Sydney Colson is a league veteran who is known for her speed, dynamic style of play, dependability, and her sense of humor. The Indiana Fever signed Colson back in February, days after the team waived Victaria Saxton and Grace Berger and also brought in Sophie Cunningham.
There's been plenty of discussion this week about what Colson's role on the Fever will be. Training camp footage has hinted she will likely come into the game when Caitlin Clark or Cunningham (who is the top candidate for the team's Sixth Woman) need a break, a position that isn't dissimilar from her role on the Las Vegas Aces.
Colson averaged under 10 minutes per game at the Aces. This doesn't necessarily speak to her skills on the floor, and she definitely made the most of the time she was allotted (Colson averaged 8 minutes per game last season with 2.5 points, 1 assist, and .5 rebounds). Colson, a 10-year veteran of the league, has repeatedly proven her skills on the floor.
Sydney Colson brings an important off the court skill to the Fever
While at the Indiana Fever's Media Day on Wednesday, April 30, the Indiana Fever Report had the opportunity to ask Colson about an important — and often underrated or overlooked — skill she's also bringing to Indianapolis. As a person and as a hooper, Colson is known for her signature brand of humor, quick wit, and the ability to make everyone in the room feel good. When asked how she's talking to the younger members of the team off the court, and what skills she's using to guide them through this season, Colson touched on humor.
A lot of basketball players can lose the spark that inspired them to play in the first place, she said. "I want us to work for whatever the main goal is and whatever the ultimate goal is. But in the route to get in there, you can lose the reason why you do all of this if you're not having fun. It just becomes work, work, work, which is true, it is a job."
"But when you're having fun, it's way easier to keep pushing through the tough part to the tough days," she added. "So I wanna always remind my teammates, just remember why you started doing this, why you show up every day. And on days where you're not feeling your best, pick somebody else up, it helps you to get outside of yourself."
That's especially true for rookies, Colson continued, who are often playing after coming off an intense collegiate season and more tightly — and with more pressure — than they might otherwise. After all, they've been drafted but their spot on a team isn't guaranteed, and every single second on the floor counts. Colson, who was drafted by the Connecticut Sun in 2011, has been there herself and remembers all too well what that felt like (and as a second-round draft pick, she's also proven that where you get drafted isn't as important as what you do after a team picks you up).
It's easy to dismiss these kinds of life skills as less important than hitting 3s, but they matter just as much — particularly in a world where fans, journalists, and critics can fire off an opinion about a player in less time than it can take a player to mess up. It's not always easy for athletes to keep their mental focus locked in, but vets like Colson are offering powerful — and selfless — paths toward doing so.