Falcon spotlight: A lady of many talents - Kady Hawkins

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: COURTESY OF FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
Fanshawe's inaugural women's softball team was a hit, and star player Kady Hawkins was awarded OCAA honours.

With the Fanshawe women’s softball team’s inaugural season recently coming to a close, Kady Hawkins was awarded OCAA honours.

Hawkins was third in the league in batting average (.500) and second among players with 30 hits. She also stole seven bases, which was just one shy of the OCAA leader. In recognition of her efforts, Hawkins won the 2014 OCAA Rookie of the Year award and received a League All-Star award.

Coming from London, Hawkins has always been drawn to the baseball diamond.

“I went to Clarke Road Secondary School,” she said. “I’ve been playing baseball since I was four years old. I started off in T-ball then moved onto five pitch. You could say I started playing competitively around 10. I played for the London Lightning and most recently the Byron Blaze.”

Hawkins has many talents that stretch beyond the foul lines.

“I am actually a black-belt in karate,” she said. “I’ve been a black belt since I was 11 and I am 21, so 10 years now. I also kick-box aside from karate. I’ve been all around the world internationally for competitions from Switzerland and Ireland to Portugal and most recently Italy in October bringing back silver, gold and bronze medals.”

Her parents have been a big influence in her life.

“My dad can’t do anything athletic to save his life but he loves watching everything,” Hawkins said. “My mom used to play slow pitch when she was younger and I remember going to her games. I think they kind of got me into it and then I just loved it ever since.”

As a transfer from King’s University College, she has found a home here at Fanshawe.

“It’s a big step from high school but I like it because you are with the same people every day in each class so you get to have really good friendships,” she said. “With King’s, you are just in class by yourself, sitting through a three-hour lecture. The atmosphere just wasn’t for me, but at Fanshawe, I’ve already made a lot of great friends.”

Currently pursuing a diploma in Early Childhood Education, Kady has found her first semester to be full of excitement.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I am really liking ECE. Actually I just started my placement at my old public school Lord Nelson, and it’s cool that I got to see a bunch of my old teachers that taught me when I was younger. I am really enjoying it.”

She already has a clear idea of where she would like work when she graduates.

“I’d like to be in the JK or SK setting. I would love to get into the school board and then branch off into something else from there.”

Playing varsity sports can be a tremendous opportunity for students to get involved on campus. For some, managing varsity athletics with a full-time school schedule can be daunting but Hawkins takes it one step at a time.

“You have to make sure that you’re organized. I don’t consider myself organized by any means but when you get your schedule you just need to plan ahead. It’s definitely manageable if you stay organized and you don’t sit around not doing anything when you should be doing something.”

Team chemistry and determination was a key component to the women’s softball team this season.

“I think the team in general just clicked. A couple of the girls, Courtney and Rach, we got along really well because we are kind of the same people: we get upset with ourselves if we don’t get on base or if we make a bad error but it’s because we are really competitive. It was just awesome because we didn’t really have that much conflict. But we are girls so there is going to be some bickering and stuff like that. But on an overall level it was an awesome first year.”

Their team motto was a reminder of how to play the game their way.

“Our team slogan was ‘to the last inning, to the last pitch, to the last out we fight,’” she said. “[Catherine] – our coach – read it to us before a game and we just took it.”

Hawkins had some words of inspiration to any young women looking to join varsity sports in the future.

“Don’t be afraid to ask us about it,” she said. “There are pages on Facebook for our team or you can come find us in the halls. Just be confident in yourself.”
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