Moving up
Brittany Higgins for the past two years has been an NCAA intern at Castleton State College working as an assistant conditioning coach while also helping to manage all the home sporting events.
After two years of freezing at those late fall games, Higgins in July took on full-time duties as the assistant director of NCAA compliance and assistant strength coach.
Higgins was very surprised that she was given the opportunity.
“I’m loving it right now. It’s a dream job. This is what I wanted,” she said in a recent interview.
Higgins main responsibility as the assistant director of NCAA compliance is mainly making sure all Castleton athletes are eligible to participate in varsity sports.
As the assistant strength coach, she now has her own teams to train, including volleyball, men’s soccer, softball and women’s hockey.
“We love working with her. It’s hard work, but she keeps us focused,” said men’s soccer player Spencer Dandurand.
“We really like her. She’s definitely a part of our team,” said captain John Kendall of the men’s soccer team.
The women’s hockey team recently started workouts with Higgins.
“She’s easy to connect with. She doesn’t hold back and she knows how to motivate us. Because she a female, it makes it easier to have a better connection,” said Allie Howard of the women’s hockey team.
Higgins went to Catawba College in North Carolina where she majored in exercise science and got a minor in Spanish. Initially, she wanted to do athletic training, but realized she loves conditioning and wanted to coach people in it.
Higgins said that it’s tough to get experience in this field so she is very happy to get this opportunity. But why Castleton?
“The athletes, the culture of the school, and the people are very nice here,” she said with a smile.
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