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Meet Carrie

Sport makes Carrie feel strong and gives her a goal to work towards. As part of This Girl Can Week, Carrie tells us about reaching the semi-final of the NCAA hockey tournament and tells us about her biggest sporting role model.

    TGC Profile Carrie
    Caroline Hanks

    Caroline Hanks (Carrie)

    Year of study: Postgraduate
    Course studied: International Relations

    What sports do you play: Hockey
    How often: Practically every day.

    What is your best sporting achievement? - Reaching the national semifinal of the NCAA tournament my senior season at Maryland. After overcoming many expectations that our team wasn’t good or experienced enough, we put the hard work in to have a strong second half of the season and be the national runners-up.

    How do you feel when you are competing in your chosen sport?

    I feel strong. Getting to play a team sport is great because it also requires connecting with other people and their abilities, as well as connecting with your own mind and body to perform at a high level.

    Do you think it is important for women to be well represented in sport? (Why)

    Absolutely, because for too long women’s sports have been perceived as not being as exciting or as worthy of attention/resources/etc. However, the work rate and commitment is what makes our representation worthy.

    What are the benefits sport and physical activity can offer to people?

    Besides the basic benefit of it feeling good to move and be active – for me it’s being able to set a goal and work towards it. Being able to challenge myself with a goal makes it sweeter for when I’ve achieved it and it makes the hard times easier to get through because I can look to the bigger picture of what I’m working towards.

    Do you have a female role model that you most identify with and why? (Doesn’t have to be sport-related)

    Growing up, among my idols was a Maryland basketball player named Kristi Toliver because of her style of play and her calmness/composure under pressure. I knew she could be that composed because she trusted the skills that she had done thousands of times and then could execute them when in a pressure situation.

    I used to watch a lot of basketball because it was my main sport at the time, so there were many female athletes on the college and professional teams I looked to as role models because it was my dream to get to that level. As my interest shifted to hockey shifted, I found athletes to look to in my new focus while maintaining the previous ones in mind.

    Published on 22 November 2018
    • Category: Sport