Student-Athlete Spotlight: Bailey Turner
The Bridgewater State Bears Field Hockey team has three captains for the 2022 season, and one of them is senior forward Bailey Turner. Turner is a senior who is double-majoring in Psychology and Elementary Education, and is a student in the 5-year Special Education program.
Turner started out her college career at Bryn Mawr College out of Pennsylvania where she played field hockey during her freshman year. In her freshman year, she scored 6 goals and had 1 assist. During the 2018 season, Turner won Offensive player of the Week from the Centennial Conference. She redshirted due to injury in her sophomore year. She transferred to BSU and has played the last two seasons for them. Last season, Turner passed one assist with 6 shots in 15 games. This season, she has played all four games with only one shot on goal thus far.
Turner said that she participated in a field hockey training camp and then started playing for the local club team at 11 years old. Then, she played for the Noble and Greenough Bulldogs, a private school in Dedham. She also played girls ice hockey, and softball on their varsity teams for all four years.
During her time as a Bear, she has won many academic awards. She was named a 2021 Scholar of Distinction by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). This award goes to the field hockey players who earned a cumulative grade-point average of 3.9 or higher through the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. Turner earned a 3.97 GPA for the 2021 fall semester. She also has a place in the 2021 NFHCA Division III National Academic Squad for athletes with a GPA of 3.3 or higher for the first semester. She also was a member of the MASCAC All-Academic Team and the Fall 2021 Little East Conference (LEC) Honor Roll.
Field Hockey coach Ashley Bishop said that Turner has a unique perspective, is a strong leader, and is the most experienced captain on the team.
Turner’s biggest goal for this season is to “bring the team together, change the team culture, and to be a more competitive team.” Turner commented how the team is more positive and optimistic this season than in her previous years.
After this year, Turner is planning to move on to student teaching and is hoping to coach field hockey in the future with a town, club or college team.
