ROCKINGHAM – Tatum Hubbard, a junior center back on the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders soccer team, has been named the Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week presented by McNair Auto Sales.
Hubbard, who has been a part of a solid defensive unit for Richmond this spring, has helped the Lady Raiders roll to a 11-4 start. Hubbard’s efforts in front of sophomore goalkeeper Allexis Swiney have helped keep Richmond stay in the hunt for a second-place finish in the Sandhills Athletic Conference, and these efforts earned her this week’s recognition.
Athletic Profile
Name: Tatum Hubbard
Age: 16
Year: Junior
Spring Sport: Soccer
Position: Center Back
Years on Varsity: 1 Year
Height & Weight: 5’-7”, 178 pounds
Experience: 14 Years (began playing rec ball at the age of two)
RSHS Academics: Currently in her second semester as a junior at Richmond, Hubbard is enrolled in the Health Science cluster. She’s taking four classes, including Honors Health Science I, Honors Chemistry I, Honors Math III (with assistant soccer coach Ashleigh Larsen) and Honors English III. Of her current classes, she enjoys Mr. Matthew Learn’s Chemistry class because she “understands the material the best” and thinks Learn “is an awesome teacher.”
Boasting a 4.325 GPA, and ranked 41st in the graduating class of 2019, Hubbard never thought she’d be in the Health Science cluster. But she’s glad she is now.
“Growing up, both of my parents have worked in the medical field,” Hubbard explained. “My dad is a paramedic in Moore County, and my mom is a nurse at Richmond (Memorial Hospital). There were a lot of familiar terms I heard from them, and I never thought I’d go into this field.
“But I took a class because I thought it would be fairly simple, and I really liked it,” she added. “I started thinking of becoming an athletic trainer, and found out this cluster could suit me well in the future.”
RSHS Sports: While at Richmond, Hubbard has only played soccer. As a freshman and sophomore the last two seasons, she was a member of the junior varsity squad under head coach Chris Larsen. After her sophomore season, she was bumped up to the varsity level with head coach Bennie Howard, and has proven to be a staple at center back alongside a strong defensive front against opposing teams.
RSHS Extracurriculars: Since her ninth-grade year, Hubbard has been a general member of the National Beta Club at Richmond. She’s volunteered in the concession stands during sporting events, but most of her school involvement comes by way of the Teacher Cadet program.
As teaching is also a career that she’s considering pursuing, Hubbard has been involved in the Teacher Cadet program since the start of this school year. She took the introductory course in the fall with Ms. Suzanne Hudson, and since then has found herself immersed in several events around the county and with the school.
“I’ve thought about becoming an athletic trainer and then coming back and teaching sports medicine like Coach (Mitch) Hadinger,” Hubbard explained. “I took the first Teacher Cadet class, which is for upcoming teachers. With that, I got to go into classrooms and shadow teachers.
“I started at Mineral Springs Elementary School in Ellerbe, which is where I live,” she continued. “I helped out in Mr. (Tommy) Shelton’s fourth grade math class a couple days a week. And then I went to Hamlet Middle School and spent time with Coach (Earl) Nicholson’s eighth grade Math I class. I chose to stay at Hamlet and worked there four days a week for five weeks and observed what went on in the classroom.”
In continuing the program, Hubbard will take the second course during the spring semester of her senior year. She also attended the Teacher Cadet Conference in Raleigh in February. When she’s got some spare time, Hubbard also likes helps Hudson out with other projects around the high school.
Hobbies: Explaining that she “doesn’t have a lot of free time” because of soccer, Hubbard says she most enjoys spending time and hanging out with friends. One of them is her best friend Kristian Terry, whose family own a home gym facility where Hubbard likes to work out. She also likes to spend time with her boyfriend, and fellow Raider soccer player, Kyle Goodwin.
Her family also got a new puppy named Sabot, so Hubbard expressed that she enjoys spending time with her family’s new dog.
Interesting Fact: For her interesting fact, Hubbard explained that she’s always had an interest in the historic Salem Witch Trials that took place in Massachusetts in the late 1600s. Since her dad, Brian Hubbard, grew up in the small town of Marshfield, Mass., Hubbard’s family took a trip to the area during spring break of her eighth-grade year.
“History has always been one of my favorite subjects in school,” Hubbard noted. “I got to see where my dad grew up and some of things he did when he was younger. It was a cool trip because we got to go to the Salem Witch Trials museum and take tours of the place.
“I love getting to travel with my family, and that was a ‘bucket list’ item for me,” she continued.
Another interesting fact that Hubbard shared is that she loves giving and receiving hugs. She explained, with a chuckle, that hugs “mean everything” to her.
College Aspirations: While she still has some time to make her final decision on where she’d like to attend college for her undergraduate degree, Hubbard has made a list of her top three schools. As aforementioned, she plans to major in athletic training and perhaps pursue a career with that in conjunction with teaching sports medicine. While she’s looked at the likes of Appalachian State University and North Carolina State University, those schools don’t have what she’s looking for. Instead, she’s shifted her focus to, in no particular order: East Carolina University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Western Carolina University.
Her mom attended ECU, and her dad was Catamount at WCU. While that doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll choose either school, Hubbard has done her research and found that all three have “really good athletic training programs.” Starting next year, several universities across the state, including WCU, are significantly lowering tuition costs for students enrolled in teaching programs.
During her upcoming senior year at Richmond, Hubbard hopes to expedite her college experience and enter with a sophomore status, as she’s slated to take seven courses at Richmond Community College.
Mentors: When reflecting back on those who have helped her throughout her soccer career, Hubbard couldn’t choose just one person. Instead, she chose her dad, and several of her former travel soccer coaches, including Ashleigh and Jonathan Buie and John Cooper.
“My dad is a grade-A pain,” Hubbard chuckled. “But there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to support me. He gets off work at 7 p.m. and always comes to my games – it doesn’t matter if it’s the whole game or just 10 minutes left in the second half.
“John Cooper, who coaches for Athletic Club of the Sandhills, has helped me make my biggest improvements as a soccer player. I tried out three times before I made the team.
“And the Buies were the first people who saw more in me as a soccer player,” Hubbard concluded. “They believed in me when a lot of other people didn’t. They coached me with the Richmond Rampage, and got me more into soccer. They saw me as their toughest player and worked with me to get me to be a good defender.”
Athlete of the Week Stats: Despite the Lady Raiders dropping two of their three matchups last week, Hubbard, who identified herself as a “brick wall,” was a key player in Wednesday’s clutch 2-1 victory against newly-founded SAC rival Jack Britt High School. In that game, Richmond was looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to the Lady Buccaneers earlier in the season on March 16, which resulted in a last-minute goal and dropped the Lady Raiders into third-place in the SAC.
But that wasn’t the case last week, as fellow teammates Avy Lucero and Morgan Hooks netted goals in the first and second half, respectively, to snap a 12-game losing streak to Jack Britt that dated back to 2006. In a physical game that saw several cards awarded to both teams, Hubbard did her part in shutting down a high-powered Jack Britt offense that has averaged 2.8 goals per game this season. The Lady Bucs managed to scrounge its only goal of the night on a penalty kick scored by Arianna Aguilar in the final two minutes of the first half.
Hubbard, along with fellow defenders Shelby Matheson, Kathleen Pittman and Lucero, held Jack Britt’s leading scorer Callie Creech (who is ranked third in the SAC with 16 goals) to just four shots and without a score. On the season, the Lady Bucs have racked up 202 total shots (15.5 shots per game), but Hubbard and company kept their opponent’s striking foot quiet, allowing just five shots on the night.
In Monday’s action against visiting Hoke County High School, Hubbard did her part in keeping the Lady Bucks nearly off the board in a 3-1 victory. The lone Hoke County goal came on a well-placed corner kick to start the second half.
As a player on defense, what are you thinking about during the course of a game? The offense generally gets most of the attention – what’s worked well for you and the other defenders this year?
“My main thing when playing defense is to not let the ball through to Allexis (Swiney; goalkeeper),” Hubbard said. “If the other team scores, it’s never the goalie’s fault. I take that responsibility on me, and I always have done that. If I can keep the ball up field and not allow undue pressure on Allexis, I’m doing my job.
“The defense has played well together all year,” she continued. “We have good communication, especially Shelby and I. We don’t talk much because we both are thinking the same thing, and we run a really good center back position. I’ve played soccer with Shelby, Avy and KP on a team that isn’t at school. As a backline, we are calm and organized.”
What has been your favorite moment so far this soccer season?
“I don’t really have a favorite moment,” Hubbard admitted. “But I love our pre-game hype. Shelby and I go out onto the field as the game is starting and do a little handshake. We also do a ‘hug of the day,’ and Shelby’s positive attitude helps keep me going, whether I’m upset or ready to play.”
Coach’s Corner: Howard noted that Hubbard’s selection is a direct result of ability to play a tough line of defense against opposing offenses.
“Tatum is a solid defender in the back, and that’s what we need,” Howard said. “She’s skillful, and she knows the game. I’m proud to have her on the squad.”
