Striker on the NSU women’s soccer team, movie enthusiast and Ontario native, Hannah Christophe took home the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year for the 2016 season.
Christophe, a freshman human development and family studies major, started playing soccer in 2005 and has been playing ever since. One of her proudest achievements is playing soccer in the U.S. I got to talk to Christophe about her transition to NSU, staying motivated during the game and why she’s considered quitting soccer. I also introduced her to a few student athlete memes, which she said were hilarious and also somewhat accurate.
Why do you play soccer?
“It keeps me active and it built a lot of my character. I’m a very introverted person, so this allowed me to break that shell a bit and build confidence and also it was a really good way to make friends. I’m still friends with a lot of my soccer friends from back home even now…and here, especially coming from Canada…I had built-in friends with the team. So that’s why I love it.”
What has the transition from [Canada to NSU] been like?
“Honestly, I’m really good at coping with change. So it wasn’t that bad, and I knew what I was walking into when I decided to come here, because my goal was always to play soccer in the states. I never wanted to stay at home, because I feel like it’s a lot more competitive [here] than where I’m from. So the transition was pretty good. There were a few rough moments, just because I’m pretty dependent on my mom…but having the roommate that I have made it really easy… She was really chill and awesome, and also my teammates were really welcoming and my coaches helped make the transition easier.”
How has playing with NSU compared to other teams that you’ve played on?
“Definitely the coaching is different. I feel like I got a lot better with these coaches than I did with the ones at home. The environment here is pretty diverse, just because everyone came from different places…so to try to incorporate everyone’s style [of soccer] and make it feel like we can play together was pretty different.”
Is there one memory from your first year on the field at NSU that stands out to you?
“My first hat trick. That was pretty awesome. It was at Palm Beach Atlantic University.”
For you, what’s the most difficult thing about soccer?
“The training, just because it’s a lot. You play a 90-minute game, and that’s just a 90-minute game, but you’re also training eight hours a week, including weight training and soccer, and that’s exhausting. It is. But I think that just because everyone on this team loves the game so much, they’re willing to put in the work and go through the stress and be physically tired all the time just to win for the team and for the school.”
How do you stay motivated and focused on the game?
“I don’t like sitting on the bench. So if you play well and you put in the work, you stay [in the game] longer, so that’s a lot of my motivation. I hate watching. I’d rather be in the action…so the want to play and to win for my team helps me stay motivated through the game.”
Did you ever want to quit?
“A lot. It’s really stressful and you don’t have time to do a lot of things. There’s so many times my friends have been like, ‘Hey, you wanna do this?’ and I’ve been like, ‘Can’t’…but then you realize that you’d rather be doing this than something else.”
Caption: Christophe, striker for the women’s soccer team, was named Freshman of the Year by the Sunshine State Conference.
Credit: D. Hendricks
