University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah: Standing Tall
6/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
June 30, 2014
The Gopher soccer team is just six weeks away from opening its 2014 season with an exhibition match against North Dakota at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium on August 15. The team has expectations to build on a strong 2013 season, a highlight of which was the emergence of freshman goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs.
The following is an excerpt from a feature piece titled "Standing Tall" which details how Hobbs chased and realized her lifelong dream of being a Golden Gopher while overcoming unexpected tragedy in her family life.
Be sure to check out the entire piece, as well as other great articles about outstanding Gopher student-athletes and teams, in the July 2014 issue of Ski-U-Mah, which is available in print at Gopher Athletics venues and online at GopherSports.com.
Tarah Hobbs and her twin sister, Haley, have been playing soccer for more than a decade. From a young age as the two grew up in Hugo, Minn., they would lace up their cleats and hit the field, motivated by their father. Roy Hobbs loved soccer. He wanted nothing more than for his two daughters to share that passion.
"When I could barely walk, my dad carried me around the house with a soccer ball," Hobbs said. "I always knew I wanted to be a soccer player when I was little because he loved the game so much. He was really hard on me growing up when it came to the game and I feel like that's why I'm so hard on myself now because he would always push me to be my best."
Hobbs started playing soccer when she was six years old but she did not start as a goalkeeper. In youth soccer, most players try different positions as they search for their spot on a team. Hobbs' sister Haley originally stepped into the goal but didn't enjoy waiting for the action to come her way. As her sister exited, Hobbs jumped in to try it out. She has been in goal ever since.
Roy Hobbs wasn't alone in wanting his young daughters to succeed. Their parents shared dreams for the twins, which included wanting to see them at the University of Minnesota. That love for the Gophers and the hometown crowd became a part of their lives at a young age.
"When I was little, my mom would always announce me as a Gopher," Hobbs explained. "I would run around in my little sports outfit and she would say `starting for the Minnesota Gophers, Tarah Hobbs!' It was awesome. That's kind of where that spark came from."
As life's unpredictable events often do, an ordinary December day turned into one that the Hobbs family will never forget. After picking up his daughters from school and dropping them off at home, Roy Hobbs went out to finish his Christmas shopping. He never returned from that errand.
