Volleyball Club Is Sunshine of Hearst’s Life

It’s funny how life has come full circle for Bridget Hearst.

She began playing volleyball at the age of 12 for fellow Palisadian Cari Klein’s local Sunshine Club and dedicated herself to the sport for a decade, culminating in a four-year career at Yale. Today she’s back home coaching Sunshine’s 12-Elite team, which competed in a qualifier for the Junior Nationals in St. Louis, MO two weeks ago.

“Cari was my first coach and her husband Perry was the reason I started playing club,” Hearst recalls. “I met him at a party when I was 11 and he told me I should play for his wife’s club. I listened and continued playing the sport for over 10 years. Now I’m a coach at the place where it all started for me.”

Hearst’s team includes five Palisadians: Alessandra Farmer and Jordyn Netter from Calvary Christian School and Kendall Fisher, Sophie Globe and Kate Harrington from St. Matthew’s.  After tying for third place in its pool on the first day of competition in St. Louis, the squad was forced to play the rest of the tournament without its coach, who suffered a concussion and was taken to the emergency room after hitting her head during the team’s visit to the City Museum.

“The tournament director was nice enough to let a few of the moms coach for me and there was debate about forfeiting, but the girls refused,” Hearst says. “One of the things I emphasize is never giving up and in St. Louis my girls played with more heart than I’ve ever seen them play with. They took a huge setback as an opportunity to pick themselves up and unite. They learned an important life lesson: when things get tough, you don’t have to run away, you can face it head-on and come out victorious.”

Hearst easily relates to what her players are going through because she was once in their shoes.   She credits Klein for much of her success.

“She’s the first really serious and intense coach I’d ever had,” Hearst says. “She brought out the athlete in me and gave me a new vision of what sports were. It wasn’t just recreational anymore, it was a competitive thing.”

In fact, it didn’t take long for her to emerge as a standout at Sunshine, where she played for three years before switching to Sports Shack for three years and then Mizuno Long Beach. She was also a four-year varsity starter at Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles, where she was named first team All-CIF twice and led her school to the Southern Section Division 3 championship in 2005. Two years later she won a silver medal at the 18-Open Junior Olympics with her Sunshine club squad and another at the USA High Performance Challenge with the USA Youth National A2 team.

The 6-foot opposite hitter finished her Yale career with three Ivy League titles, earning All-League second team honors her sophomore year and first team accolades as a junior. She graduated in 2012 with degrees in film studies and Slavic studies. She has never regretted her decision to go to Yale, even though it was far from her family and friends.

“The combination of excellent academics and athletics all crammed into one was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Hearst  says. “Ten years down the road I didn’t want to be asking myself where I’d be if I’d gone to Yale.”

For the past two years, Hearst has been pursuing another dream–one that took a backseat to volleyball in college.

“I’ve been trying to act and sing and I’ve always wanted to get into the arts but never really had the time,” Hearst says. “I’m in the process of getting an agent. I’ve been in three short films and two feature-length indie films.”

A lifelong Palisadian, Hearst grew up in the Alphabet Streets and attended Corpus Christi. She admits she didn’t take sports seriously until joining Sunshine.

“The foundation for volleyball and the intensity needed for college athletics that Sunshine taught me is one of the reasons I was able to go as far as I did,” Hearst admits. “

Hearst started as an assistant coach at Brentwood School about a year ago and knew someone there who coached at Sunshine. When asked if she wanted to return to her hometown club she jumped at the opportunity.

Much of what Hearst passes on to her players was taught to her by Klein and other coaches she’s played for over the years.

“I was always told that sports teach you lessons for life and I disregarded that notion in my youth but I absolutely see the truth in that now,” Hearst says. “Volleyball was my life for so long and all of sudden I’m out of the sport for two years. It’s good to be involved again.”

Although she remains unable to work with her team in the gym while recovering from the concussion, Hearst stays as involved as she can. Her team placed 11th last weekend in the 12 American Division of another Junior Nationals qualifier at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“I’m so proud of my girls and I’m truly honored to be their coach,” she says.