Berklee Hibbard '21 Recruiting Profile

Growing up in Salt Lake City Utah there was not a lot of hockey to begin with, let alone girls hockey. Although hockey is not the most dominant sport in Utah it is the most dominant sport in my family. My uncles, cousins, and older brother played and continue to play hockey. I have always been interested in playing hockey from a young age whether it was playing knee hockey with my brother or playing street hockey with my whole family. I did not start playing organized ice hockey until I was six. Having played hockey for nine years I have learned more than I could possibly imagine about myself and life in general. Hockey has taught me how to give everything I have for my teammates and for myself, and with out hockey I would never know what it would be like to be willing to do so.The greatest lesson that I have taken from life is knowing that if I give my absolute best to anything I do that it is enough and I wouldn't have learned that without hockey. 

It’s never been an easy road to play hockey with all the physical challenges and the mental toughness needed to play. As a female athlete there are some added challenges such as not being viewed as a true athlete.  I have had to deal with it on occasions like many female hockey players. I have been cut from teams because I'm a girl, I have been picked on by other players because I'm a girl, but none of this ever bothered me. Personally I have never had a big problem with this because I have always had an attitude where I just want to prove everyone who doubted me wrong and prove everyone who supported me right.  That’s what drives me. I want to do the best I can to show that I’m just as talented as any of the boys I play with or against. Although hockey is one of the biggest parts of my life an even bigger part of my life is my academics. I have many goals for my high school career including keeping at least a 3.9 GPA and continuing to take honors and advanced placement courses while doing so. For my academics in college my biggest goal is to complete at least my bachelor's degree and continue to play the sport I love. Academics are very important to me and will be my first priority through the rest of high school and into college.