Natasha Browning '21 Recruiting Profile

Growing up my childhood was nothing but typical. I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil then moved to Melbourne, Australia, where my family and I lived for five years. After that, we moved to Southampton, England, where both my parents are from. 

After five years there we made our final move to Oakville, Canada. Some people may view moving to so many places and having to change schools countless times as a setback but personally, I think it’s given me an advantage and upper hand on the field. 

Communication and good relationships with your coaches and teammates are hands down one of the most important aspects for not just field hockey but any sport. 

Having the opportunity to live in such a wide variety of countries has taught me how to work well with all different kinds of people. I've noticed I adapt well to new environments, an example of this is when I decided to make my goals of becoming a division one athlete a reality, and moved to a much more competitive team directed at getting athletes to the NCAA. 

The coaches were a lot tougher and expected a lot more, which was a big change in the coaching style compared to my previous team. I’m positive that I was able to adapt to this change so quickly as a result of growing up and dealing with other changes so frequently. While moving to so many schools I’ve also been exposed to lots of different educational systems. 

Though I'm thankful for the experiences, it was pretty challenging having to deal with the different expectations each school required. But to add to that I was also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder the summer before grade 8.

It’s been a long academic journey to get my grades to where they are now and I'm still set on getting my grades higher and higher. Having ADHD has taught me resilience which I’ve demonstrated on the field and in the classroom.

All these obstacles have simply made me a stronger person and I believe this is what sets me apart from other athletes and has prepared me for taking on the challenges that come with being a student-athlete.