Grace Burker is a senior star for the Slippery Rock University field hockey team. Burker hails from East Amherst N.Y. and is a graduate of Williamsville East High School.
The senior has an impressive resume as she lettered four times in high school and was selected to the 2019 U-16 USA Field Hockey National Futures Championship team.
Coming out of high school, Burker jumped straight into a starting role here at SRU. She recorded seven wins out of her 16 starts with a goals against average of 2.63 per game.
The East Amherst native reflected on her quick start. “I was definitely nervous, but I knew I really worked my butt off to earn that spot, so it was a huge honor, and I have never taken it lightly. I know that the coaches have trust in me to lead the team,” Burker said.
Burker took the coaches trust and ran with it through the rest of her four years here, but she never took any of it for granted. The goalkeeper mentioned her hard work, as well as dedication for her growth and continuation as the team’s starting goalie.
“I never felt like I was entitled to being starting goalkeeper. Every summer, every offseason, spring season, whatever it may be, my goal was to just work harder than the year prior for myself,” Burker said.
Another way Burker is able to stand tall in goal is due to her mental preparation.
“I do a lot of envisioning plays that I’m going to make, how I’m going to be successful and really thinking in detail about what a good game will look like for me,” Burker said.
Burker has been using this strategy for a while, saying “growing up I had a lot of goalkeeping coaches that have talked to me about the mental game. I spend a lot of the time off of the field working on that aspect of my game.”
As of Oct. 15, Burker is currently third all-time in SRU history in wins and saves. She sits with 20 wins, 13 wins behind Judith Jons for first place and three behind Kerry McKnight for second. The senior mentions that the “win” statistic is all about the team.
“I think it is truly a testament to my team, especially in the win column. As a goalkeeper it is hard to win a game by yourself because at the end of the day, I am not going to be able to score” said Burker.
The senior attributes the same with her saves. Burker said “the saves I have to also contribute to my team for pushing me at practice and my coaches for incorporating drills to work on the weaknesses that I have and also allowing me to use my strengths in game.”
As Burker looked over her four years here at Slippery Rock she recalled her favorite memory, which was personal for her because of the stakes and familiarity of the opponents.
“My favorite field hockey memory is easily my sophomore year. We beat Mercyhurst in a shootout at home. It was a really big game for me because Mercyhurst has a ton of girls from Buffalo, NY, which is where I’m from. Slippery Rock field hockey had a ton of girls from Buffalo” said Burker.
The thrilling match ended up in a 2-1 SRU shootout victory with Burker stopping all five shots in the shootout.
Burker remembers “being able to celebrate with everyone because a shootout is always going to be an exciting victory in field hockey.”
Being a senior in her final season, Burker knows that her time on the field is winding down, but she learned some important skills from her time in college athletics that will transfer to her professional career.
“There’s a ton of transferable skills in it. I think for me the biggest one that has grown is my leadership style. Coming in as a freshman and a starter, you kind of get put into a leadership position right away, whether you are comfortable with it or not” Burker said.
Not only did Burker’s on-the-field leadership evolve, but so did her off-field leadership.
“For me that just meant communicating on the field, but over my time it has developed into an off-the-field role too, where I serve as an example for my teammates. I am leading by example with my hard work, my dedication and continuing to be there for others, but also being able to be honest and push them” Burker said.
While the senior is always locked in on the field and in her leadership position, she writes something down each game to tell herself to live in the moment and enjoy it while it lasts.
“On the back of my hand, I write ‘enjoy it’ to remind myself while I am being super competitive and hold myself to a high standard that I really need to live in the moment, as my career is coming to an end soon” Burker said.
