Meet Kalli Bates, a junior on the Women’s Club Hockey Team.
HC: What are you studying?
I am double majoring in Psychology and American Culture.
HC: How long have you been playing hockey?
This is my 14th season of playing hockey. My parents put my
sister and I out on the ice before we were even two years old, so I
guess I’ve really been skating my entire life. I started out as a
figure skater, but my neighbors were always playing roller hockey in
our street or mini sticks in their basement when we were little and I
wanted to do whatever they did, so I ended up switching to hockey. I
played for boys teams in the Trenton Hockey Association for five years
before switching to girls hockey when I started 12u. I played AAA for
Little Caesars and Victory Honda while I was in high school before
coming to the University of Michigan.
HC: What’s your favorite part of being on the team at U of M?
My favorite part of being on the team at U of M is that I am able
to continue my playing career with a great group of girls. We play in
the CCWHA and ACHA leagues and travel around the country for games,
showcases, and playoffs. Our team has done very well the past two
years, making it to the national tournament both times and finishing
the season ranked eighth in the country this past March. We have a
great group of freshmen joining the team this year along with a strong
core group of returning girls, so I think our ultimate goal would be
to win a national championship in Delaware at the end of the season.
Another advantage of playing in the ACHA is that individual players
have the opportunity to play for Team USA in the World University
Games, which will be held in Trentino, Italy, this December, and in
Granada, Spain, in January 2015.
HC: What’s your favorite thing about U of M?
My favorite thing about attending the University of Michigan is
the balance between academics and a fun college atmosphere. There is
nothing better than walking down Hoover St. on a Saturday afternoon
with 100,000 other people to join the biggest crowd in college
football, but at the same time, we’re also able to get a world-class
education. I’ve taken standard classes like calculus and economics,
but I’ve also had the opportunity to take interesting, and what some
people would consider random, courses about subjects like American
Indian Law and the HBO show, “The Wire.”
HC: What’s your fun guilty pleasure?
I would have to say my guilty pleasure is watching old episodes of
“The OC” and “One Tree Hill.” I actually started watching “The OC”
during the winter semester of my freshman year because I had a week of
free time between my last two exams, and I’ve seen every episode at
least three times since then.