Catie Collins, Captain of the Loomis Girls Varsity Hockey Team, is committed to play Division I hockey at Princeton, one of the top 15 hockey programs in the nation.
LCGVH, led by Catie Collins, just finished strong with their unbelievable campaign, becoming the NEPSAC Chuck Vernon Elite Eight and the Founders League champion.
For Catie, choosing Princeton was more than just about finding a place where she could grow as a player; it was about finding a community she wanted to be part of.
“I picked Princeton because I wanted to find a place where I can play competitive D1 hockey and have elite academics,” she commented. “But the biggest reason was because of how down-to-earth and friendly the girls on the Princeton Women’s Hockey Team were. It was a community I really wanted to be part of.”
Another reason for Catie choosing Princeton was due to the impact that a former LCGVH captain, Maggie Johnson ’22, had on her. Maggie served as an inspiring role model to Catie during her sophomore year. Catie spoke about the outstanding leadership Maggie showed during her time in Loomis, and how she knew that she wanted to play with someone like Maggie again at the next level.
For everyone, entering a new environment with new people can be intimidating. However, for Catie, it is mostly exciting.
“I am mostly excited to go to a school where it has one of the best academics in the world, but also going to a school that supports and accepts D1-level sports,” she remarked. “It’s not like I don’t have any worries; everyone has worries, especially when you are going to a new place. But because of my experience at Loomis, which taught me life lessons like time management and also social skills, I don’t think it is going to be a problem for me to adapt to the new environment quickly.”
It seems clear that Loomis has had a positive impact on her, and prepared her well for college both academically and athletically. Furthermore, Catie described how the hockey team was extremely tight-knit. Even if the team was having trouble performing well, they were always very supportive of each other and worked tirelessly to improve. She also talked about how the team mainly focused on having fun and enjoying the limited time they had together, rather than the output, which strengthened the team’s relationships with each other.
Having led one of Loomis’ most successful seasons as captain, Catie is more than ready to take on the next challenge. With Catie’s humility and leadership, there is no doubt that Catie will succeed as a Tiger. Congrats Catie!
