Gassman excited to join defending national champion, Iowa Western

Louisburg’s Bree Gassman will continue her soccer career this coming fall as she signed with Iowa Western Community College. Iowa Western is the defending junior college national champion.

For the past four years, Bree Gassman has been a big part of a very successful Louisburg girls soccer program.

Coming off a strong senior campaign with the Wildcats, Gassman is now going from one successful team to the next.

Last spring, Gassman signed her letter of intent to play soccer for Iowa Western Community College, the defending junior college national champion.

It is an opportunity Gassman couldn’t pass up and one she didn’t think would be possible early on in her soccer career.

“Being able to play at the college level is something I never thought I would be able to do,” Gassman said. “Growing up it was never really a dream of mine. I mostly joined soccer because the rest of my siblings played it. However, I started to really enjoy the sport and wanted to be able to play it to the best of my ability. 

“Going into my senior year I realized that playing at the next level was something I actually wanted to do. I enjoy everything soccer related and fitness, so I figured playing in college would allow me to stay active at a high level for a couple more years.”

Not only was the chance to play for a national champion an enticing offer, but it became even better when she found out she would be able to rejoin a former teammate.

Reese Johnson, a 2022 Louisburg grad, was a big part of Iowa Western’s national championship run, and she spoke highly of the program.

“Knowing their success as a national champion, and the idea that one day I could be a part of it, helped persuade me a lot,” Gassman said. “Not just that, but having Reese there helped persuade me too. Not only is she a familiar face in a different area, but she also talked very highly of the college and I knew it wasn’t just someone trying to sell it to me. It was someone who’s been having a genuinely good time there.”

There is also another Louisburg connection to the Reiver program. Assistant coach Jamison Parkhill is a Louisburg graduate and Gassman believes the coaching staff did a good job to help her feel comfortable with making the move to the college level.

“The coaches at Iowa Western are very kind and helpful,” Gassman said. “Jamison Parkhill, is the one I talked to the most for recruiting. They definitely want the team to be more of a family than anything else. They have this motto for every year they’ve had women’s soccer and this year it’s ‘fam20’ to say that this is the 20th year/family they’ve had. 

“They told me that they really want to be able to expand the team this year with more numbers. So I may just be helping the girls get better during practice, but I’ll certainly work hard and hope to get game time.”

Gassman is coming off a big senior season for Louisburg as she earned second team All-Frontier League honors and was an honorable mention all-state selection.

She helped the Wildcats to the regional championship game against Bishop Miege and finished with seven goals and nine assists for the season.

“Being involved in Louisburg sports has helped me a lot,” Gassman said. “I was able to grow as an athlete and a person. My whole life revolves around fitness, so without it I wouldn’t be me. Playing soccer at Louisburg really allowed me to realize that playing in college is something I wanted to try. I’ve created so many memories with my teammates and coaches that I’m forever thankful for.”