A change from the island life

By Cristina Coca | gargoyle@flagler.edu

When talking about the international diversity in athletics at Flagler College you would normally think of the Men’s soccer team.

But not many people know about Kyhla Brangman the newly acquired freshman on the Women’s soccer team.

She comes to us from the island of Bermuda.

She is one of the youngest players on the women’s team at 17, but she doesn’t lack the skill and the level of play.

As a freshman she has played in all 14 games this year and has started in three of them.

Most importantly she has played in all eight of the conference games Flagler has participated in so far.

She also has a total of two assists which is second among the freshman and tied for third among the team.

Brangman has also taken ten total shots with seven being on goal.

She has a 0.700 shots on goal percentage which is second among the freshman on the team.

“To say she isn’t impacting the team in the midfield would be a lie,” said team captain Marisa Strawn, “She is young but with the experience she will grow into a great player.”

You may ask how attending Flagler College was even brought up on the island of Bermuda.

When asked about Flagler Brangman said, “My family was moving to Orlando and I chose Flagler because it was relatively close to them.

But soccer was different,” said Brangman, “I heard of the college through a fellow soccer recruit, Troy Berkley, who played in Bermuda as well.”

Brangman also is familiar with the Men’s players from Bermuda, Tristan Hall and Marco Warren.

She said she never met them but everyone in the soccer community on the island knows of each other.

“The community on the island is very close knit, everyone usually knows of everyone, especially when you play soccer on some of the islands highest level teams,” said Brangman.

Brangman is excited to see what Florida and Flagler College has to offer her and is most excited for the overall College experience.

She said the hardest thing about leaving Bermuda was leaving her best friends, which she referred to them as “Yardies”, behind.

But being on the team here has brought her more friends that treat her like family.

On or off the field you can see Brangman’s unique style, always laughing, listening to music, and dancing.

You can always find her with her headphones in listening to Niki Minaj or Island reggae music from back home.

Her music is her little slice of home.

There is not one moment where she doesn’t have a smile on her face.

Brangman and the women’s team have three games remaining in the season.

Saturday, October 20^th opens a two-game home stand for the Saints where they will take on North Georgia at 5p.m. at Saints Field in a Peach Belt Conference match-up.