Spreading Spartan Spirit
Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Hannah Corkery is halfway to completing her goal of spreading Spartan spirit to not just her own team, but all across the Castleton campus. At the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year, Corkery made the personal commitment to attend at least one event for each of Castleton’s 29 varsity athletic teams to fully embrace and share the family-oriented atmosphere of the Spartans athletic community.
“I get so inspired just seeing other teams and other coaches,” explained Corkery. “You get to be so focused on your team and your program and your athletes that sometimes I think it gets a little bit lost that we’re all representing Castleton.”
Thus far, Corkery has made it to a game for every fall and winter sport, with the exception of cross-country skiing, which she hopes to catch at one of their upcoming meets. With the start of the spring season comes plenty more sporting events including her own, where she hopes to see more coaches and fan’s from across the athletics department who’s competitions she’s cheered on.
“It’s always great to have fans at your games and I thought, you know, I’m going to be a better fan,” she said, “It should just be that you want to be there, you want to be a part of it.”
Attending rugby and wrestling matches have been the most eye-opening events for Corkery. Knowing very little about the sports, she greatly respects the athletes and teams who are sharing in their first varsity season at Castleton. Also leaving a lasting impression, she describes the energy and camaraderie of the cross-country team’s home meet this past fall as a brand new experience.
“It’s a men’s and woman’s sport and so they combine and the amount of excitement they have for each other had me thinking - that’s why you do it. You forget that a lot when you're coaching. Through all the exercise notes and recruiting, you create these goals and timestamps on things that you sometimes forget about the process and how exciting it is, and how exciting for these athletes to do that. It just gets your energy going again,” said Corkery.
Corkery is currently in her fifth season as head coach of the Castleton Women’s Lacrosse team, after holding the graduate assistant position for two years. She has led the program to six NAC championships and was NAC Coach of the Year for the third time in two seasons.
She credits her players’ energy for attending other athletic team’s games as having inspired her own yearlong goal. Sharing their Spartan pride on social media, Corkery and her athletes post regularly to their team’s Instagram, @CastletonWLax.
“Whenever we go, or whenever one of the players goes, we just want to show our support,” she said. “We’re in this together, and this is exciting.”
As Corkery looks to take home another NAC championship this spring, she knows that the Castleton athletics community will be supporting her every step of the way.
“It’s not just about my athletes, it's about all the athletes here,” said Corkery, “Let’s all support each other, it’s more fun that way.”