Floor Rijpma (2021) - Hall of Fame - Michigan State University Athletics

Floor Rijpma

Induction:
2021
Class:
2010

Floor Rijpma
Field Hockey (2006-09)
Bunnik, The Netherlands
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Two-time First-Team All-American (2008-09)
• Two-time First-Team All-Big Ten (2008-09)
• Helped lead MSU to three straight NCAA Tournaments, including NCAA Regional Finals in 2008 and 2009
• Finished career ranked third in MSU scoring and goals

HALL OF FAME FEATURE: CLASS OF 2021

Coming to Michigan State as a 17-year-old from the Netherlands and walking through the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center and seeing the names and accolades of legendary Spartan athletes who came before her, field hockey player Floor Rijpma never really thought that she would join that list.

But after one of the most prolific careers in program history, Rijpma admits she was overwhelmed when she received the call that she was selected to the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.

"I was just flabbergasted," Rijpma said via FaceTime from her home in The Netherlands. "You know when you're young and walking through the building and you see all of these names and the banners and they talk about it, but you never think that your name will be up there with them. That's great, that's major, that's awesome. There's not a hair on my head that would say I would up be there in 10 years with all of those other names.

"I think it's a great honor, a great privilege. I'm just so honored to have been chosen."

Rijpma was a two-time First Team All-American and helped lead MSU to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including reaching the regional finals in both 2008 and 2009. The Spartans went 6-0 in league play in 2009 to win their first-ever outright Big Ten regular season title and captured the conference tournament title to become just the second team in league history to finish the regular season undefeated and win the Big Ten Tournament.

"You can always say when went to the Final 16, or some other wins, but it would take away all of the other moments," Rijpma said when asked of any specific games that stood out in her career. "What I feel the most proud about when I look back on those days and those times were the complete team and family that we had here.

"Coming here, and going to college, they say in America that the team would truly become your family," Rijpma recalled. "When you're a foreigner, at 17-years of age and having your team to rely on basically 24-7 and going through everything with them, the bad and good times, that was completely true. This team became my family."

Rijpma recalled the transition she made, moving from her home in Bunnik, The Netherlands, and arriving at Michigan State on a January day in 2005.

"My mom just recently moved and she brought me all of these pictures from when I was younger and one was me at the airport leaving for America," Rijpma recalled. "I remember her saying we're not coming with you and not because we don't love you, but because we know you can do this. You just go and take on the world.

"When I got to the States, I came in January, and it's not like it is during the fall or summer, from a weather standpoint. I think I was in Wilson Hall and I can STILL remember hearing this train at night, every night. Those first days, weeks maybe, were the hardest because you don't even know anyone."

In addition to getting to know her teammates, Rijpma said having a couple of fellow Dutch teammates, coaches in Rolf van de Kerkhof and Helen Knull and the support she received at MSU helped her transition.

"The organization of the athletic department and the support we had (here), you can never know how much important that was for us," she said. "Being able to play in sports and excel in the area of academics, because of the entire support team that we had access to, it just made for an incredible experience in terms of going to school and playing your sport."

Also new to Rijpma was the excitement on a Spartan football game day.

"I still tell people that there is a stadium that holds 75,000 people for a college game and they're like, 'What?!'," she said. "Then you add in the tailgates and it's such an atmosphere. If you want to feel the Spartan Pride or the Green Heart, Michigan State on a game day is amazing. It's just such a great combination of a University with sports."

Rijpma, who earned her bachelor's degree in hospitality management and went on to earn a master's degree from Central Michigan in international administration before returning home, now works for The Rabobank, one of the bigger banks in Holland.
While it has been more than 10 years since she returned to East Lansing, she is hoping that she gets the opportunity to be on campus in person for the ceremonies.

"I think it will be so emotional,' she said. "I will be reliving so many emotions of living there. And for such an important part of my life, when you become an adult, the beginning of who you are. It shapes who you are and who you will be.

"There's one thing for sure in my life that I would never, ever regret and would do it over again and again and again and that's coming to Michigan State."