By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
With the losses piling up over the last few seasons for the women’s basketball team, Bowling Green State University has turned to someone who knows about winning.
Robyn Fralick comes from Division II Ashland University where her teams racked up 104 wins in her three seasons as head coach, including a Division II record of 73 wins in a row. In her time there – seven as an assistant coach and three as a head coach – the team won two national championships and was runner-up twice.
She wants to bring those winning ways to Bowling Green.
Fralick talked about her aspirations for her team Thursday as the speaker at the Chamber of Commerce’s Mid-Year Awards Program.
Making the move to Bowling Green was not easy. The Michigan native enjoyed her decade at Ashland. “I feel I grew up there.”
Fralick met and married her husband in Ashland, and that’s where their two children were born. But they found in Bowling Green “a community we not only could, but wanted to raise our family.”
“We’re very, very excited to be part of the community. We love a place where kids can ride on their bikes and feel safe and comfortable.”
At Ashland, she had a mentor in Sue Ramsey, the head coach who hired her. Two of Ramsey’s core beliefs, Fralick said, were: “Take care of people and take care of details. … She lived it out every day. You cannot steal her joy.”
Fralick said she also learned from Ramsey to never let how people treat you dictate how you treat them.
She carried those lessons with her as she took over as head coach.
The 73-win streak was “cool,” she said. “It was less about the number. It was everything about the how and why.” It showed what could be accomplished “when a group of people decide that working hard matters, when a group of people commit every day.”
“It’s not about who you’re playing, it’s about playing the game in the right way for 40 minutes. … When those things are in place good things happen.”
She’s hoping to impart those lessons at Bowling Green. One of her core values is toughness. At Ashland her team scored a 100 points a game. “We played really hard and played at a pace that required a level of toughness not every team willing to do.”
For the Falcons that’s a change “for them play with that pace and play the right way.”
When recruiting “we want to take players who are every-possession players. You can count on them every possession in the game.”
She also wants players who will take advantage of what’s available to them at BGSU. Noting that the Stroh Center is open to players 24 hours day, seven days a week, she said if an athlete leaves the school and is not a good player, it’s on them.
Fralick said she recently had a conversation that pleased her. The athlete told her that in her first two seasons she was only excited about what she could do. This season she was excited about what the team can do.
The players “have an absolute obligation to this community,” Fralick said. She was impressed when 200 people turned out recently for a reception for the team. “This community has made this an attractive place to be and attractive place for players to play.”
Despite its recent problems, the program has an esteemed heritage. Over the last 15 years, it has been one of the best mid-major programs in the country and the best in its conference.
Fralick expressed optimism that the team is moving in the right direction. “We’re taking steps, and we’re seeing progress.”
