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8/21/2018 1:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Lightbourn hopes summer at home paves way for fall success
As far as fitness tests go, this one was straight forward: Run a mile in five minutes or less.
Dylan Lightbourn of GW men's soccer faced the challenge as part of his summer training with the national team in his native Bahamas.
No problem, the senior forward thought. Until he began his race against the clock on a bumpy slab of road in the blazing Caribbean sun.
"I did it," Lightbourn said. "I think I got like five minutes on the dot. Maybe it was 5:01."
Lightbourn's summer hardly represented a vacation. He worked in as many as six training sessions per week with the national team around an internship at a local investment firm on his home island of Nassau.
By the time Lightbourn headed back to Foggy Bottom, he'd secured a place in the national team's starting lineup among a group of roughly 50 players and an invitation to play with the Baha Boyz for CONCACAF Nations League qualifying, which begins this fall.
After juggling such a busy schedule, Lightbourn entered preseason camp ahead of his final fall at GW feeling in midseason form. He's hoping to build on a junior campaign in which he ranked second on the squad with 11 points via four goals and three assists to help the Colonials earn a home game in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
"I definitely feel ready," Lightbourn said. "I was definitely the most excited I've ever been to come back."
From humble beginnings in the sport, Lightbourn has developed into a trusted contributor and captain at GW and a piece the Bahamian national team can build around as it relaunches its program with the dream of eventually qualifying for its first World Cup.
"Each year, he's gotten better," GW head coach Craig Jones said. "We saw a lot of upside in him originally, but we see a lot of upside in a lot of guys. Dylan's been great because he's come in and always done extra in the gym and on the field to create opportunities for himself."
Lightbourn was born in the Bahamian capital and raised living in a condo overlooking the water a short drive from the sprawling Atlantis resort that makes the island a popular tourist destination.
As a youngster, Lightbourn was more serious about baseball than soccer. He traveled the Caribbean as a pitcher representing the Bahamas in various youth tournaments. His soccer experience was more recreational with a couple practices during the week and games on Saturdays.
Lightbourn's path changed when he moved to the United States for high school at Avon Old Farms, an all-boys boarding school in Connecticut.
As a sophomore, Lightbourn made the varsity soccer squad, and when a back issue led to shoulder problems that forced him to stop pitching, his sport of choice became clear.
Lightbourn's growth on the soccer pitch was fueled by impressive physical tools and the work ethic to keep building on his vast potential.
Soon, Lightbourn was committed to GW and a rising star in the Bahamas national team pool. He saw action as a substitute in an international friendly at Nassau's Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium against the U.S. U-23 National Team before his senior season of high school.
A few months later, he was in uniform for a World Cup qualifying series against Bermuda.
"It's kind of hard to grasp," Lightbourn said. "Yes, we're a small country, but representing a whole country is pretty cool."
Lightbourn has kept progressing throughout his time at GW. After playing just 68 minutes as a freshman, he's totaled the most combined points (20) of any Colonial over the past two years.
The 6-foot-3 forward's size and strength are assets up top. His ability to receive a pass and hold off a defender often sparks the transition from defense to offense, and he's dangerous finishing crosses around the net.
"For me, it's just been about constantly grinding," Lightbourn said. "When you put in a lot of work and you see the results, it's a great feeling."
That background made Lightbourn a natural fit to be picked for the Bahamian national team's summer training roster, adding high-level experience to a young group largely made up of the top talent from the country's eight-team BFA Senior League.
"It's a pleasure working with him," said Paul James, an assistant with the Bahamas national team. "He's very disciplined. Every session he really puts everything into it. He doesn't hold back anything."
Lightbourn relished the opportunity. Until the training camp was announced in late May, he thought he'd have to train on his own over the summer, which is often a struggle due to the lack of gym space and public fields on the island.
Instead, Lightbourn settled into his busy schedule. Each morning, the Finance and Psychology double major reported for work as a consultant at Alliance Investment Management. After a quick stop home for dinner, he'd head to the national team's turf training field adjacent to the national stadium for a roughly two-hour session.
"It became like clockwork, to be honest," Lightbourn said.
Lightbourn appreciated how hard the Bahamian staff pushed him throughout the summer.
In the beginning, the sessions focused almost exclusively on passing, which helped Lightbourn work toward his goal of being more aware of his surroundings with the ball at his feet.
As the weeks progressed, the group got more comfortable playing together with a series of intrasquad scrimmages and local friendlies.
Then, there was the conditioning that went well beyond the timed mile with sprint workouts and interval testing in the harsh heat.
"Back home, we pride ourselves on being fitter than every opponent that we play, regardless of scoreline," Lightbourn said. "We want to be technical, but we're always going to make sure the fitness is there."
Back at GW, Jones noticed the results right away.
"He already had that sharpness that sometimes might take three or four weeks for some of the guys to get," Jones said. "When you're training every day with good players, it's obviously going to make you a better player yourself."
Now, Lightbourn is aiming to turn that hard work into results.
His final collegiate season kicks off Friday with a home game against Stony Brook at GW Soccer Field on the Mount Vernon Campus. He knows if he can be more reliable turning scoring chances into goals it can help the Colonials compete for an A-10 title.
"I know I can do it," Lightbourn said. "But it's not 'Can you do it?' It's 'Will you do it?'"
After the GW season, Lightbourn will turn his attention back toward his national team. He'll miss the first two legs of the CONCACAF Nations League qualifying, but he's expecting to suit up for the Baha Boyz for the final two games, one of which will be held in November and the other next March.
This much is certain: Every step of the way, folks back on his home island will be paying attention.
"It's a motivating factor for all the younger players," said James, the national team assistant. "Dylan is such a great player and a great person. All the young Bahamians should aspire to follow in his footsteps."
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