Quick Chat: Cate Hardin

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Cate Hardin likes to get up and get things done in the morning, which is why she's a big fan of the Georgia soccer team's practice schedule. Instead of practicing after class each day, the Bulldogs practice until around 10 a.m. and then head off to class. And in Hardin's case, she goes to class after making herself some avocado toast.

Hardin and the Bulldogs (7-3-4, 3-2-2 SEC) are back in action at the Turner Soccer Complex on Thursday night (6 p.m.) when they host No. 23 Kentucky (8-1-5, 2-1-4). Georgia can clinch the program's first SEC East Division championship with a win over the Wildcats.

During a recent Quick Chat, Hardin, a sophomore defender from Marietta, Ga., talked about morning workouts, her favorite class, her funniest teammate, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:

Frierson: I don't know how many teams practice in the morning, but I'm guessing it's at least somewhat rare. Do you like the morning practice? Is it nice to get done by 10 and still have the rest of your day for class and studying?

Hardin: I like to get everything out of the way. I'm the most productive in the morning, so it's nice for me. I feel like the workout kind of sets me up for the rest of my day, like I have more energy. Sometimes I'm really tired after a really hard workout, but I like the morning training.

Growing up, I'd usually have practice in the afternoon and sometimes as late as 8 p.m. So this, honestly, is a nice change. I'm a fan.

Frierson: Was soccer always your main thing, or did you play a lot of different sports when you were younger?

Hardin: My parents were and are big sports people, so I played pretty much everything by the time I was 7 or 8. Honestly, until I got to college, I never focused on just one sport. Soccer and basketball were my main two — soccer was always No. 1, but I loved basketball.

Growing up, I played baseball with all the boys, a little tee-ball, and I played volleyball and softball. Soccer was always the No. 1, though.

Frierson: Did basketball help you with soccer? Or did soccer help you with basketball?

Hardin: Soccer really helped me with basketball. That correlated with the footwork, and I could run for days and my teammates couldn't. I don't know how much basketball correlated to soccer, but I think maybe with defense. I became a good defender in basketball, and I think that correlated into soccer.

Frierson: You scored more than 100 goals in high school, and now you're a defender. What has that transition been like?

Hardin: The funny thing is, I was never a defender growing up. I'm a center back now, but I was always an attacking midfielder. It was a big shift coming into college when the coaches were like, we want you at center back. I love it now, I've really gotten used to playing there, and I've gotten really comfortable. But it was a big change.

Frierson: What is your favorite class that you've taken at Georgia?

Hardin: I'm really liking my Philosophy and Ethics in Sport class. I'm going to be a Sport Management major, so that's really interesting to me. It goes into everything about what sport is and everything behind it. We just learned about violence in sport, and is that ethical or not?

Frierson: Like hockey fights?

Hardin: Yes, that was the No. 1 thing that they brought up. That's a big part of the game and fans love it, but is that ethical? It dives into ethical questions like that and I find it really interesting.

Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?

Hardin: Ooh, that is the million dollar question for me, honestly. I want to try to play soccer after college, we'll see, but probably not for 10 years [laughs]. By 10 years, hopefully I'm on to another career that I'm happy about, and maybe starting a family. We'll see.

Frierson: Who is the funniest person on the team?

Hardin: Just because she does funny things, not necessarily because she says things that are funny, it's Mallie (McKenzie). Mallie gets me laughing — her and Ellie (Gilbert) are really funny together.

Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?

Hardin: Avocado toast. I've been making it every day for breakfast for the past month or so, and maybe longer than that. I like sourdough bread, and that really makes it. Then I add half of an avocado, then two eggs, and I like them fried. That's my go-to after practice.

(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cate Hardin

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