South African Hockey Star Carries Childhood Passion Across Olympic Stages

Hannah Pearce was six years old, watching her parents play hockey in the family home, when she picked up a stick for the first time. She never put it down. Now 27, the South African women’s hockey player has carried that childhood joy across continents, representing her country at the Olympics, World Cups, and Commonwealth Games.

Family, she says, has been the foundation of everything. “They have been an incredible support system throughout this whole journey and have been with me through every part.” Growing up in a household where hockey was woven into daily life meant the sport never felt like an obligation. It felt like belonging.

Her path has taken her far from home. She studied at Harvard University in the United States, where she earned the Radcliffe Prize as Sportswomen of the Year in 2022, alongside Northeast Region Player of the Year and Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honors that same year. She then completed a master’s degree at the University of Birmingham while continuing to compete. Only this year did she return to South Africa, joining The Wanderers Hockey Club’s first team after spending the previous couple of years overseas.

The new club has offered her something she clearly values: balance. “We have a great bunch of ladies, so it’s been fun to play. The hockey club has a good balance between hockey and social, which makes it fun, both on and off the field.” For someone who knows how isolating elite sport can become when it exists only for results, that sense of community is not a small thing.

Since her national team debut in 2019, Pearce has accumulated experiences that most athletes never reach. She competed at the 2024 Olympics, the 2022 World Cup, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She is currently in the United Kingdom preparing for the World Cup in August, held across Belgium and the Netherlands. Each tournament has deepened her understanding of what it means to pull on green and gold.

What those moments mean to her, though, is not measured in medals. “Success to me, beyond winning championships, was the friendships made, and all the lessons learnt that I took off the field.” It is a perspective that reflects someone who has learned, through years of travel and competition, that sport’s real value lives in what it builds in a person, not just on a scoreboard.

Coaches and mentors have shaped her technical game along the way, but family remains her deepest anchor. Wearing green and gold, she carries their belief into every match. Her message to younger players mirrors the philosophy she has lived: work hard, make every opportunity count, and hold onto the reason you started. “Make sure you are enjoying the sport and are having fun,” she said. For someone who began by watching her parents play in the living room, that joy has never left. Whether it carries her to a World Cup medal in Belgium this August remains to be seen.