Soccer Standout Begič Standing Tall for Gators
Thursday, September 11, 2014 | Soccer
By RJ Schaffer
GatorZone.com Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Pamela Begič is six feet tall. Her hair is shaven on both sides of her head with a long strip of blonde hair flowing down the middle. On her wrist is a tattoo of a pair of cherries made in dedication to her mother's name, Visnja, which directly translates to “sour cherries.”
Eclectic might be the first word that comes to mind to describe Begič. Yet, to try and define the Florida soccer standout with just one word would be difficult.
Hailing from Semic, Slovenia, the sophomore midfielder may catch eyes and ears for her appearance and diverse personality, but she has something the best athletes possess: the ability to alter the outcome of any game.
Look no further than Florida's huge 2-1 road win at second-ranked Florida State last week, a game in which Begič was responsible for the first goal of the match -- a team-work play of a beauty, following passes from Tessa Andujar and Savannah Jordan -- and then topped it off by delivering the pass on Betsy Middleton's winning goal.
“I think the first [goal] started with Tessa's great ball in and Savannah athletic touch,” Begič said. “It was perfect. We do that kind of stuff all the time with our shots and crosses, and I just placed it in.”
Though she makes it sound routine, those two plays weren't against any run-of-the-mill team.
As if the rivalry factor wasn't enough, the Seminoles, who lost to UCLA in overtime in the NCAA title match last year, were out to build on a 36-0-1 consecutive home unbeaten record. UF, which had not won at Florida State since 2010, snapped that string.
“Last year, I honestly didn't have an idea of the rivalry and stuff,” she said. “Everyone was talking about it. 'Oh, it's going to be tough.'”
Call it part of Begič 's acclimation.
As if going to college isn't a significant milestone in the lives of most young adults, with its scenery and lifestyle changes, Begič came to UF from a foreign country. She had some built-in assimilation skills, though, thanks to her ability to speak six languages. In any of those six, she quickly learned, Florida-Florida State translated to a rivalry.
Virtually anyone living in the Sunshine State understands the intense passion between the two schools, but did Begič get more fired up to play against the Seminoles?
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” said Begič , who now has five goals in her UF career. “Especially because it's a top-10 team, it's just a different mentality I think going into those games. It's just great to play, it was a great atmosphere and everything was just perfect.”
Especially the ending.
But now comes another top-10 challenge. Both Begič and the sixth-ranked Gators (4-1) hope to pad the team's momentum of last weekend when they head cross-country to take on No. 4 Stanford (4-0-1) at Palo Alto, Calif.
For Begič, it'll mark yet another lengthy trip in her personal journey; one that's included a journey within a journey even since her time on the UF campus.
Last year, the UF women's basketball team was dealing with low roster numbers. Begič, who played three years of high school basketball in Slovenia, took her 6-foot frame to the hardwood after soccer season ended, joined that program and trained and practiced with those Gators during the offseason. Though she never got in a game for Amanda Butler's NCAA Tournament-bound squad last spring, Begič provided a much-needed athletic body and depth at practice, while helping a different set of UF teammates grow.
“I think those two communities are really different, so it's just given her more opportunity to become more of a community builder,” Florida soccer coach Beckly Burleigh said. “I think one of the things we always say is, 'Echo the call.' That's stolen directly from her from basketball. I guess when they call a play, they say, 'Echo the call.' We do that now. So, there's some things specific like that. Broad things are just like the way that she brings groups together.”
Middleton, a transfer from Miami, has witnessed Begič's ability to bring a group together.
“She's the easiest person to work with in the world,” Middleton said. “I mean, she's got the greatest personality and she's very welcoming. She brings this energy where you can't help but be energized by her. In the middle of the field, she's just great at directing and she's great at keeping the ball and staying composed, so it's easy to be composed with her.”
Ultimately, Begič was brought to the program by Burleigh not just because of her grasp of the game or height advantage, but in hopes that she could help the team compete for championships; conference and beyond.
Leading your team past the No. 2 club in the nation in the first week of September is a very good start.
“This year I've seen [more compared to last year], I've done it,” Begič said. “I'm like, “OK, let's go. I want to go after it. A national championship; that's what we want.”
