Bethany Smythes
 | |
| No. 19 – Lorain Firestorm | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| Species | Barn Owl ( Tytonidae ) |
| Gender | Female |
| Nickname(s) | |
| Hot Wings | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
May 28, 1987 Philadelphia, PA |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Shoots | Right-handed |
| Career information | |
| School | Vanderbarn University |
| FBA draft | 2005 / Round: 2 / Pick: TBDth overall |
| Selected by the Tennessee Moonshiners | |
| Pro playing career | 2005–present |
| Career history | |
| 2005-2007 | Tennessee Moonshiners |
| 2013-2016 | Fargo Mist (3FurAll) |
| 2019 - 2020 | Dakota Bikers |
| 2020-2022 | Plymouth Taproots |
| 2022-present | Lorain Firestorm |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Contract information | |
| Contract year | 2023 |
| 2026 Salary | $1 million |
| Player Contacts | |
| (IC) Agent | BladesDaRaccoon |
| (OOC) Creator | BladesDaRaccoon |
| (OOC) Actor | Unknown |
| (OOC) Usage | Ask me before any use |
Early Life
Bethany was born the city of Philadelphia in 1987, child of two strict and workaholic parents, a drill sargent father and her mother being a traffic detective. She always grew up with nice things but little warmth or comfort in her life. She often felt...isolated from her peers with her tight schedule cutting into what little social life she had. Her schedule did have it benefits, keeping her in excellent shape and keeping her up on her studies to the point where she was a year ahead of her peers in school. Though she found herself cracking under the constant pressure to keep her excellence up, often finding herself in the counselor's office in tears over random breakdowns.
After several visits, Her counselor eventually suggested that maybe finding something she loved like a hobby or a sport would help her cope with her stress. The counselor tossed a small basketball to her. She dribbled it all the way on her walk home that day, finding the rhythm of the ball bouncing and her control over it as a soothing ritual.
She found herself gravitating to basketball more and more through elementary school and through middle school, often tailoring her exercise routine around it so she could run faster, jump higher and shoot the ball. It became a passion of hers, the one thing in her life she had control over in life. As her love of the game grew she'd constantly try to stay even after practice to better her game and stay away from her stressful home life. Eventually her coach, Alan Briggs took notice of her dedication. He offered to let her come early in leiu of gym class, taking her under his paw. She learned to do more than handle the ball under his guidance. She was learning to shoot, lay-up and just the fundimentals overall of the game. As her sessions with Coach Briggs carried on through the years, she found her panic attacks becoming fewer and fewer, happy once again...smiling more and worrying less.
Trouble would come and come swiftly however, her parents thinking basketball was taking her away from the 'real things' in life such as a steady career and structure. As she grew into adolescence and into her teenage years many fights would be had, sometimes getting several noise complaints from her neighbors. At fourteen, Bethany and her parents had reached a boiling point coming home to her basketball posters being torn by her parents. Her father even came up to her demanding her basketball... For the first time in her life...she said no.
She bolted into her room at that, hastily throwing her favorite things into a dufflebag and clambering out the window down the fire escape...she only looked back once.
At the age of fourteen, Bethany found herself knocking on her coach's door in the middle of the night in tears about her situation. Feeling she had no home to go back to or anyone she could call for help...
A New City, A New School, A New Life
Coach Briggs soon took a job in North Carolina...Bethany opted to move with him, having nowhere else to turn. The change of pace was welcoming to her. The small town life and it's slower pace helped her keep calm and kept her anxiety problems in check. Coach Briggs began to become more of a father figure to her to the point where she began calling him Pops, as well as a coach and mentor. A father off the court and and trainer off the court...he did begin to push her in training, and oddly enough she took well to it.
Bethany began to become more firey in her gameplay, aggressive on the offensive end and tenacious on the defensive end. Her love and fire for the game were evident. She was gonna be a star. A relaxed schedule for high school allowed her to really fine tune and hone her game. What her parents failed to see, Coach Briggs clearly saw...she was gonna be a star someday.
As a senior in Rosewood High, Bethany found herself becoming a local legend and cutting the nets down with a state championship for Rosewood High and having her jersey hung in the school's rafters, putting up an average of nearly 25 points a game with 5 assists and 3 steals to pair with it still holding the school's record for points in a single game at 45 and the school's all time steals record which stands to this day. In addition, she was also a track star which helped her build her speed and endurance.
Vanderbarn Days
Bethany soon found herself having to select her college of choice. She began to think she'd go for sports medicine so even when her league days were up she could keep close to basketball. With that she elected to attend Vanderbarn university. She found herself often in the starting line up, splitting her minutes between point guard and shooting guard. Her sole season left her with a record of 19 points a game paired with 5 assists and 2 steals as well as leading Vanderbarn to a sweet sixteen appearance.
The FBA Draft
In the year of 2005, Bethany officially submitted her letter of intention to enter the draft class. At 19 years of age with a high stat sheet and upside but also paired with an fireypersonality, which did lead to some questions of her ability to gel with a team and her general maturity. She was seen as an intriguing candidate but also carrying a fair amount of risk.
Bethany did find herself sliding out of the first round but early on in the second round of the draft the Tennessee Moonshiners decided to roll the dice on her, figuring she'd be easy to ditch on a second round contract should things go south. Bethany still remembers draft night to this day, the feeling as she heard her name called, putting on the hat and walking across the stage. Her smile was bright like a polished coin.
Rookie Year
Bethany soon found her polished smile turning into more of a gritted scowl. She began realising how much Everly had control of the team on several aspects. She tried to keep her head down and just work from then on. Coming off the bench Bethany was putting up a solid statline of 12.1 points, 4 assists, and 1.5 steals a game, making her quite a draft steal. While she had missed out on Rookie of the Year she did show that she had the potential to be a future star.
Even with her good showing of skills problems in the team chemistry began cropping up with Smythe unintentionally avoiding Everly in plays and passing. Naturally this did lead to more than a few locker room altercations. Bethany tried not to be rude but did stand her ground. It was a hard time for her but she did draw strength from Saul Tortuga's presence and his ability to make the best of a bad situation. She also liked the presence of fellow rookie Elijah Woodruff, despite his issues she did see the good in him.
Sophomore Year
With Tortuga getting traded the next year, Bethany knew pretty well that it was Everly behind it and naturally it took the fighting from occasional to nearly every other practice and game known for saying "Tortuga should be here, not you!" whenever she'd get into a shouting match in the locker room or practices. Sure Everly had over a foot in height on her and over a hundred pounds on her but that didn't stop her. She knew you stand up for what's right even if it's not the best idea.
This season began with Bethany finding herself starting in a handful of games to aid in her development. She only started in about twenty games that season but kept upping her numbers to 16.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game finding herself getting the Sixth Fur of the Year award. Rumors had begun to swirl around that maybe she'd become Tennessee's new franchise player, earning the nickname Hot Wings not just for her love of spicy food but for how quickly she seemed to be able to go on a hotstreak.
The Fall
Bethany now found herself in the starting line-up, often leading the offense to Everly's dismay. She was beginning to show she could be the leader and showed she was truly in the running to become Tennessee's franchise player, averaging 22 points, 6 assists and 2 steals a game netting Smythe her first all star appearance. It seemed as if the stars and sky were aligning in her favor...
Though tragedy would soon strike as during a game shortly after all star week, Bethany found herself in pain after taking a particularly nasty spill after a lay up. Her left foot and ankle were in terrible pain but even through it she did manage to finish the game, however seemed barely a minute after they entered the locker room she collapsed in pain. There were rumors that Everly had some hand in the foul leading to her fall.
Tests and x-rays would show Bethany had gotten a spiral crack on her ankle and broken the navicular and cuboid bones of her foot. This would put her out for a year at least...
Dark Times
It was a full year and a half before Bethany was back to full form, even then however it seemed Bethany just couldn't find a contract, many citing that she was 'Too much of a risk.'. Basketball had been the one thing Bethany truly loved, the one thing she had control over in her life...and now it seemed to slip away. She became withdrawn. She did return to school and finish her degree however she still felt sad and unsatisfied.
She tried turning to overseas leagues after an unsuccessful return to civilian life, playing most of her overseas career in France. While from the visuals it seemed like a success, she was also coping with homesickness.
3FurAll, The Return of Hot Wings
In 2013, Smythe's luck seemed to turn around with the announcement of the 3FurAll league. Bethany though perhaps this was her chance to show the FBA what they'd missed out on all these years. Upon hearing the news of this new and exciting league she came back to the states and submitted her name for the 3FurAll combine. She found herself recruited as the captain player to the Fargo Mist. She even ended up leading the Fargo Mist to the first ever 3FurAll finals and eventually becoming the league's inugural champions. She also ended up playing a year for the Tonawanda Canoes after her Fargo contract was up.
As the captain of the Fargo Mist, Bethany also did carry some smaller coaching duties as well. She began to find herself falling for coaching, getting some of that satisfaction she'd found in the league helping her feel better about her life.
Coaching Days
In 2016, Smythe decided to put her newfound liking of coaching to use electing to become an assistant coach at her old school Rosewood High. While she was young, speaking in relative terms the team seemed receptive to her crass and hard style of training mixed with fine tuned drills and exercises. Over a few years, Bethany Smythe had taken a small town team to state champions, locked into local history as 'The Furious Fourteen'.
Current Day
Bethany still participates in the 3FurAll league now as assistant captain to the fairly new expansion team the Garner Rivets and volunteers at Rosewood high as a coach, now taking on more of a role as a trainer and mentor to players she'd coached in her tenure as they entered the league. She resides in Raleigh with her husband and two young kids, life seemed to fall into place...
However, She called Coach Briggs with the big news..."Pops! today's the day...i'm gonna make my comeback!" She thought it was time, ready to give the FBA one more try!
Playstyle
When Bethany first played in the league, she was a firecracker known for a mix of relentless scoring and tricky plays. She was seen as someone who could become a great combo guard. In her younger years AKA first stint in the league she was more likely to call her own number, known mostly for a killer 3 point shot but able to drive to the mid or the rim on occasion to keep the enemy guessing.
Later on as she played overseas and in 3FurAll, she maturednotably looking more to make plays, seeing that the more she was willing to kick the rock out and around, the more they'd be willing to run plays and sets screens and picks when she did call her own number. Through this she became quite the coach on the floor so to speak. Her jumps and ability to dunk may have been hindered by her injuries but she still boasts a devistating 3 point shot in addition to being a battle-tested floor general with enough speed to keep up on defense, not her strongest suit but she can keep her man in front of her most of the time.
FBA Today
2019-2020 Season
Upon her announcement to return, No one was quite sure what to make of it with Bethany having been out of the league for over a decade despite he body of work from playing for France and 3FurAll. Having been passed on in the unrestricted phase of Free Agency, the Bikers ended up tossing her a minimum deal. Naturally a lotta speculation followed as to what the reason was behind it, some saying gamble and others pity contract. Needless to say at first she returned with a whimper, regulated to the last spot on the bench with minimal minutes.
However as the season progressed, Bethany found herself fighting her way up the depth chart and fitting into the backup guard spot on a contending team. It seemed like as at some games that that magic from her early days might still be there, least in part. While the vigor of her youth might have seemed spent, it's clear through her hard work and skill she's still got a lot to give. Bethany even managed to have at least a couple meaningful games in the playoffs. While her starting and star days might be past her, she seems to be at peace with it. "My goal was just...make it back to the league and clearly I did it. I'm not sad about not being the star...I just wanna make the most of the time I got here now. Time I thought i'd never have."
2020-2021 Season: Hoot, Hoot! She's a 'Root!
Bethany would find herself on a flight to Plymouth to join the defending champion Taproots after her bounceback season as a Biker. She'd still find herself in a smaller role on the team but she was a solid veteran presence and had her moments on the courts, showing she's still got it.
Though some might have seen the move as a ringchase, there was more to it than that. She also moved there to get more chances to play against one of her best pupils in Ash Van Zant. An interesting reason without a doubt...
Stats
Images
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File:Bethany in the Good ol' Days.JPG | Art by Blades