She Knows How to Kick It
June 28, 2017
"What She Knows" is an e-newsletter that was targeted toward Utah women between 13 and 45 years old that my classmate and I created for our senior capstone project in 2017. We profiled six women who had different backgrounds and experiences, but who were somehow connected to Utah, to provide other women with role models and to showcase the variety of ways modern women find success and fulfillment. The first profile in the series was one I wrote was on professional soccer player Ashley Hatch.
Photo provided by ISI Photos
Ashley Hatch picked up soccer when she was eight in Gilbert, Arizona, because a lot of her friends played. When she was 14, she started playing soccer seriously. By the time she was a freshman in college, she was a starting forward on BYU’s Division-1 team, where she scored 47 career goals and worked through a serious knee injury. Now, she’s fulfilling her childhood dream and playing for the North Carolina Courage after being selected second overall in the 2017 National Women’s Soccer League Draft, being named to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team roster and training with the Women’s National Team.
“(Moving up to the pros) was intimidating just because it was the next level from college, and everyone’s a little bit faster and a little bit stronger,” Ashley says. “But I was really excited just to kind of see what the next level was like and to push myself and see if I can compete at that level. So it’s been really good. I’ve learned a lot, and I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better.”
The NWSL has only been around for five years, but it’s lasted longer than any other women’s soccer league in the country. Ashley says it’s lucky the league was developed by the time she finished at BYU, so she can pursue her professional career. And even though some people question this career move, she says it’s her calling and plans to see where it takes her.
True success, though, will come from making other people feel better about themselves and encouraging them to pursue their dreams, Ashley says.
“Seeing that light in little girls’ eyes when we meet them at games and when we just talk to them or take a second to have them talk to us — that to me is success,” Ashley says. “At the end of the day, when I’m done with soccer, if I could inspire as many people as I could to pursue their dreams — whether it’s soccer or anything else in life — I would say that I had a successful career.”
This optimism and selflessness is something she seems to have learned from her mother, who Ashley says is one of her greatest inspirations.
Now Ashley will continue to work hard in all she does — whether that is playing soccer, finishing her family studies degree or keeping in touch with her family. Striking a balance is difficult, she says, but fulfilling each role makes her feel happy and powerful.
“The only thing that really matters is what you believe and know that you can do,” Ashley says. “I think that’s what got me this far. I had a family who always believed in me and who was always telling me I could do what I wanted to do. Once I believed that myself, then there was really nothing stopping me.”