Caroline Haggerty ’24.5, originally from Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the most prolific members of the field hockey team. So far this season, Haggerty has six goals and four assists.
In this edition of Seven Questions, Haggerty discusses her favorite field hockey memories, her growth as a player and why she chose Middlebury.
TC: How does the field hockey team plan to bounce back after the first loss of the season against Tufts this past Saturday?
CH: Saturday’s loss was tough, but it really just presents us with a huge learning opportunity. The culture of our team focuses a lot on the idea of being where your feet are and taking a season one game at a time. So as we look ahead to the rest of the season. I think we’re really just excited to dig in, get to work, and put together the best gameplay that we can.
TC: Now that you’re a super senior, what are your favorite moments with the Middlebury field hockey team?
CH: There are so many little moments that it’s hard to pick! It’s going to seem a bit obvious, but each of our national championship games have been really awesome moments. They stand out to me not just for our performance on the field, but because they represented the culmination of our hard work in building the culture and camaraderie that sustained us throughout the season. Those are the things I’ll remember most!
TC: How has your role on the team transformed or evolved from your first year to now as a super senior? What has been the biggest point of growth for you as a player?
CH: I’ve definitely had some role evolution! We talk a lot about a concept called “scope of contribution” — the idea that everyone on a team is playing an integral role, whether they’re scoring a bunch of goals or celebrating as loud as they possibly can from the sideline. And that’s something that I’ve held close to my heart during my career because I really have had to transform through those roles. The process of all of it has been incredibly rewarding, and through it all I really just had to grow a lot in my mental (not just physical) game to get my mindset each day to where it needed to be.
TC: How were you first introduced to field hockey, and what's been your journey to playing at the college level?
CH: I largely got introduced to it by it just being one of a few sports offered by my school in 7th grade. I was already playing ice hockey and I figured it would transfer well. It was funny though because I almost ended up not playing it at all — my twin sister was doing cross country instead and I was SO nervous to be doing a sport without her for the first time. But thankfully her and my mom convinced me to try it out!
As far as getting to the college level, I owe a lot of gratitude to my mom because she really acted like an advisor (and chauffeur as she likes to joke) to help me through the recruiting process!
TC: Why did you pick Middlebury? Was it more for the academics or the program—or a bit of both?
CH: It was a super holistic decision for me. I knew that I wanted to try to play field hockey in college and so I was going through the recruiting process, but it was equally (if not more) important to me to end up at a school where I would be happy academically and extracurricularly. Middlebury ended up being a perfect combination of all of this, with a great liberal arts education, a beautiful outdoor setting and a field hockey team with a strong culture that values having a good balance of fun and serious!
TC: How do you and your teammates unwind after a big game or during the off-season?
CH: After games, we each have our own individual ways of unwinding, but we do love to decompress by finding ways during the season to spend time together off the field. The simplest version of this is team dinners in the dining hall, but we also do fun and decompressing off-day activities like hiking the snowbowl, apple picking, or pumpkin carving at our coach’s farm. These moments have honestly been some of my fondest from my time on the team - things like camping at the snow bowl with my grade or going to the Champlain Valley Fair this past preseason are memories that I’ll definitely cherish for a long time.
TC: Do you have any personal mantras or mottos that inspire or motivate you?
CH: Each year, we have a tradition where our seniors choose a team theme that functions as a motto/mantra and serves as a guiding post to support us in both our best and toughest moments. This year's “Make Waves”, highlights how individual contributions unite to build momentum, driving a team toward success through consistency and collective strength. Throughout my years on the team, I’ve found a lot of value in using these themes as my own guidepost. And on a more individual level, I’m a big fan of using self-affirmations as personal mantras to maintain my mindset and confidence throughout the season!
Ting Cui (she/her) is a Sports Editor.
Ting has previously contributed as a sports writer and spent the past year in Washington, D.C., where she interned at the National Press Club as a policy analyst and politics writer. She also interned as an Editor at Fair Observer this past summer, focusing on stories related to international politics and security.
Ting is majoring in Political Science and minoring in History. She is also competitive figure skater for Team USA and enjoys hiking, thrifting, and consuming copious amounts of coffee.
