Samford softball takes the field to Jeff Bice

Jeff Bice’s presence remains strong in the Samford softball program.

Unfortunately, he lost his battle to cancer in July 2015, but the Bulldogs have remembered and included him throughout their journey this season.

His daughter, Caitlin Bice Handlan, is a senior at Samford and has been a key contributor for the team after a highly successful high school career at Chelsea, where she helped lead the Hornets to the 2012 state championship.

Caitlin’s parents, Jeff and Sandy, were the embodiment of the term “road warriors” during her first three years at Samford, attending every home game and traveling to nearly every away game.

Sandy made it her goal to get to every one of Caitlin’s games this season. Mission accomplished.

“She knows Dad wouldn’t miss a game, since it’s my senior year, and I’ve been playing since I was 3 (years old),” Caitlin said.

The team came up with a creative way to keep Jeff involved throughout the season.

“We thought that we would bring the field to him since he couldn’t come to us,” Caitlin said.

They did that in the form of glass vials, where they collected dirt from each field they played on throughout the year. As often as they could, a handful of teammates and head coach Mandy Burford would travel to his grave and leave the mementos there.

Caitlin was able to share a wonderful moment with her father before his passing. She was married to Sean Handlan on January 9, 2015. Jeff was able to walk her down the aisle that day.

“Getting married early was a big decision,” Caitlin said. “We went back and forth on it for awhile, but my dad being there was the most important thing to me, so we were willing to rush some of the planning and really get all hands on deck to make sure that we got it done and he could walk me down the aisle.”

Caitlin will graduate in December with a nursing degree, and begins work this summer at Grandview Medical Center. 

This Father’s Day will be the first one without her dad, but Caitlin will celebrate her dad as much as possible.

“It’s going to be a lot different. I try not think about it…Spending time doing it through Mom will be a big deal,” she said.