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Interview with Caroline Hammond |
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Written by Jadie De Lille Wright
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007 |
 This week I got to interview the only senior on the women’s tennis team, Caroline Hammond. She has become an amazing player through her years here at the university and you can see how the sport and the atmosphere here have shaped her into the amazing person she is. Tennis matches are fun, intense and very interesting to watch, so I encourage you to come and support our Cavaliers. I have to say guys will enjoy the girls in their cute tennis outfits while the girls will enjoy the guys. Plus, the intensity these players bring to the court will leave you begging for more. So for all who wonder, here is a closer and more personal talk with this incredible native-Virginian.
Fanatic: Do you have a nickname?
Caroline: A nickname? Well everyone called me Carol on my team, and it’s funny because my mom was like ‘I didn’t name you Carol, I named you Caroline’, so my parents said something to my team (but not in a bad way). Other than that, the back of my shirt says McBride because it’s my middle name, so most people call me that, or just plain Caroline.
F: How long have you been playing tennis?
C: Wow, I’m not exactly sure how long, but I’ve kind of been playing for fun since maybe kindergarten, like once a week, because my whole family plays tennis and we would always play on family vacations. But playing tennis real seriously… Probably since ninth grade I’ve been playing tournaments. I’ve always played a lot of sports so I hadn’t really devoted all my time for tennis, until junior and senior year, and I still played soccer.
F: Were you also trying to play soccer in college or did you always plan on tennis?
C: That’s funny because I was just looking at a quote from my coach, and I forget exactly what it was, but it was something about how it is never hard if you enjoy doing it. I love soccer, I love the games, but I never really like practicing. With tennis I just love practicing, I think it’s really fun. So I definitely knew that tennis was going to be the sport I was going to play in college. I did consider soccer, I mean I loved it and I think I did pretty well in high-school with it, just not as well as tennis so it was pretty much always tennis for me.
F: Is it like a family thing or heritage, your mom played tennis too, right?
C: My mom played two years at college but she also cheered for four years and that was her main thing; and my dad pole vaulted at William & Mary; and my brother played for our high school so he was pretty good at tennis as well. I guess you can say I have a pretty athletic family. They weren’t all focusing on tennis as their main sport but it is kind of a family thing.
F: You’re a native-Virginian, were you always set on coming to UVA?
C: No, actually I wasn’t always set on wanting to go to UVA. When it came down to it I looked at a bunch of different schools, a lot of them were in Virginia. My brother went to Tech and my parents went to William and Mary, so it’s funny how we’ve done a lot of the Virginia schools. When it came down to choosing I knew that UVA was not only good with sports, but if something was to happen to me and I would not have been able to play, UVA was the best academic school I could’ve gone to, so that’s why I ended up choosing UVA.
F: You’re now a fourth year, what has been your best experience here at UVA?
C: I was telling a friend the other day probably one of my best tennis experiences was being a part of a win against Miami on senior day. It was our last home match and we weren’t expected to win the match against Miami, we lost a doubles point, so we actually ended up playing out for singles matches to win against them. I think it was the best win in the school’s history for women’s tennis, and it was really exciting because I won my match at number six singles, and I helped contribute to the win, and it was just a great experience for me personally and with tennis.
F: Has playing tennis and being part of a team helped you out at UVA?
C: It’s helped me so much. I have definitely learned a lot about myself, I’ve grown so much. I wasn’t the most confident player when I came here, I wasn’t the best one on the team and a lot people didn’t expect me to be on the team. I’ve been in and out of the line-up for most of my experience here, and this year I’ve been the line up consistently. So not only have I grown to be more confident on the tennis court but outside of it too, it’s helped me be more confident with who I am. I’ve done decent here so all in all it’s been a great experience. I’ve met some great people friends through my sorority and outside of it through athletics I’ve met more great people, so I feel like if I’ve had the opportunity to meet different groups of friends which has been an amazing part of my experience here as well.
F: Do you have any advice to first years or future tennis players?
C: Always remember that it’s not given to play a sport in college, and you work hard to get to where you are. No matter how hard things get, always appreciate the fact that we’re given the opportunity to be here playing a college sport and we are playing here at the University of Virginia. It’s easy to look over at your friends that are going out and have all this free time, while you’re always busy, but for me it’s paid off. I think everyone needs to appreciate what they’ve been given, how hard they’ve worked and appreciate the experience they can have here at the university and respect that for future players. We have two amazing coaches here that are very knowledgeable, I respect how they have made me a stronger player. I hope that everyone, no matter what happens and how hard the coaches can be in their honesty, keeps pushing themselves and remember to look up to them and how far they’ve gone in their careers, remember they’ve gotten there for a reason.
F: What are you going to miss the most about UVA?
C: I was actually laying in my room the other night thinking, in an outside of sports perspective, that I’ve always lived with a bunch of people, this year I’m living with eleven girls, last year I lived in my sorority with twenty-two girls, my first year I lived in a hall with fifty million people and it’s fun to have friends stop by, get to see them, catch up and hear about their stories and experiences. It’s always fun because I don’t get to go out that much with tennis, so they always come in or go by and I get to hear all of this. So I’m really going to miss talking to all those people I get to see on a daily basis. I’m also definitely going to miss the team and the friendships I’ve formed while I’ve been here. You go through good and bad times with the team, and those experiences you only get to share with your teammates so I’ll miss them and competing. I’m going to miss competing, that’s going to be crazy, I have one more match in ACC’s for sure and hopefully another one after that, and then hopefully NCAA’s; but I don’t have that many more matches and it’s going to be weird not competing and working on getting better constantly.
F: What are you feared for or known by on the tennis court?
C: Definitely my backhand. It’s probably the shot that I’ve always looked to for consistency, so I guess it’s more of a weapon for me than in other people. I’ve definitely improved my forehand a lot so I think sometimes I look to my backhand and I go for a little too much and try to hit it as my forehand, because my forehand has gotten better. I think also the fact that I’ll stay out there and grind, and get as many balls back as possible, I think that’s what has helped me win most of my matches, being consistent. I think I’ve improved a lot of the weakness I had, I used to double-fault a lot and my serve has gotten a lot better, I also feel more comfortable coming to net and balling. I would say my backhand but I think now what makes me better is that I have an all court game.
F: Have the fans helped you?
C: We definitely don’t have as many fans as the men but I think our team is working on it. I had an incredible group of people out there on my last match, and it’s really nice to have that kind of support. My parents have been to every single match this season except for two, so they’ve definitely been an amazing support group on and off the court. A lot of friends, sorority sisters, professors, and all these different people I know have come out for me, and it really does motivate you to win when you have your friends cheering you on. Having your team out there helps too, I want my teammates to win I think we can feel that energy out there.
F: What would you do to encourage more people to come to matches?
C: I would just say to come to one match. Once you come to one you will realize how much fun it is to come and watch. I think once you come out the first time it makes you want to come back and watch more. Certain people gravitate to certain players depending on their style, intensity, attitude and personality, and you’ll get a favorite person to watch. I would just encourage people to come watch one match and tell more people to come out and support us.
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Jadie De Lille Wright |
| About the author: |
| Jadie De Lille is a first year at UVA, therefore undecided but inclining towards a major in physics. Although she may not look it, she was born and raised in Cozumel, Mexico. She has been an Olympic windsurfer since the age of 10, and in 2004 she gave up her shot of making it to the Olympics in Greece to pursue kiteboarding. Being far away from the ocean in Charlottesville, she has turned to The Fanatic to get involved in a different way with sports at UVA.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )
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