Southern Scribes: From Obligation to Enjoyment

Georgia Southern rifle team member Ella Goldfaden went from swimming to rifle

STATESBORO - Growing up in Israel, all Ella Goldfaden knew was sports. Her mother was a swimmer who had transitioned to coaching, her older sister competed in triathlon, and her two older brothers are both swimmers.

Surrounded by a family of athletes, Goldfaden always felt that being an athlete should be a part of her identity. Although her family never pushed her to be an athlete, she kind of naturally fell into swimming as she learned the basics as a child.

"When I was younger, my parents never pushed me to do a sport," she explained. "They did want me to learn swimming, but it wasn't like an 'Oh, you have to compete.' But I did always feel that I should be an athlete."

As a child, Ella was reserved and quiet. Being a competitive athlete went against her typical nature, but she decided to push herself outside of that and embrace sport. In swimming, she struggled to compete. Ella felt that she was forcing herself to be an athlete and to do something that was not true to her identity.

"Seeing them and having low self-confidence, I was like, 'Oh, this is what I need to be,' " Ella stated. "That's kind of where the idea came from, even though I was not a very active kid. I was quieter and calmer. It's definitely different now, where I actually do like it, not where I feel like I'm forcing myself."

Being immersed in sport, and around successful athletes, it was frustrating for Ella that she struggled to compete in swimming, and she decided the sport was not for her. However, being an athlete was still important to her, so she had to find a new sport.

Ella got into shooting through a family friend whose brother was a part of the Israeli Olympic Team.

"Actually, the thing is that my mom's good friend from swimming, her brother was on the Olympic team for shooting, which is funny," Ella revealed. "My parents knew nothing about it; they had no idea. Now they know a lot, but back then, they didn't. I was not very good at swimming at the time, and I was kind of looking for something else. Then the idea kind of came up, I guess my mom maybe mentioned it, or my dad. I was like, 'I really want to try that. That sounds really cool.' I tried it once, and I was like, 'Yeah, I think this is for me.' "

While shooting was not her first sport, Ella started to learn through shooting that there is more to sport than competing and winning. Her siblings were big influences on her relationship with sport and her decision to come to the United States to continue her shooting career.

Ella's sister showed her a lifestyle where sport could be from a place of enjoyment and love rather than from obligation to compete. She also showed Ella that she could pursue multiple passions at the same time.

"My sister, she's actually an athlete too, but she was not competitive. She did triathlons, and she's still running and swimming. She just recently ran a marathon. She's a fitness instructor. That's what she did in the military. But the thing is, she was not doing it for competing. She was just doing it because she liked it. And she was also pursuing art at the same time and that's kind of what gave me the idea that it can be both. It can be like a lifestyle."

As far as her journey to the United States came in, Ella was completing her two years of mandatory military service in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) when she decided to look into competing in the NCAA. She says that she is lucky to have had her two brothers go through this process before her (one swam for the University of South Carolina, and one is swimming for the University of Hawaii).

"I don't think I would have known about it without them," Ella said. "And, like when my older brothers went to college, it was kind of not as popular. Right now, it is very popular in swimming, but back then it was not. And that's kind of how I knew about it [collegiate sports]. And I saw what they went through and the experiences they had there. Like how a sport could be together with academics and have an actual team and coaches and team spirit."

She was prepared to go through the process of enrollment and recruitment because of the experiences her brothers had had. In addition to providing knowledge about how to get to the NCAA as an international student, Ella's brothers' experiences showed her what she could gain from participation in collegiate sports: a team, coaches, and team spirit.

"It's a lot of stuff that I didn't have, and I really wanted it," Ella remembered, "so that was kind of an opportunity for it. Also, I really wanted to study abroad. And I was like, oh, that's a cool way to combine everything."

Before she even started shooting and well before she made her final decision, Ella had considered the idea of going abroad to study art, but shooting gave her the perfect opportunity to make that dream a reality.

"I actually really wanted to go study art abroad because of them before I was in shooting," she admitted. "And then shooting came, and I was like, 'Oh wait, this is perfect; now I can do everything.' "

After making her final decision, Ella reached out to head coach Soren Butler, and they came to an agreement that Ella would become a member of the Eagle squad starting in August of 2023. Ella never came on a visit to Georgia Southern before committing. She took a leap of faith, and in early August, made her first-ever trip to the United States to move in and get ready for her upcoming semester.

Not only was Ella in a new country for the first time, but she also only competed in one of the two shooting disciplines that are a part of NCAA competition. Despite this, Ella was able to make a difference for the team immediately. Starting in all 13 of the regular season competitions, Ella has set and matched a career-high 589 in the smallbore discipline on three occasions and holds a top 15 air rifle average in the country. On January 14 at Murray State University, Goldfaden matched the school record [at the time] aggregate score of 1187 set by fellow freshman Emma Pohlmann the previous day. Ella also made a difference academically, making the Dean's List (3.5+ GPA) in the fall semester.

Her experience in the U.S. so far has been all that Ella expected and more. Not only has she developed as an athlete, but she has grown as a person. Being here on her own has provided Ella with a sense of accomplishment and pride, as well as helping her overcome personal challenges. She revealed in her interview that she has come to love sports again and has made strides in self-confidence.

"I would say yes because it's everything," she explained. "It gave me a lot of stuff, like being alone for the first time. It gave me a lot of sense of accomplishment and helped me get over a lot of stuff that I had before. I was very stuck in shooting, and I wasn't enjoying it as much. I was always shooting alone. I was very at home and not doing stuff and feeling more depressed. It really helped me, and it gave me a lot of stuff, so I'm very happy about it, even if it's hard and tiring sometimes."

While she admits that being a Division-I athlete and managing school for the first time after two years in the military is no walk in the park, Ella is grateful for the challenge. Coming to America has created a more independent Ella. She has learned how to live on her own and become more self-reliant. She has been surprised by her own ability to grow and do things for herself.

"It's very surprising to me because I never did anything alone," Ella admitted. "I was the youngest child. My mom and I are really close, so she would always do everything for me. She was very protective. So, I feel like if I had stayed home, I never would have done anything on my own or never grown. I was going home every day. Even like taking care of money stuff or getting groceries or stuff like that I would never get the chance to do it at home. And everything was very easy and comfy, and if I needed anything, it was taken care of."

Even during her military service in Israel, Ella was living at home. This experience in America has pushed her outside of her comfort zone and allowed her to develop in ways she didn't even think were possible.

Ella has learned that sports are not all about winning. That sport participation can be from a place of love and enjoyment and competing at the highest level—these things are not mutually exclusive. When asked about what she loves most about rifle and about competing, something that is personal to her, Ella talked about the energy of shooting.

If you have ever met Ella, you would know that she is calm, reserved, and never in a rush. Swimming was a sport that was high energy and all about speed: not Ella's style at all. When she found shooting, Ella felt that it was a perfect match for her personality—she was right.

"Like I said, I was looking for a sport, and it's always like it never fitted me and my energy," she started. "And when I found shooting, I was like, "ooh, this is something that's a slow pace; I really love it.' Attention to detail, and I get to be still, I like it. It's so good. I can't imagine myself doing another sport; it's just perfect. It's calm, and you have to be focused and very slow. I love it."

She found her love for sport in the things that made her feel incapable and behind in swimming. These things are part of what makes her an extremely capable and accomplished rifle athlete.

As she finishes her first season of NCAA competition and prepares for the postseason, we asked Ella for any final thoughts on her experience so far.

"I am very grateful to be here," she stated. "I feel like it is really pushing me a lot and giving me a lot of things. Making me feel a lot more satisfied and happy."
From one decision to reach out and come to America for school, Ella has been shoved out of her comfort zone and grown as a person and an athlete far beyond what she thought she was capable of. As she continues with her career, there is no doubt Ella will continue to develop her skills and push beyond what she thought possible.

Ella just finished competition at the European Championships in Gyor, Hungary, where she competed in junior women's air rifle.

Stay tuned as the Eagles gear up for the Southern Conference Championships on March 2-3 in Charleston, South Carolina!

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Players Mentioned

Ella Goldfaden: Freshman

Emma Pohlmann: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ella Goldfaden
: Freshman

Emma Pohlmann
: Sophomore

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ella Goldfaden

Emma Pohlmann

Players Mentioned

Ella Goldfaden

Emma Pohlmann