World Wide Terps: Experiences That Shaped Their Lives

Fleur Knopert | Field Hockey | Raalte, Netherlands

1. The women in my life played a big role in my journey as a student-athlete. My mom, for example, is just as competitive as me. She used to be a high-level equestrian and knows what it’s like to have such a big passion for your sport. She’s always been supporting me when I wanted to take the next step in my field hockey journey, even when I decided that I wanted to play in the US for 4 years and she wouldn’t be able to see me for the majority of the year. We often FaceTime and celebrate the small and big wins, and she is always there for me whenever I have a hard time. She reminds me that I’m good enough to be here. She has always believed in me and is one of the biggest supporters in my life, which is something I really appreciate. 

When I was a freshman at Ball State, there were two seniors: Libby and Kerri. Both inspired me a lot as well. Both of them were so strong and fit, held people accountable, were great leaders and worked incredibly hard. They always pushed themselves and others to do the same. One of them even trained for a half marathon on top of all the practices and games we had, and both of them did pull-ups like it was nothing. I thought that was the coolest thing ever, and I wanted to be just as strong and fit as they were. They took me under their wing and pushed me every single day in the weight room and when we had to get on the line to run 170s. Because of them, I became a better athlete physically and mentally, and I try to share my enthusiasm and push my teammates with lifting and running, which might not always be the fun part, so they can become the best athletes they can be, which is so rewarding in the end. 

2. In The Netherlands, women’s sports have grown significantly in the last couple of years, especially when the women’s soccer team won the UEFA Women’s Euros in 2017 and became second in the FIFA World Cup in 2019. Overall, I think women’s sports in the Netherlands are treated pretty equally to men’s, which is something I love, except for the fact that men still get paid more, especially for soccer and field hockey. 

In other countries, it’s definitely different, so I feel very fortunate to have this experience and to be able to play sports in general. In the hockey India league, the highest-paid male player received 90k USD, and the highest-paid female player ‘only’ received 36k USD, which is a huge difference, unfortunately. On the…