Vanessa Bickford is wrapping up a stellar basketball career at Dallas Center-Grimes. She’s a state champion, a team captain and the program’s all-time leader in assists. With 74 assists already this season, the bar continues to raise for Vanessa and the DCG Girls Basketball team.
Jumping into Her Story
Vanessa Bickford is a senior at Dallas Center-Grimes High School. If you don’t know her after her four years as the starting point guard for the DCG Girls Basketball team, then let us introduce her to you. Vanessa has proven to be a standout performer for the basketball team and the stats back her up. She has become one of the winningest players in DCG Basketball history with over 80 wins (with plenty of season left to go) and an Iowa Girls High School State Basketball Championship to further prove that point.
Vanessa is no overnight success, her success has been building day after day, night after night, year after year. So where did it all begin for her?
Back Pivoting to Where It All Started
Vanessa started playing basketball in 3rd grade. Soccer, track, and cross country kept her evenings filled with practice and competitions to prepare for. As an active kid, playing sports was always enjoyable, but one sport never left her sights – basketball.
She started to take the sport more seriously when she was old enough to play club basketball for Pure Prep and Iowa Attack. Traveling all over the state and playing in tournaments with more competition than one could probably imagine, she fell in love with the grind of the game and all the moving parts that make great basketball.
Practice Makes Perfect
Her sights were set as she found her way through the game. To become the best athlete she could be, she knew she had to spend more time outside of the 12+ hour practice weeks. Late nights shooting for hours and hours, conditioning her body, and lifting weights to gain strength. The work she puts in can not be quantified. The endless hours in the gym, working without a team to back her up are immeasurable. All culminating in shaping her character into what it is today.
John Wooden, considered the greatest NCAA basketball coach of all time, once said, “The true test of [one’s] character is what [one] does when no one is watching.” Her determination and efforts might not have gone unnoticed in those moments, but her character was building and molding as she worked to reach her potential.
The Rebound
Sophomore year was Vanessa’s year for college recruiting. She was traveling all over the country with her club basketball team, and playing in front of tons of colleges coming out to see her team play. Just as everything seemed to be falling into place, the unexpected happened. She suffered a stress fracture in her foot. This left her in a boot for multiple weeks and took away her opportunity to play in front of coaches all summer long. Her hopes of getting recruited started to fade away.
But Vanessa trusted the work she had already put in and leaned on her faith in God to help guide her along her journey. She began making highlight videos and sending them out to colleges she was interested in. Sooner than later, coaches were reaching out to her wanting to know the next time she would be suiting up to play. As she pushed through the adversity an injury brings with it, she started playing again – like she never left.
3..2..1..Game over? Nope, Overtime!
Junior year brought her an increase of minutes on the court and tons of coaches wanting to talk to her and have Bickford visit their campus. She went on multiple visits trying to find the team and place that felt like home – and then she found it. In Duluth, Minnesota, a six-hour drive straight north on I-35. The University of Minnesota Duluth will be the next place Vanessa put on a jersey. From DCG red to UMD marron-and-gold. She told us how much she loves the coaches, the culture they have facilitated on the team, and the beautiful campus that sits directly on Lake Superior.
Last season, behind Coach Mandy Pearson, the UMD girls made their way through the NCAA National DII Tournament where they finished National Championship Runners Up. Not a bad last season by UMD, and not a bad fit for a state champ like Vanessa.
At UMD, she plans to pursue a degree in Exercise Science and Rehabilitation, as well as, a minor in Communications.
Season Recap
Currently ranked 4th in 4A, Vanessa and the DCG Mustangs have the potential to make serious waves this season. Their 17-3 record has them in a good position to make it to the state tournament once again this year. Nothing is guaranteed, but with a playmaker like Vanessa as their point guard and a team stacked with players with their own capabilities, the Mustangs are in the running for another state championship.
About the Author
This article was written by Hannah Renz; a senior at DCG High School. She is a School-to-Work Intern in the Communications Department at DCG.