Dirigo Deep Diver #7: Olivia Briggs

Welcome back to Deep Dives! The start of the season is a great moment to acquaint ourselves with some more Dirigo Union members. Deep Diver is delighted to introduce Olivia Briggs, recent immigrant to Maine (from Massachusetts), soccer aficionada, and Dirigals stalwart.

Olivia grew up playing goalkeeper, from pre-kindergarten until college. She got to know Maine during regular summer visits, especially to her best friend’s family’s home on Chebeague Island. After completing graduate school in Public Health three years ago, she fellow DU-member Molly McNulty headed for Portland with plans to find employment and set down roots. Luckily for Olivia, the Hearts’ enterprise was getting started just as she arrived. She discovered the Zoo as a location to watch the Premier League. (She’s an Arsenal fan, which Tottenham-loving Deep Diver will forgive, especially because the Spurs are embarrassingly bad this year.) Connections to new friends and DU members followed immediately.

Olivia is dedicated to women’s sports, including the new Boston Legacy in the National Women’s Soccer League. She’s attended the NWSL’s finals in the last two years. She’s also a huge fan of the US women’s national team, which we must point out, outperforms their male counterparts at every opportunity. (We’re pulling for you USMNT. Do the job on home soil this year!) And naturally, she’s absolutely thrilled for the impending arrival of a Portland USL women’s team.

In a way, her love of women’s athletics connected her to the Hearts of Pine and to the DU. “Being a woman fan in men’s sports can be a little lonely sometimes. I don’t think that’s true with the Hearts, it’s been a welcoming space,” Olivia observes. Similarly, Portland provides special opportunities. “DU is not something that would exist in a place like Boston,” Olivia explained, because everyone supports the Sox, Patriots, and Celtics. A supporters’ group makes less sense because the whole population supports the major league teams. Now her social life intersects with DU events. “In Boston, no one was looking to meet new friends. Everybody already has their friends. My social circle has really blended with the DU.”

The DU spirit lives in Olivia. By the end of our conversation, she had invited Deep Diver to join the Dirigals. Deep Diver can report that the gals’ WhatsApp thread is busy and fun!

By day, Olivia works at the University of New England’s Center for Public Health Practice, evaluating public health programs. By night and weekend, the woman can sure wax impressive on soccer. When Deep Diver asked Olivia her thoughts on the Hearts’ performance, she offered a sophisticated analysis of the team’s on-field play and her hopes for Josh Drack’s filling the enormous (and speedy) shoes of Nathan Messer. Deep Diver is excited to attend her first Dirigals event and will stay close to Olivia Brigg’s side. A sure place to learn new things and meet new people.