Her Heart is as Golden as Her Layouts.

If adorableness were THE definitive characteristic of a Callahan winner, Becca Miller has this thing in the bag.

And just because that is not the test by which we judge the nominees, I hope that anyone considering the qualifications of this prestigious award do not overlook what it's true namesake demands of in your weighted vote in looking beyond skills of the player in just the aspect of the game. 

The memorial award of the Callahan, asks that you weigh the character off the field as strongly, if not more so in my opinion, than the performance they give you on the field.  And if you feel differently, you may not have read or read enough times, the story of the man who was Henry Callahan.  I'll give you a second to follow that link and look it over...
 

...Really good stuff, right? 

We remember the person as his character which had nothing to do with his playing skills but everything to do with his love of the game and his dynamite personality.  Becca Miller is the precise definition of a Callahan winner judged only by her adorable persona yet she is still one hell of a stand-alone player in any tournament against the field of nominees.  The One-Two punch of Becca Miller is why I believe she is the highest qualified female player nominated in 2013 for the Callahan award.

It was not until recently that I had my first season playing with Becca as a teammate, so my first encounter and initial perceptions of Becca were when she was a freshmen and I as her coach in the first week of the Fall 2009 season.  Scorned had just come off it's first season qualifying for College Nationals and I was invested in seeing the program continue in it's success.  Becca has always imbued a lot of confidence in this alumna that passion and hard work will carry on the programs' successes.  In fact, I believe the current teams' success can be contributed to her silent devotion being adopted by each and every one of her teammates.  They respect her and have followed her lead.

In that first week of Fall practice, Becca came early and stayed late to work on throwing and I remember thinking "Are you kidding me!?"  I remember how awesome that was seeing the future of the team flash before my eyes.  Her confidence and ability were ten times of any typical rookie's throws by the first month because of her hard work alone.  It was always obvious from the first moment that Becca brought to the game a great field sense, great hands and stellar athleticism even before she acquired the knowledge of how to play but it is always that vigorous extra effort that remains with me today when I think back to meeting Becca.

When I ruminate further on that freshmen player and think about her attitude and abilities today from a coach's perspective, I believe her greatest strength is that she is VERY coach-able which has continued up to the present day.  She isn't afraid of (in fact, does not think much of) working hard to become better.  If you've ever taught anyone in anything at all, you will understand the importance of a coach-able person.  One who never thinks they have it all figured out and respects the lessons of others and has a steady hunger to become better.  That comes from a very humble and hard working attitude that Becca imbibes and it is one of the highest compliments I feel I could bestow on another.  I do not believe that Becca Miller is done becoming the greatest player she can be because of how coach-able and hardworking she is yet her abilities are already terrifying to the opposition.

As a teammate with Becca on the mixed team out of Ames, IA, The Chad Larson Experience, Becca is one of THE most reliable players.  I consider her relentless cutting to be the standard for everyone else.  Her playing style could be described as the energizer bunny.  Her cutting never ceases in any parts of the moving offense dragging along an exhausted defender.  Leave her vulnerable deep and she'll most obviously score.  When players tend to guard her against those scores, she'll get the disc on huge gains under and (despite her smaller stature) rip it deep to other opportune players.  I consider her the triple threat: she'll deny any player when on the defensive, she'll own you on any of her offensive cuts with speed and intelligence, and she'll be able to make the big mid-field throws.  This obviously hasn't gone unnoticed because Becca will be representing the U23 mixed  team this year.

And while her coach-ability and her skills could be talked about for days, I have still to touch on why I think her character is above all the rest.  And really, anyone would need to spend time with her on or off the field to teach themselves the subtleties of what it means to truly know such an innately good person.  She is never without a smile.  Constant positive energy and giggly jokes (that may or may not have to do with cats).  An aura of happiness and goodwill surrounds her and any encounter with her as teammate or as opposition will leave you with a smile and for the better.  Again, these are truly the characteristics of someone to represent this award.

So I congratulate the current voters of this award in having such a crew of wonderful nominated players who could receive this award.  Do not forget your power in picking the collegiate representative of what our sport stands for and thus, do not forget the namesake, Henry Callahan, each and every time you put in the vote.  Most importantly, I challenge you not to forget the name of Becca Miller when you're watching College Nationals this year in Madison and an adorable smiley player takes her team further than they ever have in the history of their team.  Her heart is as golden as her layouts.

~Melissa Gibbs

WS Alumni