Bailey Frick switched form softball to soccer in her junior year and, with her father's coaching, became a standout goalie for North Stanly.
Courtesy photo
Ever since she was young when spring rolled around,
Bailey Frick got out her glove. It was softball season.
But in her junior year, Frick had a change of heart. After her dad, J.K., took over as the
North Stanly (New London, N.C.) girls soccer coach, he had a request to Bailey.
" 'Why don't you just come play?' " Bailey Frick recalled her father asking. "I'd played softball since I was 7 years old and I was really nervous about it. But I decided to drop softball and pick up soccer."
Frick was excited to play a new sport. And she was ready to take on the challenge of becoming a goalie.
J.K. Frick helped lead North Stanly to the 1993 state championship as a goalie and went on to play college soccer. He was eager to teach his daughter the ropes of being between the pipes.
"I saw how he had nine shutouts in high school and how he worked really hard and that kind of inspired me to really work and kind of fill his shoes," Bailey Frick said. "I just really loved it. He got me to do agility and all these different types of things to work at it and get better. I just really wanted to be as close to as good as he was."
The father-daughter duo worked diligently. Bailey Frick needed some time to adjust to soccer, but she seemed like a natural from the first practice.
At 5-foot-10, she has good height and reach for a goalie. Her instincts are also well above average. Since she had an extensive background in softball, she was well trained in diving for balls.
"With her already being able to dive, it made my life a little bit easier training her the right way to dive and correcting it a little bit," coach Frick said. "But Bailey is the type of person where she sets her mind to it that she's going to try to make the best out of it no matter what the obstacles are."
Frick, who turns 18 at the end of May, stepped in right away last year as a junior and started in net. It was baptism by fire in her first season. She surrendered 112 goals while securing 215 saves on the season.
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That first year was a valuable teaching tool on how to be an effective keeper.
"It taught me to always stay on my toes and work really hard and really that it's not all about me, it's about whole team," she said. "I'm the last point and if I don't stop the ball we're not going to win. I wanted to take all my knowledge and throw it into my senior year so we'd have a really good senior year and a good year for the rest of the teammates."
Frick worked with a personal trainer in the off season on agility and weightlifting. She also spent valuable time with her dad in net, facing plenty of shots on goal, punching potential scoring opportunities out of the crease and punting the ball on free kicks.
This year was a vast improvement for the North Stanly team as well as Frick. The Comets went from a last-place finish in conference in 2017 to a fourth-place finish. Frick dropped her goals against average in half to (3.44), had an 80.4 save percentage and notched a pair of shutouts.
"It's been a great season for Bailey," coach Frick said. "For saves, she was No. 1 in the state for a while and I think she's No. 2 right now. In the nation, she was in the top 10, and I'm pretty sure she's still in the top 10."
Coach Frick was surprised his daughter had such a strong season in just her second year playing goalie.
"I wish I would have had her at a whole lot younger age," the coach said. "There's no tell what she would become. For her in two years to be where she's at right now is amazing. Absolutely amazing."
Frick was a solid goalie during regular game action, but it's in one-on-one situations where she thrived. As a junior, Frick faced 15 penalty kicks and recorded 11 saves.
"If we go down to penalty kicks, I don't stress one bit," coach Frick said. "Bailey has learned, and I taught Bailey, if you're watching the kicker and right before they kick the ball, they're going where they're going to kick the ball. At this age, they're going to look where they're going to kick the ball, and she has taken that and ran with it. Sometimes she's there before the ball gets there. It's unreal."
In only the second year in the program, Bailey Frick had the respect of her teammates to be named a captain as a senior.
"I really just try to be the best leader possible for my team and it just really means a lot to me that they voted me for captain," she said.
Before soccer started to consume all of Frick's time during the offseason, she was a steady volleyball player for North Stanly. She was a three-year varsity starter at right side.
"I love playing sports all year long," Frick said. "I love always having to be doing something — being on some type of field or court."
It's also important for Frick to be active in school. She's the treasurer for National Honor Society and is on the Student Advisory Board, providing suggestions to the superintendent to make the school a better place for the students. Frick, who has a 4.2 weighted grade point average, holds her biggest role as the senior class president. She has helped make decisions for graduation, which is June 9, along with other day-to-day activities within the school.
Just like in athletics, Frick loves being a leader for her peers.
"I don't do it for me," Frick said. "I go around and ask people what they think about ideas. I really make sure I bring the whole class together so that everybody has a say and an opinion that's valued."
Through school, Frick is able to log plenty of volunteer hours. One day a year, she helps with a Special Olympics event and is paired up with a buddy. She assists her athlete all day with events.
"I love that I get to help people," Frick said. "It's really fun to help special educational students and helping them win their races and do certain events. It's really just a great experience."
Through student council, Frick takes part in Operation Christmas Child on an annual basis. She travels to Charlotte and packages shoe boxes to children in foreign countries who don't receive Christmas presents. This past year, the presents were shipped to Uganda.
Frick is also quick to take an initiative on projects. When her aunt started the Tiny Rays of Sunshine Foundation — an organization that helps families with infertility issues — Frick wanted to host a 5K event to raise money for the organization. According to her dad, Bailey Frick took it upon herself as a freshman to organize the Valentine's Day event and make sure everything went off without a hitch.
Frick will head off to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the fall where she will be an education major with the dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. Her passion to work with young kids has been further reinforced by being involved with her school's Teacher Cadet Program. Every day during this school year, Frick has been able work with a kindergarten class for a one-hour block. She assists the teacher and does different activities with the students.
"I just fell in love with the students and I love that part of where they're learning the alphabet and numbers," Frick said. "I just love that school experience with them."
"The main reason she wants to go into education, it's not money, obviously, it's to make a difference," said Frick's dad. "She wants to make a difference, and that's a stage she can make a difference with the young kids going into the future. That's her goal. She knows she has a voice when she gets in that type of position to really talk to the kids, work with the kids and the administration, and that's what she's about."
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