Michael McCurdy
Passionate, hardworking, and charismatic are words that best describe Iowa’s senior defender and midfielder Chandler Ackers. For those who are unfamiliar with her, she has been involved with the Iowa program for a very long time.
She grew up in White Haven, Pa, where she fell in love with Iowa field-hockey around the age of 8. She was introduced to the team when she attended an Iowa-Penn State game in University Park. After the game, she immediately felt a connection with Iowa that grew with time.
As she was growing up, Iowa field hockey hosted camps around her hometown, camps she always attended, said Iowa field-hockey coach Lisa Cellucci.
“I’ve known Chandler since she was about 8 years old,” Cellucci said. “She would always come to our camps as a kid and then afterwards hang around and play with the players.”
Ackers even knew Iowa assistant coach Meghan Beamesderfer from a young age because Beamesderfer played for Iowa when Ackers attended the camps held in Pa. She said their relationship has gotten stronger as time progressed.
Ackers has been passionate about Iowa sports for a long time. That passion is something her teammates notice, said senior Natalie Cafone.
“It’s so awesome playing with someone who is so passionate about Iowa,” Cafone said. “She has been a die-hard fan her whole life, and her love for the Hawks really grows on the rest of the team. It’s great.”
This season, Ackers wants to leave her mark on the program by competing for the Big Ten championship. Last season did not go as planned for the team. The Hawks lost five games each by a single goal, including the final two games of the season in double overtime. As a result, Ackers is hungry this season to turn things around. In her mind, there are steps to take, because it doesn’t just happen with the snap of a finger. There is a process.
“Something we always talk about is the process, not just the outcome of the situation, so if we can really feel good about the effort we put in day in and day out, I think that’s going to be more valuable in the end,” Ackers said. “I think that will eventually help us win our goals in the end.”
One of the most difficult aspects of being a student-athlete is focusing on academics as much as athletics. Ackers embraced the challenge her first three years at Iowa, and she wants to continue working just as hard off the field this year.
Ackers plans on graduating this summer with a major in human physiology and wants to attend graduate school somewhere as a nursing assistant, preferably New York.
For now, though, she is focused on the upcoming season and bringing back the Big Ten crown to Iowa City.
