Weber Talks Sports Episode #3: Kean Athlete Interview ft. Caroline Pease

Caroline Pease, a field hockey athlete at Kean University, shares her experience choosing Kean and playing during the pandemic. She talks about her background in field hockey and her involvement in Unified Track. Caroline also discusses her adjustment to college life and her favorite coaches. She mentions her team's achievement of making it to the final four and her personal success as a freshman athlete. Caroline shares her thoughts on college athletes getting paid for endorsements and discusses the time commitment required for college athletics. She concludes by discussing the student-athlete life balance. All right, and welcome back, everybody, to Word of the Talk sports radio show. My name is Jason. I'm your host for the show, as always, the show where we always talk about anything college sports related. And today, we have a very special guest on the show, very first time I've had any guests on the show, matter of fact. Kean University has a field hockey athlete that I have had several classes with that I figured I wanted to get some insight on the college athlete life and all the balances that you need to do with that. So joining me today is Caroline Pease. Caroline, how are we doing today? I'm good. How are you? Good, good, good. All right. So I just wanted to get started really with just your background. So Kean from Waverly, Pennsylvania, from what I was reading through your bio. It is a little bit ways away. So I just wanted to really get a grasp on, like, why did you choose Kean University since you're from Pennsylvania, and it's a D3 college in New Jersey? I just wanted to get some insight as to why you really chose here and, yeah, like, just that kind of background. Yeah, definitely. So field hockey-wise, I started, like, the college recruiting process freshman year, like, starting to reach out to coaches. And you can only really communicate with D3 coaches at the freshman level, and I knew I wanted to go D3, so that was really my focus the whole time. Originally, actually, I was going to commit somewhere in Pennsylvania, but, because I emailed our former head coach, Leslie LaFrance, about two years ago. It's, like, my junior year because I played a school near me. And she reached out to me, like, once or twice and then, like, never answered my emails again. So I was, like, okay, like, cropping that off the list. And then my senior year, like, about one week before I was, like, planning to commit to a college, she reached back out to me. And I came to Kean. I loved it. And I toured it, and I'm at the team. And definitely, it all aligned with my values. And also, Kean is in a really competitive conference for field hockey, the NJAC, which is definitely a top conference in D3. So that definitely drew me in. And also a nationally ranked school. So definitely, those are my reasons for choosing Kean. Okay, yeah. And then I heard you briefly mention your high school path and along that way. And since you are earlier in your college career, like, obviously, there was, like, the high school career and all of that. What was it really like playing during the pandemic? Like, did you guys have the season? Or, like, what was really going on during that period for you guys? Yeah, definitely. So my high school went through a lot of coaching changes. Like, my freshman year, I had one coach, and then she left. And then my sophomore year, so what would have been COVID year, I didn't have a season. So that was definitely a drawback with, like, recruiting and just, like, developmental in general. But then, like, my junior and senior year, we got a new coach. And he was really great. And he really helped me with the college recruitment process. Okay. And through that, like, high school period and, like, just growing up, did you always play field hockey? Like, even as a kid, were you playing that? Or is it something that grew into you? Or, like, did you play anything else? Yeah, so I start my mom playing field hockey, actually. But she quit during high school. She never, like, played in college or anything. But she – I did, like, dance growing up. Like, I did, like, soccer dance like a lot of little kids do. Yeah, but, like, I stopped soccer at, like, five or six. Like, I didn't really do anything with it. But, like, at age – I think I was, like, fourth grade, like, 10, I started playing field hockey. And immediately I loved it. And I knew that's what I wanted to do. So that's – throughout middle school and high school, I really did field hockey. And then I did club field hockey. So that took up a lot of my time. And then in high school, I actually did Unified Track. So Unified is an organization where you partner with kids with disabilities. And you do sports with them on a team. So I did that. That's really cool, actually. I've never really had that program when I was growing up in high school. They never really did that. So that's actually really cool. Yeah, definitely. They actually have it at Kean, too. So I'm doing that with it now in college as well. Oh, I didn't know that. Huh. I'll have to take a look at that. Yeah. Yeah, they have a – yeah, definitely. They have a soccer and a basketball team. So it's super cool and something I just got into here. So super exciting, and I love it. Okay. As for your current playing career, what do you – like, what are your thoughts on – since you are a freshman at Kean. Also, thank you for coming to Kean. It's your first year. Hopefully you stick around. For – just for right now, like, how has it been so far for you? Like, have you adjusted well? Like, has your team been accepting of you? Like, things like that. Like, how is that experience for you so far? Well, definitely I'm a very independent person, so I wasn't really worried about, like, adjusting to college life. Like, I knew I would be fine because, like, through high school I did a lot of stuff. Not by myself. Like, I wasn't lonely. But, like, if I wanted to do – like, I wasn't a lonely person. But, like, if I wanted to do something that my friends weren't interested in, like, I wasn't worried about doing it by myself. Like, I never had that fear. And I definitely, like, found that through the college recruiting process because none of my other friends wanted to play a sport in college, so I did a lot of stuff by myself. But going – that transition into college was pretty good. The team was really great. We had five either, like, seniors or people taking their extra year, and they kind of led the team, and they were really great. And just kind of learning under Coach LaFrance was a super great opportunity through the fall, and obviously it shows in our record. Okay. And I guess that's – I've heard Coach LaFrance a lot in this interview so far, and one of the questions that I was going to ask is, do you have a favorite coach or do you have a favorite teammate? I kind of get the inclination of where you might go with that, but I do want to leave that question open for you to see if that is right. Well, Coach LaFrance definitely was fostered a culture of tough love. She was not a warm and fuzzy coach. Like, I cannot count on my hand the number of times she told me I did something dumb or stupid. So definitely, like, she wasn't – she was not a warm and fuzzy coach, but definitely I learned a lot under her. And I don't think I necessarily have a favorite coach because I think I've had the opportunity to learn something different under each of them over, like, the bunch of coaches I've had over the years. And our new coach, Coach Mel, was super great. Definitely a lot different from Coach LaFrance, but still super great. All right. Let's see, where do I want to go? Obviously, for your playing career so far, like, I know it's been pretty short, but what would you say is your greatest achievement at Kean, or what was one of your favorite moments that you had with the team so far? So team-wise, definitely making it to the final four. That was a super big opportunity, and I don't even know if we'll ever make it that far again because no one really – like, we lost in the NJAC semifinals, so we didn't have an automatic bid. So we had to wait to get an at-large bid. So that was really exciting because we didn't even think that was going to happen, and then we beat the number three team in the country, and no one thought that was going to happen. So definitely, like, team-wise, my favorite memory, but, like, individually coming in as a freshman, I really didn't think I was going to play. And I think that's, like, kind of like a general mindset. You come in as a freshman, you're like, I'm not going to play. And in the beginning, I really didn't play. Like, I would get a couple minutes at the end of the game. Like, every game I would get a couple minutes, which is, like, still super exciting. But then Coach put me in, and I scored, and then I got to start, and then I scored a couple more times, and I got a conference award. So it was a really exciting little period of the season, but definitely a super great experience. Okay. And just one question I have that's kind of more not, like, controversial lately, but it's been a topic of discussion all throughout, the NIL and how that is. Are you familiar with how the NIL works? Yeah. Okay. What are your kind of thoughts on college athletes, even at a level like D3? Like, what are your thoughts on them getting paid for endorsements and things like that? Well, it's definitely a lot, as you mentioned, a lot more rare at the D3 level for people to get, like, endorsements and such. But, I mean, like, college athletics at any level is pretty much, like, you put the same time commitment as a part-time job, not saying that, like, it's the same as working a job, because it's not. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, but it's definitely a very big time commitment, and you have to work your entire schedule and life around your sport. So if you are able to make any money off of that, like, good for you. Like, I don't really have anything against it, but definitely at the D1 level with someone like Caitlin Clark, she's able to get, like, deals with, like, Gatorade and whoever else, I don't remember. Right. That, I think, makes more sense than, like, somebody at D3 getting an NIL deal. Yeah. Okay. And then just the final question, it's the big one. What is the student-athlete life balance like? I know some are able to balance it better than others, I'm sure, but what is your experience with that kind of balance, especially with being a freshman, you're adjusting to a new school, adjusting to college, that's the big one. So what is that kind of thing like? I don't know. I know it's a very loaded question, but, like. Yeah, no, definitely. So I think, like, I think a lot of student-athletes would relate that, like, they've been playing a sport and doing academics for so long, like all through high school and now in college, that it's just, like, you get so used to it. Like, I can't imagine, like, not going to practice after school. Like, that's just, like, my routine. I'm like, okay, I go to school and then I go to practice, which is definitely a great routine for me because if I didn't do that, then I would just, like, sit in my bed and do nothing. It kind of gives you something to do. Yeah, definitely, like, keeps you, and especially at the D3 level because you're not getting any, like, monetary incentives to be here if you're here for, like, the love of the sport. So, and also, I don't know, I think it's a great and very unique experience at any level because you can be like, I played a sport in college, I was a student athlete, and even at the D3 level, like, that's still a super big accomplishment. I'm trying to think what else. I don't know, but also one big thing with, like, student athletes, I think a lot of them will just do athletics in college and that's it. Like, they don't try to branch out and, like, they're like, that's my identity, I'm a student athlete. Where I tried to, I mean, obviously, field hockey is a huge part of my life, but I try to do other stuff outside of field hockey. Like, I've tried getting involved on campus a lot more, so that's definitely been, like, a great balance as well because my life isn't just field hockey. All right. That's really all I have for you today. I really appreciate you coming on for the interview. Yeah. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did. I haven't really spoken to a lot of the athletes on this campus at all. Okay. Getting a perspective on this whole thing is very interesting, and I really do appreciate you coming on the show. Yeah, of course. All right. Thank you so much. All right. And to the viewers, I say thank you so much for listening in once again. We got a lot of great perspectives today from a collegiate athlete. For me personally, I don't play college sports, but knowing this student-athlete life balance is pretty awesome. To know that you can balance both, still have fun in college, be an athlete, do the things you want to do while still getting the education that you want, and not only that, like, learning about different perspectives on a lot of other things. Like, the NIL, me personally, I think it's great that you can get advertising as an athlete, even at a collegiate level. Does it take away from your, like, drive to continue to want to be an athlete? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. That's a whole different take for another day. But otherwise, I think we got a lot of great perspectives today from a collegiate athlete, and I hope everyone at home enjoyed it as well. Once again, this is Warbler Talks Sports Radio. And don't miss out on next week's episode, because we got a good one coming. I'm going to give a very scorching hot take on a topic that I am very passionate about. So I hope everyone tunes in to that. And take it easy. Have a great one, everybody. ♪♪♪