Courtney Brant Flips into Success
In a room filled with excited people on a cold fall afternoon in November, a video clip of sophomore Courtney Brant's acrobatic flip throw was met with loud cheers as the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Selection Show opened its national broadcast. A few minutes later, the Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team found out that it had made school history with its first-ever invite to the national tournament.
Not only did the Tartans make the tournament, but they were selected to host the first and second rounds. After winning its first two games, Carnegie Mellon was selected to host the NCAA Sectionals and advanced to the national quarterfinals. The Tartans eventually dropped a thriller to Emory in penalty kicks in the Elite Eight.
"It is the most incredible feeling, going from never making the NCAA tournament to being ranked sixth nationally," commented Brant. "It brings so much excitement for the future and I feel so grateful for being a part of the season and history."
In the Tartans' 3-0 victory over Wheaton (Mass.) College in the third round of the championship tournament, it was the most important flip throw of Brant's career that helped seal the victory.
"My high school teams scored off the flip throw a few times and at Carnegie Mellon we've scored off it twice, including against Wheaton," Brant said. "It was the most exciting feeling I have ever had when doing the throw. It was exhilarating!"
From the young age of five until middle school, Brant was a competitive gymnast, which she feels helped her soccer game for a myriad of reasons.
"It helped me with running techniques –
Brant didn't start playing club soccer until her sophomore year of high school and then she really got competitive with the game. Before that, she played club volleyball before making the transition to soccer and realizing the sport was her true love.
In fact, Brant's freshman season of high school soccer is when she first saw anyone do the flip throw. A junior teammate, who Brant says is the most incredible athlete she ever met, is who taught her how to do it.
"One day she saw me on the sidelines after practice doing handstand contests with my friends and then when I did a front handspring she called out to me and asked why I never told her or anyone that I could do that," Brant said.
Her teammate was shocked to see that someone else on the team was able to do a front handspring and wanted to teach Brant the flip throw. Within 20 minutes, the young Brant was doing it.
"It's not as hard as it seems since I had the gymnastics background," said Brant. "I have never had anyone else, coach or player, throughout my career that knew how to do the throw. I have had coaches that have planned plays for it, but that is all."
In addition to her love for soccer, Brant is extremely involved in community service and passionate about positively impacting those who are less fortunate. Throughout high school, she was consistently involved in service projects and upon graduation, wants to start her own charity to be able to give back. Brant has worked at a homeless shelter in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and has always wanted to help disadvantaged families and the homeless.
"There are so many different areas that need help. I am unsure of a particular charity I will want to start and hope that through getting my education and career path I will be inspired by one particular group and go from there," Brant said.
For now, Brant plans to work on finishing her education, as she is a double major in business and decision science with an intended track in marketing. This summer, she will intern in the analytics division of Q Interactive, an internet marketing company located near her home in South Florida.
Returning home for the summer is very exciting for Brant, who is close with her family, especially her eight-year old brother and older brother who is a member of the volleyball team at Florida Gulf Coast University. Her family is able to travel to about half of the games, but when they are not around in person, they are watching the games online.
"It has been hard, but I have adjusted well being a far distance from my family. I always ask them to visit. They are in Pittsburgh a lot, especially during the season," Brant said.
Brant knows she made the right decision to play soccer for Carnegie Mellon. When she came to Pittsburgh for her recruiting visit, she realized that the team was a true family.
"The environment and hanging out with the team and Coach [Yon] Struble was all amazing. I knew as soon as I came here that weekend that Carnegie Mellon was the school for me," Brant said.
