Field Hockey, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Chase Utley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating Council Rock North for the league title in 2013
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: One time my teammate came out of the game and said she was starving, so I had to go buy her a pretzel.
Music on iPod: Justin Timberlake
Future plans: Go to college and become an engineer
Words to live by: “There may be people with more talent than you, but there is no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” – Derek Jeter
One goal before turning 30: Become an expert at something
One thing people don’t know about me: I know every line in A Cinderella Story, starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray
By Mary Jane Souder
Katie Bagdon.
Mention the Council Rock senior’s name to her coaches, and they can’t speak highly enough about her. Not because of her accomplishments – although she is a standout athlete – but rather because of the person she is.
“Katie is probably the most coachable player I have ever had,” field hockey coach Lisa Belz said. “When I say coachable, that means a lot to me that she is willing to do whatever it takes for the best of the team.”
“She’s amazing,” lacrosse coach Ashley Muenker said. “Her team trusts her, they love her, and they look up to her. She’s just a devoted athlete.
“She’s the kind of athlete you want every single one of your players to be like.”
Belz recalls her senior captain’s selfless response when the Golden Hawks recently lost back-to-back games.
"We were talking about changing the lineup, and she said, 'I will play wherever. I just want to win,'" she said of her center mid. "That says a lot about a player. It's not about her. It's about what's best for the team."
Ask Bagdon about her offer to change positions, and the Rock South senior doesn't find it unusual at all.
"The team is my priority," she said. "That's the reason I'm playing is to make everyone else successful.
"I could easily play for myself, but that's just not as satisfying for me. I just think it's a team sport, and I want my team to succeed. The league championship means more to me than anything else."
Bagdon’s approach to sports may be, as she suggests, the by-product of her family – she is the youngest of four children and only girl.
“We played sports in the backyard growing up all the time,” she said. “I think they made me competitive.”
Or it just might be her make up, but whatever the case, Bagdon plays sports for all the right reasons, and she is the captain of both her field hockey and lacrosse teams this year.
“She’s an excellent role model and leader to our younger players,” Belz said. “She’s really, really positive and upbeat, and the girls really look up to her.
“I’m just thrilled to have her as a captain, as a leader.”
The field hockey squad couldn’t have asked for a better leader when – over the Labor Day holiday weekend – three of its students lost their lives in a tragic automobile accident.
“I think we got to see how strong our school community really is and how strong our team is because everyone had each other’s backs and tried to pick each other up,” Bagdon said. “It was so close to the beginning of the school year, and we were able to band together. It was a very unifying experience.”
***
Interestingly, swimming was the sport of choice for Katie’s brothers, and her brother, Bob Bagdon, is the boys’ swimming coach at Rock South.
Bagdon chose her own path, opting for soccer, basketball and gymnastics.
“For some reason, swimming just never really interested me,” she said. “I’ve been to tons of swim meets, but I never swam in one.”
She began playing field hockey in seventh grade at the suggestion of her mother, Jane Bagdon, who had played in high school.
“When you had to pick sports in fall, a lot of girls were picking volleyball, but my mom kept telling me to do field hockey,” she said. “I kind of went out because there were not a lot of girls trying out.
“It was really hard to pick up at first, so I really struggled with it. A part of me wanted to quit because I wasn’t so good at it. I was glad I stuck with it because I ended up falling in love with it.”
The fact that hockey was a perfect fit should not be a surprise.
“It might be because I’m more of a team oriented person, and running and swimming are more geared to individuals,” Bagdon said.
Bagdon was the lone freshman to earn a spot on the varsity, and she started the final two games of the season. She’s been a fixture in the starting lineup ever since.
“It was definitely a little unnerving at first,” she said of being the lone freshman. “But the girls on the team then and the culture of our team now – we’re so accepting and helpful, and they were so nice to me. There was no reason for me to be nervous.”
Over the years, Bagdon – who has been part of the Mystx club program - has played just about every position for Belz, and she played them all well, earning all-league in each of the last two years.
“Katie has an excellent work ethic, stick work and ability to see the field well," the Golden Hawks' coach said. "Her off ball movement is outstanding as well as her ability to receive and distribute the ball under pressure.
"She is intense and competitive but at the same time very composed which makes her a standout player on the field. She has had an important role on offensive and defensive corners the last two years. Her leadership on and off the field are exemplary, her positive attitude and willingness to persevere through adversity are just a few qualities that make her an excellent role model."
Last year, she was a second team all-league midfielder for a Golden Hawk squad that captured the program’s first SOL National Conference title.
“It was awesome to see the program develop and get so much better from when I was a freshman,” Bagdon said.
The Golden Hawks won the title in dramatic fashion, upending Council Rock North 4-3 in overtime in the winner-take-all final regular season game.
“It was very momentous,” Bagdon said. “We had never beaten North before, and it was definitely very satisfying as an upperclassmen to get that league championship.”
Bagdon is equally versatile on the lacrosse field where she has been a two-year starter.
“Last year, she just filled spots that were really, really hard to fill,” Muenker said. “If we wanted to take someone from the other team out of the game, she’s the person I would put on them. She just mirrored the, wouldn’t let them go.
“I trusted her to completely take a person out of the game for us, and she did it every time without question. She filled spots defensively, but I trusted her taking the ball up the field and scoring.”
Bagdon hopes to continue her field hockey career at the collegiate level.
“I’m not really sure if I want to pursue it at a Division III school or maybe just playing in a club program,” she said.
When it comes time to choose a college, academics will come first for Bagdon, a distinguished honor roll student who is enrolled in three AP Classes. She is a member of Rock South’s National Honor Society as well as the German, Math, English and Social Studies Honor Societies.
She is hoping to turn her love of physics into a career with a possible engineering major. Bagdon developed her passion for physics last year, and she credits her teacher, Joe Warwick.
“He really made me enjoy the subject matter,” she said.
Whether she continues her athletic career or not, Bagdon acknowledges she wouldn’t have wanted to miss the experiences she has had competing in high school sports.
“It gives you a sense of belonging in the school,” she said. “Especially in our school, it’s pretty large. You have teammates and something to do after school every day. It’s a nice outlet.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t even imagine where I’d be without it.”
Just as her coach undoubtedly can't imagine the field hockey team without her.
"I am so proud of all that she has accomplished on and off the field," Belz said. "I am confident that she will be very successful thorughout her life."
