“My baby don’t mess around
Because she loves me so
And this I know fo shooo.”
— OutKast
“Hey Ya” by OutKast is Nicole Garbin’s favorite song. It’s one of the songs that Garbin dances to in the women’s soccer locker room before she takes the field for every game.
“Everybody on the team likes it too,” she said. “They’re always requesting it. That gets them fired up. When that song comes on, everyone’s dancing. But when there’s other songs, it’s usually just me loosening up; trying to get everybody’s spirits up.”
Garbin is in charge of Oregon’s pre-game rituals. She’s in charge of the music, and the music is her release.
“They just laugh at me when I start dancing,” Garbin said of her teammates. “They’re just like ‘oh my gosh Nicole.’”
Senior team captain Lindsey Werdell, also Garbin’s former roommate, understands her nature. Werdell said it’s just part of her upbeat personality, but that doesn’t keep the team from poking fun at her.
“We always make fun of her and ask her if she practices in front of the mirror,” Werdell said.
Rumor has it that she doesn’t practice in front of the mirror, but she can be caught practicing on the soccer field. After she scores a goal in games, the redshirt sophomore midfielder likes to pull out some type of impromptu dance move.
“When I think of dancing and music, scoring goals comes into my mind too,” Garbin said. “Scoring goals is such a high for me, whereas so is dancing because you can just let loose and just relax and have fun.”
Garbin has had plenty of opportunities to “bust a move” this season. She ranks second on the team in goals scored with five. Garbin also leads the Ducks in assists with seven.
She’s making up for lost time.
The Wailuku, Hawaii, native was forced to the sideline last season after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in preseason practice. Garbin had to redshirt the season after what was a promising freshman year where she recorded five goals — four of which were game-winners — and five assists.
“The ACL is a very dramatic injury, and for her to come back it’s always going to be a challenge,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said. “I think she’s done well with that challenge. Her game has matured, and she’s not as one-dimensional as she was previously.”
Now that she is back and at full steam, everyone can see it. Other teams in the conference have started to take notice of her success and key on her during games. Oregon’s just happy to have their star back.
“Just having her out there makes everybody really confident,” Werdell said. “She can make anything happen. People are more confident to make runs and to not be as timid to go up on offense.”
Garbin puts a lot of pressure on herself, and accepting those challenges is part of her nature. Whether it be arguing with the referees or setting up forward Andrea Valadez with the perfect pass, Garbin is always in the middle of the action.
Coaches are “always saying when the ball is at my feet, ‘good things happen,’” Garbin said. “I really accept that responsibility and with that I just try and do the best I can.”
Her statistics show that good things do happen. Garbin is already tied for fourth on the career list with 10 goals and tops the list in assists at 12. She also ranks fourth in the points with 32.
Former Oregon star and volunteer coach Chalise Baysa, whom Garbin idolizes, leads Oregon all-time in goals and points and knows that Garbin could catch her soon enough.
“If she can catch me, better to her,” Baysa said. “If you have any given moment to try and break records, do it. It’s probably more of an honor for someone to break your records, even though it’s a little disappointing not to have it anymore, but if it means someone else is at the top of their game then better for them.”
Off the field, Garbin is the least serious person around. She always likes to make her teammates laugh and she says her most unique quality is her ability to mock people she knows.
“She’s probably one of the funniest players I know,” Baysa said. “She’s able to make anyone laugh at any given time. She’s there to listen if you have problems. She’s crazy, she’s out of control at times, but she brings smiles to everyone’s faces.”
And that’s just Garbin.
Whether she is dancing in the locker room, dancing on the field, mocking her teammates, making the game-winning goal or even getting a yellow card, she can’t be stopped from making everyone smile.