This week, Her Campus had the pleasure to sit down with University of Michigan field-hockey player Meg Dowthwaite. Meg is originally from England and is currently undeclared.
Her Campus: What was your field hockey experience like before you came to the University of Michigan?
Meg Dowthwaite: I played at Surbiton and then did all the JRPC stuff, which is like Regionals, county stuff, and then played for England. My first England camp was England Under-15s when I was 13, and then I did England Under-16s when I was 14 and 15, and then England Under-18s when I was 16 and 17. I played in the European Championship in 2015, and that was fun, I got a bronze medal! I’ve also captained my country and have played in 34 international games. At school, my coach was my Dad’s best friend Brett Garrard, who also coaches Surbiton Ladies First XV, so I’ve learnt so much from him.
HC: How did you find yourself playing for the Wolverines?
MD: My family friend Lauren Thomas came here and graduated last year, and my Mum has known and played with her since she was 13, and she would always come back for Christmas and be like “oh my god, this is the best place ever, you should so come here!”
Michigan got in contact with my Mum because of NCAA rules and all that stuff when I was 14 or 15 I think. I was really young. It was a gamble: do I want to play for England, do I want to carry that path, or do I want to have an adventure? So that was basically the toss-up. I’d been given an unbelievable opportunity, and I couldn’t really turn that down. To go to an English uni or to go to an American uni, there’s no comparison.
HC: What’s the team like? Any pre-game rituals?
MD: We try to keep it lighthearted. Minutes before a game you get focused, you’ve done all the work and it’s time to just perform. At that point, all you can do is take a deep breath, relax, and just get together as a team. I think everyone just supports each other, it is like a sorority. Before a game, we have these really cool lights in our locker room that change color and we put really loud music on and we just dance together. I think it just makes us loose and we play better when we have fun. We are all about making sure everyone is fired up!
HC: What has been your favorite moment since being on the team?
MD: We played UNC in early September, and they’re ranked number one. I think we were coming in at 10. It was boiling, around 90 degrees. Really, really hot. It was a great game, with lots of back and forth. UNC is really tough to beat because they are number 1, and they have got really good recruits, and we were in their home state. It was a last minute goal, we had played nearly a whole 90 minutes and it must have been around the 88th minute and we beat UNC 1-0. It was one of the most exciting, thrilling games. It was amazing to do that. Scoring the game-winning goal against Iowa was great, too, and all the overtimes are fun. But I just remember that UNC game. We had had such a hard pre-season and it was the challenge that we set our goals to.
HC: How did the season go? What are your hopes for next season?
MD: The season went well I think. You always think that we could do better, and we did not finish number 1. We had a really good game against Penn State in the semi-final of the Big-10 tournament. We lost to them in the end, and we thought we had it, so I think next season and the seasons after that we are going to aim to do better in that Big-10 tournament. I think in our off-season we’re thinking about that as motivation. In the NCAAs we lost against Virginia in the first round, which was gutting. I think in any game you play your heart out, but in those two games, we really thought we should’ve won. But we just did not put the goals away. So I think we are going to look to progress further in the NCAAs, and then hopefully win Big-10 and the NCAAs, that’s the dream, that’s the goal. So yeah, we are working really hard this off-season.
HC: What is it like being an international student-athlete?
MD: I have found it really hard, I am not going to lie. My first semester academically was not great. When I am away traveling, I focus all my energy on hockey, and looking around and seeing the attitude of people here, everyone is so hard-working, so it’s definitely been hard to adjust to that. It’s definitely not been easy. Starting your work at 8pm every night is just not very motivating. You are absolutely knackered from doing all that training, and school the whole day, and then you have more homework and exams. It’s something that I don’t even know anyone has got right yet, but we are all still learning.
HC: What are the things you have had to adjust to since coming here?
MD: Some language. Clothing as well. I know that is weird, but people, especially boys, dress differently. With language, I will say stuff now like “trousers,” or “I’m going to the toilet, I’m going to the loo” and people are like “what?” I always say “fair enough,” or “I reckon” and everyone loves that. People are also tamer here with bad language. But I think it is the schooling that has been the hardest.
HC: What do you love about being in America?
MD: I feel like I have become harder-working here. I can push myself to the highest boundaries now. I have more motivation to do stuff, whereas at home I was more hockey, hockey, hockey. I love the people, and I have made great friends. I like No-Thai. Wait, scrap all that, Chipotle is my life. It is the best thing about America. I do miss curries and Chinese food, though.
Image courtesy of Meg Dowthwaite.