Brown, Lowe: Peas in a Pod

For the final time on Saturday, Bella Brown and Sydney Lowe will don a Central Washington University Wildcat soccer jersey. Senior Day marks the end of era for the two. 

An era which began roughly a decade and a half ago, Syd and Bella have played together since they were young, dating back to kindergarten.

“It was kindergarten, for sure,” Bella sayid as she and Syd exchanged glances. “Purple Eagles? Sweet Cleats?”

Recalling memories from kindergarten proved elusive. 

“I think my dad was the coach of our little rec team,” Syd offered. “I think I probably just asked you [to play] or something.”

The pair rattled off their elementary school teachers as they gauged how much time they spent around each other in younger years outside the soccer pitch. The conversation swung back towards soccer.

“Her dad coached and her aunt was the assistant,” Bella recalled. “Whitney helped out too sometimes.”

It wasn’t soccer games the two remembered most, instead it was experiences like carpooling to practice and avoiding the cold and snow in Bella’s family van.

“I just remember this one,” Sydney started. “It was snowing and we went in your dad’s van at half time.” Bella interjected, “Oh, when we were little.” Back to Sydney, “I think about that all the time.’

Family came up often, especially as they reflected on soccer at a young age. Sydney’s father coached the pair until they moved on to club soccer in middle school.

“I remember my dad trying to teach us throw-ins and the ‘cha-ching,” Sydney said. “Or the little puzzles he would do before the game. We would car pool to practice and games. If we would score a goal my dad would give us Hershey bars he stashed in the back of the car. We would just sneak them and eat them anyway. It’s not necessarily playing together, but the memories we created around soccer.”

“Syd’s dad was at our last home game,” Bella said. “He has a very distinct yell. He was basically my first coach. Now, at the end of my career he’s still there, standing along the fence.”

Once they began playing club soccer, they saw less and less of each other but kept their friendship alive. Despite playing on different clubs, the two never played against one another.

“Sydney’s club was really good,” Bella said. “She was on one of the best clubs in Washington. I stayed on a club in our hometown. We just kinda did our own thing. We’d see each other at tournament or State Cup, but we never played against each other.”

The demand of club soccer meant weekends consumed by travel and matches. The weekdays full of schoolwork and training. They saw each other at high school football games in the fall. 

“I think it shows how strong our friendship is,” Sydney said. “Even though we weren’t part of the same friend group we stayed close.”

The high school season reunited the pair each year on the pitch for Black Hills. They helped guide Black Hills to a pair of state playoff appearances. The duo found plenty of ways to connect during their high school careers on the pitch. During their senior season, Lowe scored 28 goals for the Wolves, while Brown added seven goals and 16 assists. 

“The class we graduated together in high school, there were a bunch of us who played club. Coming into it the program was really good after Whitney’s group.  Tumwater is our rival and we were the soccer school. That was always fun.”

Bella signed with Central Washington before Sydney had made her decision to play for CWU. 

“Senior year Syd didn’t know where she wanted to go yet and I was already committed,” Bella added. “We had a pretty successful season even though it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I remember just bawling after our last game and thinking “this is the last time I’m ever going to play with Sydney, I don’t know where she’s going to end up.” A couple months later she’s like, “oh yeah, I’m going to Central.” I was emotional about high school soccer ending, but I was going to play in college. I was more emotional about not playing with Sydney. It worked out though, we still got to play with each other.”

At Central, not only did they end up as teammates, but decided to live together as well. In the summers, they partnered together for workouts and training.

“It’s crazy,” Bella noted. “My best friend from kindergarten, I can walk out of my room and knock on her door. I think a lot about college and the experiences we have had together and the hard things we have gone through in college. There’s no way I would have made it through some of the things I’ve had to face without her. Coming to college as a freshman is hard enough, but I knew I had my best friend down the hall in Barto.”

Sydney nodded her head in agreement, “That’s so true. You leave your family when you’re in college and you get sad or homesick. But having Bella here at CWU, I never really left my whole family because she was here. Freshman year is rough for everybody, that transition is hard. It was definitely a blessing we didn’t fully understand, becoming friends in kindergarten.”

It took four years, three if the pandemic-ravaged 2020 season is ignored, but the duo finally connected on the scoresheet at CWU. Lowe scored off a corner kick from Brown at Western Oregon on October 23.

Though their playing days are coming to a close, they expect their friendship to continue.

“We were even in the same major for a hot minute,” Bella said.

“Then I decided I didn’t want to be a teacher,” Sydney replied. “It would have been fun though. Being teachers and possibly teaching together, maybe coaching high school together.”

“If we end up in the same spot, we could definitely coach together,” Bella said before turning the conversation back. “I don’t really know what’s next. We’ll both probably go home for a bit.”

“Join our little adult league,” Sydney said.