Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Adam Sparkes
A Little Grit & A Little Growth
10/13/2021 11:22:00 AM | Soccer
Amanda Britain makes the most of it in surging CMU soccer program
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It takes talent, no question about it. Speed? Yes. Ball skills? Of course.
But there is more to it than that. Just as a good pizza comes with varying ingredients and toppings, so too does a good team.
Amanda Britain is one of those ingredients. A key ingredient, and she brings something that can be difficult to quantify.
A coach knows it when he sees it.
"She's an extremely competitive person which is a really good thing for our team," third-year CMU soccer coach Jeremy Groves said of Britain, a senior midfielder. "She's the most competitive person on the team and she pulls everybody else up around her in terms of that.
"Since Day 1, it's always been her competing and her working hard, which has been a huge plus for our program."
Britain, who grew up in suburban Detroit's Wolverine Lake, came to CMU in 2018 after a year at Mount St. Mary's. She joined a Chippewa roster that included her sister, Morgan, who has since earned a degree in mechanical engineering and is working for the Ford Motor Company.
During Amanda Britain's first year at CMU, she played center back, a sign that she was sure-footed, levelheaded, and possessed a strong instinct for the game. She appeared in 17 games with two starts.
When Groves arrived at CMU before the 2019 season, he moved Britain to the midfield and she has started every game since, 38 and counting.
"I always say I'm happy to be anywhere on the field rather than off the field," said Britain, who has two goals this season, four in her career.
Midfield allowed her some creativity, and it brought with it an increase in the number of times she might come into contact with an opponent during any given game.
And that was, and is, just fine with her.
"I'm not the quickest one out on the field and I know that – I'm well aware of that," Britain said. "But being tough is the way that I can compete. Not everyone wants to put a tackle in. I'm not that finesse player and that's OK with me.
"I'm not a flashy player. I take it into my identity that, hey, hard work's going to get me where I need to be."
In a sense, Britain symbolizes what the Chippewas have become under Groves: hard-nosed and a team that will battle until the very end. It's been a transformation and the steps weren't always easy.
The callouses and the battle scars are earned, and it started with conditioning on hot August days back in 2019.
"It was all about building that toughness," Britain said. "You've got to break some eggs to make an omelet.
"I think as time's gone on, we understand that it isn't punishment or anything like that. It's like, 'This is what we need to do to be the team we want to be.' Either you're going with or you're getting left behind. It's like, 'Lace up your boots and let's go.'"
Evidence of the Chippewas' grit – and Britain surely epitomizes that – has manifest itself in the results. CMU enters Thursday's game at Toledo at 7-5, 4-2 and tied for fourth in the Mid-American Conference with five games remaining. The top six teams in the standings earn a berth in the league tournament.
The Chippewas are 3-1 in extra-time games, and all but one of their matches has been decided by one goal. They take a four-game win streak into Thursday's game; two of those wins came in extra time and the fourth, a 1-0 victory at Buffalo on Sunday, came when the Chippewas scored in the final minute and they won despite a 23-10 deficit in shots.
"All of our games have just been battles," Britain said. "There have been games where maybe I've felt like we had the better team and didn't pull off the win. But no matter what, we've always had that fight."
Britain earned her degree last spring with a major in marketing and a minor in legal studies. She graduated with a 3.92 grade point average, has twice in her career earned Academic All-MAC honors and is working toward a master's in business administration.
She has taken advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of COVID-19 and plans to make the absolute most of it.
"We've been given another year to keep playing the sport we love and to get another chance at getting a (championship) ring," she said. "Everyone wants a ring, everyone wants to be a winner, and so we get one last shot at it, and I couldn't be more excited to do it."
Whatever the result, Britain certainly has embraced her role.
"I think it's just being, like, gritty," she said. "You're going to have ups and downs in games, but that's something that I can personally always bring to the table, and I hope that that's what (Groves) sees in me when he puts me out there."
But there is more to it than that. Just as a good pizza comes with varying ingredients and toppings, so too does a good team.
Amanda Britain is one of those ingredients. A key ingredient, and she brings something that can be difficult to quantify.
A coach knows it when he sees it.
"She's an extremely competitive person which is a really good thing for our team," third-year CMU soccer coach Jeremy Groves said of Britain, a senior midfielder. "She's the most competitive person on the team and she pulls everybody else up around her in terms of that.
"Since Day 1, it's always been her competing and her working hard, which has been a huge plus for our program."
Britain, who grew up in suburban Detroit's Wolverine Lake, came to CMU in 2018 after a year at Mount St. Mary's. She joined a Chippewa roster that included her sister, Morgan, who has since earned a degree in mechanical engineering and is working for the Ford Motor Company.
During Amanda Britain's first year at CMU, she played center back, a sign that she was sure-footed, levelheaded, and possessed a strong instinct for the game. She appeared in 17 games with two starts.
When Groves arrived at CMU before the 2019 season, he moved Britain to the midfield and she has started every game since, 38 and counting.
"I always say I'm happy to be anywhere on the field rather than off the field," said Britain, who has two goals this season, four in her career.
Midfield allowed her some creativity, and it brought with it an increase in the number of times she might come into contact with an opponent during any given game.
And that was, and is, just fine with her.
"I'm not the quickest one out on the field and I know that – I'm well aware of that," Britain said. "But being tough is the way that I can compete. Not everyone wants to put a tackle in. I'm not that finesse player and that's OK with me.
"I'm not a flashy player. I take it into my identity that, hey, hard work's going to get me where I need to be."
In a sense, Britain symbolizes what the Chippewas have become under Groves: hard-nosed and a team that will battle until the very end. It's been a transformation and the steps weren't always easy.
The callouses and the battle scars are earned, and it started with conditioning on hot August days back in 2019.
"It was all about building that toughness," Britain said. "You've got to break some eggs to make an omelet.
"I think as time's gone on, we understand that it isn't punishment or anything like that. It's like, 'This is what we need to do to be the team we want to be.' Either you're going with or you're getting left behind. It's like, 'Lace up your boots and let's go.'"
Evidence of the Chippewas' grit – and Britain surely epitomizes that – has manifest itself in the results. CMU enters Thursday's game at Toledo at 7-5, 4-2 and tied for fourth in the Mid-American Conference with five games remaining. The top six teams in the standings earn a berth in the league tournament.
The Chippewas are 3-1 in extra-time games, and all but one of their matches has been decided by one goal. They take a four-game win streak into Thursday's game; two of those wins came in extra time and the fourth, a 1-0 victory at Buffalo on Sunday, came when the Chippewas scored in the final minute and they won despite a 23-10 deficit in shots.
"All of our games have just been battles," Britain said. "There have been games where maybe I've felt like we had the better team and didn't pull off the win. But no matter what, we've always had that fight."
Britain earned her degree last spring with a major in marketing and a minor in legal studies. She graduated with a 3.92 grade point average, has twice in her career earned Academic All-MAC honors and is working toward a master's in business administration.
She has taken advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of COVID-19 and plans to make the absolute most of it.
"We've been given another year to keep playing the sport we love and to get another chance at getting a (championship) ring," she said. "Everyone wants a ring, everyone wants to be a winner, and so we get one last shot at it, and I couldn't be more excited to do it."
Whatever the result, Britain certainly has embraced her role.
"I think it's just being, like, gritty," she said. "You're going to have ups and downs in games, but that's something that I can personally always bring to the table, and I hope that that's what (Groves) sees in me when he puts me out there."
Players Mentioned
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