My Favourite Athlete: Hannah Haughn

Every athlete has someone they look up to; hockey players love Wayne Gretzky, golf lovers watch Tiger Woods, and Canadian women’s soccer players worship Christine Sinclair. My favourite athlete is a little less known, and so is the sport she plays. Hannah Haughn is my favourite athlete, and she plays field hockey for the Canadian Women’s National Team.

Hannah Haughn has had success throughout her career. At the university level, she played for the UBC Thunderbirds for 5 years. She had many achievements throughout her post-secondary years, including several MVP and all-star awards, 5 national university field hockey championship gold’s, and received the Sport BC award for the athlete of the year at the university level in March of 2017.

My goal as an athlete is to play OUA (Ontario University Athletics) field hockey in my university years, and her success at that level is very motivating to watch as a young athlete. While playing for the University of British Colombia, Haughn also began playing for the national team. One of Field Hockey Canada’s videos show that at the time Haughn joined the team, they were growing a strong young group and put up impressive scores against more experienced teams, while fighting for a spot at many international competitions. The video also mentions how strong of a player Hannah is and what she brings to the squad.

I enjoy watching the National team play because you can tell they are working hard and will continue to improve. Like most elite athletes and teams, the main goal of the program in 2018 is to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Beyond her success on the field, Haughn strives to erase the stigma around mental health. She has struggled with depression and anxiety, sharing her struggles on her personal blog, including her thoughts when she started to move up in the field hockey world “Like every other kid, I just wanted to be seen as “normal” even when I wasn’t.”

Many athletes struggle with balancing their social life, academics, and athletics, and Haughn gives a raw and real look into the life of a high-level athlete, including the highs and the lows. Hannah Haughn is a quick, hard-working, skilled field hockey player. Her consistent success throughout the years at the university and national level are incredible and she uses her own experiences in sport to spread awareness about mental health. Her achievements and personality inspires me to be not only a better field hockey player but also a better person.