Athletes of the Issue: Sara Chung: Softball Standout

By the time she started at Hopkins, she had plenty of softball experience, but she said the leadership of her coaches and the older players was most important to her growth as a player. Chung shared that, “the team has grown a lot throughout my six years, skill-wise and personality-wise. I loved getting to know so many different peopleand learning from them. We have had so many graduated players that I learned from and became so close with.” Chung said “It’s really fun and rewarding to train and get better in all aspects of the sport though.”

Chung’s favorite parts of Hopkins softball are all the fun memories she’s made on and off the field. She said, “At the end of each seasons games we always have a fun practice with slip and slides and water balloon wars and a piñata. We also had an exciting practice last year just after it had rained and we practiced diving for an hour by diving into mud.” On the field, she said scoring the winning run in the 2016 FAA Championship was one of her favorite memories.

Co-captain Sam D’Errico ’20 said, “Sara’s intense yet kind spirit and energy makes her a great captain. She knows what needs to get done and makes sure the team is right with her for every play. I think most of the girls on the team aspire to be like her.” Teammate Hannah Ceisler ’22 added, “Sara is a great captain because she is always positive and cheering everyone on, no matter what the score is.” As a captain, Sara said, “I really try my best to lead by example and put my best effort in to do well for the team. I also think it’s really important to encourage the younger and newer players to have confidence when playing—it’s such a mental sport you need to be in a confident mindset to succeed.”