Parkers Chapel freshman has lots of shoes to wear
Parkers Chapel's Bella Frisby has yet to meet a sport she doesn't like. The freshman currently competes in golf, tennis and cross country and plans to play, at least, five sports before the year concludes.
So far, she's proven to be pretty darned good at all of them, including golf, which she just started playing late in the spring.
“I started playing golf at the end of this May. My family and I would go play golf to give us something to do during quarantine,” said Frisby. “My Poppy also spent a lot of time with me playing, and we had a lot of fun. I like golf because it is a sport that is very challenging to me.”
Apparently, it's tougher than she makes it look as Frisby won medalist honors at last week's 2A-6 Conference Tournament, shooting 91 on a rainsoaked course at the Lion's Club.
“She's phenomenal for a freshman,” said PC golf coach Mona Williams. “I told her, Bella, do you realize how good a 91 is for a freshman that's only been playing for one year? She was like, ‘No, I should've shot 87.'”
Frisby took over as the Lady Trojans' top player early in the season and won medalist in most of the team's matches. Still, considering the conditions and her lack of experience, her results at the tournament were still eye-opening.
“My goal is to always do the best I can do,” she said. “Although I have played well this season, this was the first time I have played 18 holes in competition. On top of that, it was cold and rainy. When I found out I won, I was surprised and excited.”
Frisby also earned the No. 1 singles role on PC's tennis team. She picked up a racquet years ago but said she started getting serious this spring.
“She is a very talented girl in just about all sports. For her to be this young, it is exciting to think of what the future holds,” said PC tennis coach Casey Rapp. “Although she misses practice some due to being at other sporting events, I know that she is putting in extra time outside of the regular school practice to work on her tennis skills.”
In the Lady Trojans' lone cross country meet two weeks ago in Texarkana, Frisby finished 14th out of 45 runners in the Warrior Invitational, which was second best on PC's team.
“She's an ultimate competitor in anything that she does. She's like that in everything that she does, and it doesn't matter what - classwork, basketball, cross country - you name it and she'll compete at a high level in it,” said Justin Welch, Frisby's cross country and basketball coach. “She's not someone that just participates at anything, either. She has that determination to get better each day at whatever she's doing that particular day. With very limited training, she goes out there and places 14th out of 45 runners in her first official senior high 5K. It really is amazing what she does.”
For Frisby, also a standout in basketball and softball, the sports tend to overlap. She will lead the Lady Trojans in the 2A
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State Golf Tournament at Horseshoe Bend today. On Wednesday, PC will host the 2A-6 Tennis Tournament. Throw in cross country and basketball practice and it's a wonder she doesn't show up for a tennis match wearing softball cleats.
“My golf team and tennis team are both very important to me. I don't want to let either team down,” she said. “I do run cross country. This year I haven't been able to train as much as I would have liked. After state golf next week, I will have more time to focus and prepare.”
Frisby not only wants to play every sport. She wants to excel at all of them, too. At least, that's her goal, one sport at a time. She'll compete in the most important golf tournament of her fledgling career on Monday at the Turkey Mountain Course.
“I sometimes have to try to give Bella some perspective because she expects so much from herself. She is passionate, which can be both good and bad at times,” said Williams. “She is young and with every tournament she is learning more about how to be patient over the course of 18 holes and how to control her emotions and stay the course. She is already a huge asset and will continue to be so even in greater amounts as she gets more experience. It's an exciting time for Parkers Chapel golf and especially for the future of girls' golf at Parkers Chapel.”