Shellie Onstead's voyage to the 2014 World Cup in Europe proved to be fruitful, not only in adding to her coaching expertise, but also for the future of the California field hockey program.
 
The Golden Bears' head coach loves finding talented players from all over the world who might be a good fit at Cal, and this journey provided a strong example of that.
 
Willemijn Oomans, Onstead's former teammate when she played in Holland after graduating from Cal, let the Bears' coach stay with her during the trip. That's how Onstead learned about future Cal standout and 2019 senior Femke Delissen.
 
Oomans was friends with the Delissen family, and her son knew Delissen was a skilled field hockey player as well.
 
"I'm staying with Willemijn and her son is telling me to check out Femke," Onstead said. "At first, I just thought they were being nice and trying to help her out, but they weren't wrong. I was impressed with how good of a player she was."
 

 
After returning to Berkeley, Onstead connected with Delissen when NCAA guidelines allowed her to do so and eventually offered her a spot with the Bears.
 
It didn't take much to pique Delissen's interest in Berkeley.
 
Travelling to the United States was already on Delissen's radar. Femke's older sister, Anouk, had similar aspirations, but ended up living in Madrid to play field hockey at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid. Anouk inspired her younger sister to see other parts of the world.
 
All Femke needed was an opportunity, so the timing couldn't have been better for Onstead to have a future star in the backfield for the Bears.
 
"I didn't really look any further at other schools after meeting Shellie," Delissen said. "Cal was my number one choice for academics, hockey and being able to live in California."
 
Anouk admitted a little lighthearted jealousy that her younger sister was able to further her education and field hockey career in the United States. She and her parents were extremely happy and excited for Femke.
 
Anouk had no doubt Femke would succeed at Cal after being teammates with her in their home country.
 
"She played older than her age on the field," Anouk said. "She was so smart on the field, and she saw things players her age couldn't see yet. We are very proud of her. She's doing so well with school and hockey."
 
Field hockey runs deep in the family. Delissen's father, Robbert, was a Dutch National team member, and her mother, Alexandra, played for the highest women's team in The Netherlands. They're still very active in the game today, and travelled to see Femke's games in Berkeley every year for the annual alumni/parents game.
 

 
Onstead considers Femke the "quarterback" of the Bears' defense. Her responsibilities for her team's success grew quickly once she initially arrived in Berkeley.
 
Femke's freshman season coincided with the field hockey program's transition from playing at Maxwell Field to Underhill Field, so the program was in a bit of a rebuilding mode. Onstead prefers her freshmen, especially ones from other countries, to have a chance to use their rookie campaigns to get adjusted to life at Cal and the United States. Delissen didn't have that luxury as Onstead and her coaching staff knew at the end of training camp that season that Delissen would be counted on heavily.
 
Luckily for Onstead and the rest of the Bears, Delissen thrived under that pressure.
 
"She got thrown into being a key contributor right off the bat and she handled it very well," Onstead said. "You want to try to allow your foreign players to use their freshman year to get adjusted to life here, especially being a fall sport that can be difficult. They land in August and we start the season 10 days later. I respect the players that can just jump right into it like she did."
 
Delissen started 17 of 18 games during her freshman year and added America East All-Rookie honors and the conference's Fans' Choice Player of the Year accolades to her resume.
 
The personal tributes are appreciated by Delissen, but she wasn't expecting any individual awards since they're not the standard at home like they are in the United States.
 
"The awards are cool, but it shouldn't be all about the stats," Delissen said. "Somebody could play a great game, but if it doesn't show up with the numbers on the stat sheet, they aren't being honored for anything. A good backfield doesn't get enough recognition, but I'm still honored by the awards."
 
The stats may not be critically important to Delissen, but as the Bears continue the 2019 America East Tournament on Friday, she ranks tied for 11th in the country with four defensive saves, and she paces the Bears in assists with nine.
 
More importantly than the stats, as a four-year cornerstone in the backfield for the Bears, the 2020 team will have big shoes to fill in replacing Delissen.
 
Following graduation, Delissen will return home to The Netherlands to get her master's degree and continue playing field hockey for her club team.
 
Perhaps she can help her collegiate head coach find a future Bear the next time Onstead is in the neighborhood.