Brother Role Model for Gators' Liz Green
Friday, January 14, 2011 | Gymnastics
When Liz Green received her 2010 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships ring, she knew she had to tell her older brother, Cole.
He was more than 1,000 miles away in Austin, Texas. Now a senior pitcher on the University of Texas baseball team and the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Green has served as a guiding light in the scholar-athlete role for his two-year younger sister.
Liz sent her brother a picture message with her newfound shiny prize.
Cole simply responded with his own picture message: his hand, studded with five rings. It served as a reminder and sign of the possibilities of team success. It served as a goal to work towards.
And while the two trade friendly banter over their measured athletic accomplishments, they know they are each other's biggest fans. Liz showed up to a practice the week of the team's first gymnastics meet against Nebraska, clad in a Longhorns sweatshirt.
“No trash talking,” Liz said. “We support each other.”
For Cole, it's easier to support the Gators versus noted Texas rival, Oklahoma.
When Liz was in the recruiting process, the Sooners showed interest to Cole's burnt-orange dismay.
“I was like 'Oh, man, that can't happen,'” he said.
“I'm a Florida fan, especially because of her,” he said. “I'll wear it, maybe not on campus, but I'll wear it.”
Ironically, the first time Cole saw his younger sister compete on the college level was in Norman, Okla., when Oklahoma played host to UF for the 2010 season opener.
In the 2011 season, Cole — for the first time ever — was able to make the trip to Gainesville to see his sister thrive at the Stephen O'Connell Center, just as he's excelled on the mound at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
“I (was) excited for him to see a little bit of my side,” Liz said. “I've seen him do his thing at Texas. It'll be different for him to see our crowd and how much support we get.”
And in front of 5,000-plus fans at the season-opening win over Nebraska, Liz' brother was not disappointed, albeit nervous watching his sister compete.
“I get nervous watching her more than I do with myself, when you're there you're in the moment,” he said. “When you gotta sit there and watch her walk on a (four-inch wide) beam, yeah it's nerve-wracking for me.”
She has the same reaction watching him pitch when she catches his games.
Both are well aware of the challenges and rigors of being student athletes — of balancing academic demands with athletic ones.
Even though when the two were coming up in Coppell, Liz trained more hours weekly and was touted by her brother as “the real athlete of the family.”
Veiled under the guise of teasing, the brother and sister duo have long used that competitive edge to push each other. Cole said they get their competitiveness from their mom, Vivian.
Whenever Liz pledged to work a certain number of hours, Cole vowed to match it.
When Cole made better grades in the fall, he was quick to let his sister — by both siblings' accounts, the better student — know.
But through all the jabbering and jovial quips traded, the bond between Liz and Cole transcends a 95 mile-per-hour fastball or a 10.0-start value routine.
Cole has long served as a mentor with advice for his sister: from time management, to handling things, the recruiting process and how to just do what was going to make her happy in college.
“He's a great role model, and a great leader for me,” Liz said. “It's nice to have a brother like that. We don't have but like twice a year that we even get to see each other, and so for the time that we do, we try to spend as much time as possible — just hang out.”
By Eugenio Torrens, UF Communications
