end.
"[Bolt] called and from the way she was talking it sounded like she
wasn't going to come here," Ingrassia said. "Then at the end
she said, 'So I've decided to go to Long Beach State.' I went from being
down to incredibly excited."
Ingrassia's excitement has proved to be understandable.
Bolt has been the playmaker for the 49ers in her first two years at LBSU.
She has scored 15 goals and has 12 assists in her young 49er career. The
year before Bolt came to LBSU, the women's soccer team had a record of
6-9-3. In the two years Bolt has been the central midfielder on the 49ers
LBSU is 25-8-5.
The modest Bolt is the first person to acknowledge that she alone doesn't
deserve all the credit for the turn around, but her teammates know she
is a pivotal part of the team.
"[Bolt] is the center of our team. She puts pressure on defense and
scores goals on offense," said teammate Sahar Haghden. "I'm
so thankful she is on my team so I don't have to play against her."
Bolt's coach knows that her success comes from a lot of hard work.
"She is the most fit player on the team," Ingrassia said. "She
works as hard as anyone an it pays off. She is a big reason why Long Beach
State is where it is today."
Even though Bolt is probably the leading candidate for Big West Player
of the Year, she is by no means content with her performance.
"I'm my toughest critic," Bolt said. "Sometimes I'm too
tough on myself. It is something that I have battled with my entire soccer
career."
This summer, Bolt read a book about sports psychology and she said it
has helped her keep a positive attitude when she is on the field. Once
her soccer career is over, she said she might even become a sports psychologist.
"I'm currently undeclared, but I think I'm going to be a psychology
major," Bolt said. "How people are motivated, why people feel
anxiety is all very intriguing to me."
When Bolt doesn't have her cleats or shin guards on, she has a relaxed
personality.
Last week, when the soccer team was on the road in Davis, Calif., Bolt
and Haghden decided to have some fun with their teammates.
The players were in their hotel rooms watching "Grey's Anatomy."
During commercial breaks, Bolt and Haghden decided to ambush their teammates
in the other rooms, using pillows as their weapons.
"We ran into rooms and started pounding people with pillows and then
quickly ran out," Haghden said. "The funny part is we got all
quiet once we got back in our rooms, and someone else got blamed for the
noise."
Hopefully, for her teammates' sake, Bolt isn't as good as a pillow fighter
as she is a midfielder.
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