By: Chris Gerlach
The bench is a lonely place for a player. It is big at a place like Freedom Hall in Louisville. You sit on the bench and watch your teammates play the game. You want to get into the game. You were the best player at your high school. You should be playing. Why am I not playing? I am a good player; I should be out there on the court right now. The team would be doing better with me on the court.
Not for this player.
“I love the bench. Riding the bench is super fun. We plan celebrations before games. We flex our arms when a charge is taken. You can ride the bench and pout, or you can ride the bench and go crazy.”
That is the voice of Lucy Robertson. She is 19, from Crandall, Indiana and attended North Harrison High School. She is a freshman on the Bellarmine Knights women’s basketball team. She doesn’t mind riding the bench because she knows her time will come.
“I get five to fifteen minutes a game, depending on the opponent,” Lucy said, “I learn so much from the bench. What I am thinking on the bench is what the set is, how the team is running a 2-3 zone or man and the change ups that coach installs. I really pay attention to the game because I know in the future that my time will come.”
Lucy’s first love in sports wasn’t basketball. She played soccer from the time she was walking until she graduated high school. She led her high school to a win in the sectionals, which was the first time for North Harrison High School. She didn’t start playing basketball until seventh grade. The high school coach told her to be at tryouts for basketball in seventh grade. She made the team, and the rest is history. Basketball was officially her favorite sport.
“Lucy contributes a lot of positivity to the team,” said Lauren Deel, a senior forward, “She is very athletic and mobile for being 6’3 and knows how to score the ball. She has so much potential and will be a lot of fun to watch in the future. Her downfall is lack of confidence, once she gets that she is going to eat other post players alive.”
“Lucy brings size and a pure work ethic,” said senior guard Tasia Jefferies, “She has a great personality and refuses to have a bad day. Lucy has no downfalls; I try to teach all of the freshmen to have more confidence. That is important in young players.”
This young player has had odds to face in life. Two-and-a-half years ago, Lucy and her siblings found out that their dad was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. It is an auto immune disease. Bacteria enters the lungs and causes long-term breathing problems. It happens to the healthiest of people and Lucy’s dad got it. It was difficult for Lucy and her siblings because their father was always active.
“He is a runner, he has always been active,” Lucy said, “Then came the time after he was diagnosed that he couldn’t even make it up the stairs. Halfway up the stairs, he would put his hands on his knees and be out of breath.”
Lucy’s dad was given a diagnosis of two years to live. It was terminal. She remembers the day she found out.
“This all happened during basketball season in high school,” Lucy said, “Whenever you have such a big thing weighing on your shoulders, you think about it 24/7 and you wake up thinking about it, that two hours of basketball practice is precious to get your mind off of it. It is tougher riding the bench and have those thoughts on your mind, than to be out there playing the game.”
Her dad was still young, at 54 he struggled with this disease. His time was becoming shorter. He would need a lung transplant in order to survive. However, Lucy’s dad is a fighter and came out on the better side of life.
“The good news is, that he is now, no longer terminal,” Lucy said, “He is at 50% lung capacity now and no longer needs a transplant. It just goes to show you how precious life can be, it really is.”
Her parents have supported her all her life and throughout her sports career. They want her to succeed and do it on her own will.
“What haven’t my parents done for me to influence me?” Lucy said, “If I up and said, I don’t think basketball is for me anymore, they would say, ok. They are totally supportive of what I do, but at the same time they also challenge me. They would say, why, what do you want to do. They have influenced me in so many ways. The way my personality is and the way I look at people. I like to meet new people, so I am an extrovert and I like to be a presence in people’s lives. I don’t want to bring people down with me. I look at the positive side in life.”
Lucy is a nursing major at Bellarmine. She wants to be a nurse practitioner and help save lives. She wants to be on the front line of being a first responder. That is where she sees herself in 10 years, as well as being married with a couple of kids.
Now, just a few fun facts about Lucy. Her favorite food is chicken enchiladas. Her favorite movie is Avengers Infinity Wars. Her favorite song is Bohemian Rhapsody, favorite sports hero is Abby Womback and the person or persons who have been an influence in her life are Missy Boyles who was her high school coach and of course her mom and dad.
That’s not bad for a 19-year-old bench rider. You can either pout or learn from the bench. The bench often teaches us life lessons. The bench of life always shows us the good and bad. It’s the way we shape our life, and Lucy is on her way.