Ashton McCorry is a goalkeeper for the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team and a power forward for the
Women’s Basketball Team. This is McCorry’s first year participating in both Division 1 sports.
Q: What is your major?
A: “Right now, I’m getting a [master] of science in health care administration.”
Q: What made you choose that major and that career?
A: “I have always had dreams to go to [physician assistant] school, but being it’s my sixth year in college, I’m not sure if I want to go for another three. So, getting a health care administration degree would help me be on the administrative side and still be around, like, the health-care industry.”
Q: Is that what you plan to do after graduation?
A: “I love sports and I always want to be around them. So, if I do go into the health-care [industry], I’d like to work with, like, athletes, but I also have dreams to be a college coach one day. So … we’re working with two different paths and we’ll see what happens.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about either or both of your sports?
A: “I really love, like, the team aspect. I’ve never been good at doing things individually. I originally signed here to play basketball. Love [head] coach [Lane] Lord and his staff, and there’s just, like, a culture down here that was really fun to be a part of. And then it’s [head] coach [Mark] Foster’s second season here, and, you know, he’s trying to make that change and bring that to the soccer side of things. It’s just been really cool to be a part of both.”
Q: What is the biggest challenge of being a student athlete in both sports?
A: “Time management and making sure that, like, when you are on the soccer field, that you’re focused on soccer and when you’re in basketball and the gym … that’s your priority. Both the coaches have stressed to me that they don’t want to burn me out, but I like to be very involved. So, I make sure that I’m at things for both teams all the time because I like to be very involved with my teammates and let them know that I’m there.”
Q: Who has been your biggest inspiration or role model?
A: “This is kind of cliche, but I would definitely say my mom. I get, like, my busy side from her and she’s such a caring person. I mean, that’s who I grew up with and she was around a lot when I was a kid, and so I just kind of grew up knowing what it was like to have to care for people and, you know, make sure that you give everything that you do 100%. And I would definitely say I learned that from her.”
Q: What is a piece of advice you’d like to give your younger self?
A: “Not to be afraid. Just once you set your mind to something, like, chase after it. … There’s no dream that’s too big. … I’m finally playing both sports in college, and I played three sports in high school, so I didn’t want to give them up, obviously. And, you know, I never thought that I’d be able to say that I played two Division 1 sports, but I mean, that was a goal and I finally achieved it. So, there’s no dream that’s too big to reach as long as there’s hard work.”
Q: Are you a fan of any sports teams?
A: “Yeah. Not a fan favorite, but I love the [New England] Patriots. I love Tom Brady. Yeah, you know, he moved to Tampa Bay. … My dad’s from Boston, so, like, I love the Celtics, too. Kansas girl. I have to be a Chiefs fan, but I mean, I’m basically a big-time Patriots fan.”
Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “Going to practices. My dad used to coach basketball. And there’s a little picture of me in, like, a cheerleading outfit with a basketball in my hand that was bigger than half of my body. And I actually have that hanging up in my room, so I just love looking at that every day, knowing that I’ve always had a dream to be around sports forever and it started when I was really young. So, yeah, I got to go to practice and everyone would take care of me and mess around with me at practice. So, like, when I see little kids, I make that a point to make them involved in stuff.”
Q: Do you have a hidden talent?
A: “I can play golf. I can swing the golf club pretty well.”
Q: How far can you hit?
A: “I don’t know. My grandpa taught me to hit from the men’s tees. So, I guess pretty far, like, 3,000 yards. … You know, like, Top Golf? I can hit to the [back] net.”
–Compiled by Abigail Ollave
