Ģż
Basketball is in Ģż(EvnStā24, MBusAnā25) DNA.Ģż
Her parents met in the gym, and her father coached her mother when they were dating. āI donāt know how they made it through that, but they did,ā Formann laughed.ĢżĢż
Fast forward four kids and several grandchildren later, and the whole family is in on the game back in her homeland of Denmark. Her sister and brother even started a team called Baby Sharks for 2-to-5-year-olds. Formannās mother, at 60, still plays once a week.Ģż
So, thereās that family legacy, and one other thing: Formann, a guard now in her fifth year on the team, also happens to be good at the game. Really good. Last year, she became Coloradoās all-time 3-point leader. Headlines regularly followed her success, likeĢżMarch MadnessāĢżāColoradoās Frida Formann lit up LSU with 7 threesā and ESPNās āFrida Formann sinks it from downtown.āĢż
CUās BuffZone.com featured a quoting the teamās assistant coach Shelley Sheetz: āItās really cool to have a front row seat watching Frida. ā¦ I see her work ethic. I see her getting extra shots up. I see her being a student of the game.āĢż
Formann foresees basketball playing a role in her life for a āvery, very long time.āĢż
āMy plan after graduating is to enter the draft and see what the options are, and then definitely continue with a professional basketball career, in whatever country that might be.āĢż
Boosting confidenceĢż
Formann isnāt only a student of basketball. She returned to Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲfor a fifth year to earn her masterās in business analytics, a program now in its tenth year at Leeds. It appealed to her for the ways it could complement her bachelorās in environmental studies, bringing in the business lens of āwhat is valuable to a company and where they might not want to spend as much time or money.āĢż
āThe business analytics program has taught me how to be able to talk to executives, how to develop a strategy that they can use,ā she said.ĢżĢżĢż
Through that sheās gained something she can take onto the court and equally into the boardroom: confidence.ĢżĢż
āI think I came here and kind of was trying to hide a little bit,ā she said. āI've learned now from the American culture that itās OK to really think highly of yourselfāas long as you put action behind it, and as long as youāre still kind and a good teammate. Itās OK to know that youāre one of the best.āĢż
āItās OK to know that youāre one of the best.ā
Frida Formann (EvnStā24, MBusAnā25)
Formann has found parallels between excelling in sports and succeeding in business. Working with big datasets has given her an even deeper appreciation for small details.ĢżĢż
āIt reminds me of going back and watching film on a game or going back and looking at a scouting report and figuring out what are the little key moments where you could change something. What are little things that were good or bad, and then trying to figure out together how to implement new strategies. I can do that with data, and I can do it with basketball.āĢż
Building a sense of communityĢż
For Formann, developing a fluency in data, as with basketball and English, is ultimately underpinned by the universal language of culture and community.Ģż
āMy parents always preached building community and showing up not just for kids, but for everyone who needed it. Thatās something I try to apply to being a leader on the team. Everyone is deserving of a spot there and everyone needs to feel valued,ā she said.Ģż
Although this yearās team includes 10 new teammates, Formann is optimistic about the season. āWith a new team, it just shows what culture weāve built here at CUāthat itās a culture of consistent work, and no matter what players come in, we are true to Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲand to basketball.āĢż
Cultivating a culture of careĢż
Formann knew nothing about Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲwhen she applied, but she wanted to get into a bigger market for basketball, fell in love with the school and was thrilled to get a scholarship. She arrived in 2020 during the pandemic. Between that and being an internationalĢżstudent, she knows what itās like to feel out of place.ĢżĢż
āIt was very isolating, you know, coming from Denmark and not knowing anyone. I only had my teammates and my coaches that I actually could interact with,ā she said. Due to COVID, all her classes were on Zoom, and she ate all her meals alone.ĢżĢż
āIt was hard to navigate socially, but I was so focused on just coming here and playing basketball and doing the best I could. And luckily, I could do that. I could play a full season and actually perform,ā she recalled.ĢżĢż
āI think culture is everything because, you know, when someone gets injured or you have things that donāt go as you want them to go, the culture is really what carries you through,ā she said.Ģż
Taking her best shotĢż
This year, Formann wants to focus on leaving her mark and helping others as a team veteran, a leader, and as a female athlete. Sheās passionate about advocating for womenās sports, particularly advancing salaries for women athletes and increasing media visibility to promote growth. She believes women athletes work equally as hard as men and are equally as inspirational.Ģż
As this yearās gains momentum, Formann knows when she steps on the court, her hours of training and studying all come into focus.ĢżĢż
āEvery time a game is about to start, itās always exciting. Itās what you work so hard for,ā she said.
āKnowing that Iāve put in the work, that Iāve had great preparation, makes me relax and just feel the joy in the moment.āĢż