The D: The men's soccer team has enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years. Last year you guys earned Ivy League championship rings. How does it feel to have The Dartmouth devote more space to the football recruiting class than your league title?
CH: That's one thing that is a bit annoying...It would obviously be nice to get more coverage and recognition for the team considering the success we've had over the past three or four seasons. But having said that, we did get a great crowd for the game versus Brown on Saturday and hopefully with the new stadium in place next year we'll have a large base of rowdy fans for all our games (soccer is the real football anyway!).
The D: You were injured in the Stanford game. What happened?
CH: It actually happened as I scored. In the second half I stuck the ball past the keeper and then we collided. It didn't seem too bad at the time but apparently I partially tore my ACL ligament.
The D: Being on the injured reserve must be frustrating. Do you have a timetable or rehab plan for the injury? More importantly, with a league championship, an accent and an injury, in what situation might girls not flock to you like the salmon of Capistrano?
CH: Well when you put it that way, I guess that's the only upside of being injured -- gotta play that sympathy card! Not too sure yet as to the extent of the injury although it's likely that I would need surgery and that means six months out. So f*%#& frustrating! Especially coming over from New Zealand primarily to play football and then missing the season. But I guess you can only look ahead and if I need surgery then the target for me would be to be fit for the Under-20 World Cup in June next year and of course next year's fall season.
The D: Now, I've always been curious about athletic recruiting. Did being from New Zealand complicate things? Can you give me a rundown on what the intercontinental recruiting process is like?
CH: The assistant coach of the team last year, Jason Batty, was also a Kiwi so he made contact with me and laid everything out over the phone. It all sounded good and knowing that he was here was definitely a pushing factor for me.
The D: If I heard correctly, you did a fair bit of traveling this past spring. How was the trip?
CH: Yeah I traveled to Canberra, Australia with the New Zealand U-20 team where we played a three-game series vs. the Aussie U-20 team. We beat them 2-1 in the series which was a massive result as we hadn't beaten them in a series for many years. Plus it's always good to thrash the Aussies!
