The Full-Court Press: Chloe M. Keating '11

Not many Harvard athletes can match the intensity of Chloe M. Keating when she is on the field hockey pitch—even she likens her style of play to that of a chicken with its head cut off. But in this exclusive interview, Keating reveals some of the method to her madness. Every week, The Full-Court Press will give you the sort of personal scoop that you’re not likely to hear at a typical press conference.

Name: Chloe M. Keating

Year: 2011

Position: Forward

Stats: As a junior, Keating moved to the forward position and immediately became the Crimson’s strongest offensive weapon. She started in each of Harvard’s 17 contests and led the team in scoring with 10 goals and five assists. Keating also knew how to come through in the clutch, tallying three game-winning goals.

Interrogation time.

1. Typical pre-game meal.

I typically opt to stop at Chick-Fil-A before games and do a serious number on the value menu. It's really all about balanced meals that incorporate both carbs and protein.

2. List four songs you listen to before games to get pumped up.

It's difficult to narrow it down to four. But I typically opt for anything by Justin Bieber or any selections from the musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.

3. Favorite team to play against and why.

This is a more difficult question to answer, considering that rather than doing school work on nights before games, I occasionally stalk the equivalent of our opponent's "gocrimson" attempting to find something embarrassing, poorly phrased, or generally not cool about individual players. I'd hate to be the player that fuels another team's fire the night before a game. But if forced to choose, we are taking a trip to California this year to play Stanford and UCal. Thus, because they are providing us with our first team-cross-country-traveling-experience, they, equally, are my new favorite teams to play against.

4. Most ridiculous thing that has taken place in your team's locker room.

Given the public nature of [The Back Page], I likely will have to skip over the first five to six ridiculous moments that come to mind. I will say though that the locker room is more like a European club full of individuals of varying dancing skill. There's a lot of fist pumping, but that's really all I care to share.

5. Most embarrassing moment you've had on the court.

I don't typically get embarrassed that easily, but sophomore year of high school, following a face to head collision with a player from our rival, my front tooth (in its entirety) fell out of my mouth. Because of the blood, the ref, my coach, and the opposing team coach rushed over, assuming they'd find me crying, hunched over in pain, or, ideally, silently in shock. I believe I was screaming, not necessarily words, just yelling. And when asked if I was in pain, I answered, "I'm not in pain, I'm just mad. I'm toothless and ugly." There may have been other choice words thrown in between, but I've tried to black out most of the experience. Luckily the tooth was salvaged and no major problems have occurred since then. But unfortunately for the girl with whom I collided, she will always be known in the Merion Mercy field hockey community as "the tooth killer."

6. Animal that best represents your style of play and why.

I fully admit that this answer was extensively researched, and by researched I mean, I typed in very vague adjectives (such as 'loud', 'cool', or 'weird') next to "animal" into google and skimmed through the results. I came across this which is pretty appropriate: a chicken nicknamed 'Miracle Mike,' who lived for nearly 18 months without his head. To the untrained eye, forward, the position I now play, may look like a bunch of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but I do promise there are methods to our madness.

7. The most ridiculous thing you've heard a fan yell at a game you were playing in.

I'm usually too much in game mode to hear a lot when I'm on the field, but my sister Kyle did sport a crimson snuggie during our game against Columbia last year (similar to the one featured in this article.)

8. If you could play for another sports team at Harvard, which would it be and why?

I think being part of the fencing team would be cool, plus I think it's just a valuable skill to have in general.

9. Position you'd play in Quidditch.

I don't know if I'm qualified to answer this question, but goalie is a pretty straightforward position in any sport.

10. If you could go on a date with any professional athlete, who would it be?

Considering that this athlete and I currently live in the same city, and especially because he is technically not legally allowed to leave, I think Mike Vick and I would really hit it off. We'd ideally just do something really low key, like take my dog for a walk.