Eugene Greg Bell grinned and gave his daughter kudos for a job well done in the race. Young Sofia, then eleven years old, stood on the track and gazed at him in stoic bewilderment.
Why are you and everyone else shouting at me as I run, Dad? She enquired.
Greg chuckled. All we’re trying to do, sweetie, is make you run faster.
After surveying the area, Sofia asked icily, “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
—
When Sofia was five years old, she attended the final Oregon women’s basketball game at McArthur Court. She watched Sabrina Ionescu make the Ducks and women’s collegiate basketball famous while growing up in Portland. And Division I talent exploded into the prep hoops scene throughout Oregon.
After winning a national title in the Nike EYBL, Sofia established herself on the AAU circuit. She played for Jesuit High School and was later named a McDonald’s All-American in 2023. She is currently in her second year at Oregon, where she plays for Kelly Graves. Throughout it all, Greg and his wife Claire remained on the sidelines, remaining largely quiet yet constantly supportive.
“When I was younger, I didn’t want to play basketball,” Sofia said. I had a strong interest in track and tennis. I eventually got a coach named Coach Earl at the Northeast Community Center in Portland, who urged me to come work out there. When I was five or six years old, I began to play.
Greg, a former UO basketball player who is currently an author and motivational speaker, recalls seeing coach Earl Cheney guide a nervous Sofia into the Northeast Community Center gym in Portland. Through the window, he watched as his daughter practiced different drills. She told her father she didn’t want to go one hour or two later.
Greg claimed that while participating in a predominantly boy-dominated childhood basketball league, a referee eventually advised young Sofia to stop scoring so many goals and allow the other kids a chance. She felt a fire ignite beneath her.
Greg stated, “She’s a tough kid, so she will show up even when it’s difficult.” She’s not a front-runner, which is probably what I respect most about her. She is prepared when it’s time to leave. That seems to me to be a mirror of her mother.
Despite her constant drive and competitive spirit, Sofia has a calm demeanor. She was even characterized as intelligent by her father. Although Greg acknowledged that Sofia’s success in sports is largely due to her own willpower, he and Claire’s decision to parent Sofia through sports may have had a significant impact.
Regarding her father, Sofia stated, “He certainly gave me a lot of guidance and still does.” His tiny things and texts are fairly constant.
Even at the youth level, Greg recalls witnessing it frequently, particularly during high school and AAU games: domineering sports parents yelling at referees and bombarding their children with unduly critical advice from the sidelines or following the game.
He didn’t want to be that father, and neither did Claire. He explained that it was about giving Sofia the freedom to make her own decisions and encouraging her in a constructive way.
“I think the ride home is the worst part of sports for most kids,” Greg added. We didn’t want her involvement in sports to be detrimental. She will be critical of herself already.
—
After 21 games, Sofia’s season-ending foot injury ended her freshman year at Oregon. She divided her time during the process between recovering in Eugene and Portland and spending time with her family. Even though it was unfamiliar to her, she avoided letting it consume her.
According to Sofia, it was the first time she had ever been hurt or had to miss a substantial period of time. It was difficult, but there was undoubtedly a lot of development. Also, the personnel down here is fantastic.
Sofia had already had lengthy layoffs; in 2020, the epidemic prevented her and many other young athletes from participating in competitive sports for months. She and her father would spend days in the park shooting about.
“Those were special moments,” Sofia remarked. They also gave Greg an example of a lesson he thinks Sofia taught him on the track when she was eleven years old: children who play sports need room to be themselves and follow their passions without intrusive, controlling parental supervision.
This is from a former collegiate athlete who could have unnecessarily encouraged his daughter to pursue his own goals. However, she chose to play basketball at the same university as him on her own initiative and with cool assurance.
“Having a strong relationship with her is a big part of it,” Greg remarked. When the ball stops bouncing, how will the relationship look? Imagine what it would look like in five years if I treat her badly in the gym. Ten years?
I made every basket I planned to make. You discuss legacy, then? It is her legacy. Not my.
–The Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference are covered by Ryan Clarke. Get the Ducks Roundup email or listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast.
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