Friday Features: UAH’s Oglesby is Mom First, Student-Athlete Second
By Chris Megginson
“Mommy, when’s soccer practice?”
Every Wednesday morning, that is the question 3-year-old Blakely asks her mother,
Hannah Oglesby. Wednesdays are Blakely’s time on the field at Charger Park, where Hannah is a junior on the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) women’s soccer team.
“She’s so excited to come out and just be around the girls,” Hannah said. “She’ll bring bubbles or chalk or her own soccer ball and play. (Last week) she cried when we left because she didn’t want to go home. She wanted to stay at the soccer field.”
Hannah, who has played in 35 games for UAH so far in three seasons, has started the last 28 straight as a defender, all while balancing motherhood and grades worthy of the Gulf South Conference Academic Honor Roll.
“All the time you have a kid come in that’s having a hard time balancing soccer and balancing academics and then here’s this young lady who has a kid and we have no issues out of,” said Jimmy Mitchell, UAH’s head coach. “It’s not your typical collegiate athlete story, but at the same time she’s got a beautiful little girl that’s growing up fast in front of her eyes. How well she’s dealt with that has been a positive thing for everybody around our program to see.”
When Hannah became pregnant, it was spring of her and her boyfriend, Hunter Rigney’s, senior year at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama. Hannah, a two-sport athlete at Thompson, was scheduled to play soccer at UAH that fall, and Hunter, a baseball pitcher, was bound for Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa. Neither wanted to give up on their dream, but focused on restructuring priorities.
They first told Hunter’s parents, Rusty and Tracey, and waited a few days until a break in the Thompson sports schedule to tell Hannah’s parents, Steve and Michelle.
“We were shocked for the first little while,” Steve said.
The shock faded once the two families began helping each other through the uncertainty. Hannah and Hunter say both families have been their support.
“We looked at it as a bump in the road and not the end of the world,” Michelle said.
Being early in the pregnancy, Hannah went on to finish her senior season for Thompson girls’ soccer as a repeat All-County selection.
The question about college remained though, with Hannah’s due date being in the middle of the 2014 college soccer season. The Oglesbys called Coach Mitchell and set up a meeting at Cracker Barrel in Gardendale instead of discussing the situation on the phone. Mitchell reassured Hannah she was still welcome at UAH.
“We have to take this and make a positive out of it,” Mitchell told the family.
Mitchell supported Hannah’s choice to delay enrollment at UAH by a year. She stayed home in Alabaster, while Hunter enrolled at Shelton State for baseball. Blakely was born in October 2014 and Hannah took a few classes online while learning how to be a mom.
“I was surprised that a school would honor their commitment with her coming in a year late. That really just blew me away,” said Hannah’s father, Scott. “Hannah doesn’t expect anything. She just goes out there and gives it everything she’s got. She’s fortunate to have the school that stayed with her and the two families that have stayed with them. You’ll take those grandbabies any way you can get them.”
Prior to the 2014-15 year, Hannah had not missed a season of soccer since she began playing the sport at age 5, so the off year also involved getting back in shape, which she did with the help of strength and training coaches Jorge Bonnet and Simeon Castelle at PurMotion, her high school coaches Cara Crosslin (basketball) and Nathan Button (soccer), coaches AJ Adcock and Jason Woodall at Vestavia Hills Soccer Club and several teammates.
“Without their encouragement and support, getting back on the field would have been more difficult,” said her mother, Michelle.
Hunter and Hannah both moved to Huntsville in 2015. Hunter had hoped to play baseball for the Chargers, but after an arm injury he decided to hang up his cleats to focus on school and help raise Blakely. They found a house, a daycare, and made it work.
“We pretty much had to say, ‘hey, here’s what it’s going to be. We have to be parents first, students and then athletes,’” Hunter said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. She’s a blessing to us. Getting to see her grow up is obviously the best part.”
“I think from day one we were on board with it. Our parents really did a good job of saying we support you in whatever decision you make,” Hannah said. “I think our relationship got stronger throughout the process and continues to be like that.”
A knee injury as a freshman and a family illness both created excuses for Hannah to walk away from soccer, but her circle of support helped her stay on course.
“My freshman year was tough. Being a freshman and having to adjust to being away from Blakely, because she was still young and dependent of me. That transition was probably the toughest part,” Hannah said. “Her dad is so good. The comfort of knowing that she was in good hands made it better. When she was 1 it was hard, but now that she is 3, it is a little bit easier.”
Mitchell admits one of his concerns, including how well Hannah would stay connected with her teammates off the field.
“I’d be lying to say I wasn’t concerned of how it was going to work out, but from day one there’s never been an issue what so ever,” Mitchell said. “We all have things in our life that comes up. We can either give into these things and go a different direction, or we can try to deal with the circumstances given to us. This was a young lady who wanted to play collegiate soccer, and we didn’t want her to not have that opportunity.”
While Hannah is the first player Mitchell has had that is a mother, she also stands out on the field.
“Out of all of the players I’ve coached in 28 years, she’s one of the most consistent kids I’ve ever coached. You know what you’re going to get when you’re out there … not only in games but training and everything.”
Hannah says her Charger teammates have become like additional aunts to Blakely, who already has three aunts and two uncles.
“They’re really accepting of my situation and love coming over and hanging out, being around me and Blakely,” she said.
Hunter said being around the team has been great for Blakely.
“I think she really looks up to Hannah” he said. “She sees her mom and sees a soccer player. How cool is that! She looks up to her mom and teammates as positive role models.”
Hannah and Hunter are engaged to be married in December at a venue in Chelsea, Alabama.
Hannah is on track to graduate in 2019 with a degree in business management. She desires to own land one day to open and manage a wedding venue. Hunter will graduate in May 2018 with a degree in accounting.
Tonight, UAH (3-5, 2-4 GSC) travels to face the University of Montevallo, located less than 30 minutes from both the Oglesby and Rigney families.
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