Overlooked at UCLA and Cherished at CU, Hannah Sharts was Born to be a Buff
If you’ve ever made your way towards CU Boulder’s East Campus to Prentup Field to cheer your Colorado Women’s Soccer team on, you likely would have noticed the tall CU defender pushing the opponent’s players down and taking the ball or even flying through the air to catch a header from a corner. Watching the defensive clamps being put on opposing attackers, you would think Hannah Sharts, Buff’s Senior Defender, was right at home. While the journey to Boulder wasn’t always foreseen and it was never easy for the first CU soccer player to become an Academic All-American. Hannah Sharts and Colorado soccer are a perfect match.
Hannah grew up surrounded by soccer, by the time she was headed to play in college she was no stranger to the spotlight, winning two high school MVPs and leading her team to three consecutive league titles. Hannah is no ordinary athlete and the story of how she ended up captaining Colorado’s backline of defense is a tale of true resilience and display of tenacity.
With Hannah’s family support system back at home in Newbury Park, California, her dream of playing college soccer was always on the horizon. She doesn’t have an average family support system, her’s is definitely more adept at helping her out on the pitch.
Hannah’s younger sister, Sydney currently plays as a defender for Oklahoma University as a sophomore. This at-home backline duo has more than prepared each other for the college level, going head-to-head every summer in their backyard for as long as they could remember. The backyard battles used to lead the young sisters to fight, as their competitive nature would boil over. Now, the two college athletes use each other to get better, iron does sharpen iron.
“It’s like the best kind of competition you can have, I think because we’re family, we love each other, you know, we want the best for each other. But it’s also like no one really motivates you to do your best then you know someone who’s so close with you,” Hannah said.
The sibling rivalry has propelled the two to realize their potential, from running one-on-one drills in their suburban backyard, to competing in two of the best D1 soccer conferences in the nation.
The Sharts family roster is bolstered throughout, with Hannah’s mother Michele, who helped bring the UCLA women’s soccer team into existence in the early 1990s through rallies on campus and threatening Title IX lawsuits.
She still kicks ass in an adult soccer league as the only female in the league, playing four times a week.
“Being the only girl on the field, I’d have to work harder to prove to myself and the other players that I could contribute and hang out there. Playing comfortably in uncomfortable situations is a trait I can totally see in my girls.”, said Michele Sharts, Hannah’s Mom.
Her dad, a private baseball coach and a former minor league pitcher, who, Hannah says, helped her establish her coveted long throw-in, which has been so deadly throughout her career.
Even her two french bulldogs back at home get in on the training, as the sister’s play keep-away from the slobbering defenders.
It’s the first-ever draw between the Buffs and the Cardinal! 🤜 🤛
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 17, 2021
No. 13 @StanfordWSoccer and @CUBuffsSoccer both held strong through double overtime, and close it out at 2-2.#GoBuffs | #GoStanford | #Pac12Soccer pic.twitter.com/rDRk23nWE4
It’s no secret that the Sharts’ family is as competitive as it gets, but having your closest companions as your fiercest competitors proved to work in the case of this family. They even partake in Hannah and her sister’s summer workout plans pushing each other to ease off complacency during the offseasons. With the family always in gear, Hannah’s life has always been surrounding athletics.
Hannah was always destined to play in baby blue, following her mother’s footsteps who promoted women’s sports and equal rights as a Bruin at UCLA. It’s not enough that she grew up just 30 minutes from UCLA, it was deeper than fandom “part of me was wanting to follow in my mom’s footsteps. That was something that I thought would be super cool and unique” Hannah said, it was childhood dreams coming to fruition.
Everything seemed to be perfect, she was going to her dream school—one of the best college programs in D1 soccer—and following in her lifelong dreams.
But everything isn’t as it seems, as we all get reminded well too often. Hannah joined UCLA alongside one of the best-recruited classes in 2017, accompanied by U.S. and Canadian National team professionals. UCLA had recruited the No. 1 ranked U.S. recruit that year, Ashley Sanchez, who was shortly drafted to the NWSL as the fourth overall pick in 2020.
“I probably wasn’t going to be getting enough playing time, I wasn’t going to be having the role that they kind of sold me on when I was getting recruited. So that’s when I knew I wanted to leave after that fall season was done.
She expected to redshirt freshman year, which preserves another year of athletic eligibility. But, Hannah faced a long sophomore campaign. Left off the plans far too often, Hannah featured in only six matches with 61 total minutes the whole year. “I kind of saw I wasn’t getting the chance that I wanted … to prove myself,” Hannah said.
It weighed on Hannah, going from a hometown star player to being often overlooked for matches, “[t was] probably the most down I’ve ever felt in my life in regard to soccer, I still loved it and I knew my big thing was I don’t want to let these coaches destroy my love and all the hard work that I’ve put into it,“ explained Hannah.
Some athletes could relate to a certain coach or circumstance almost stripping away what you love about your sport, but Hannah was determined to not let that diminish her love and passion for soccer.
After getting All-American looks in high school and leading her team to three state titles with two league MVPs, it wasn’t what Hannah was expecting, let alone wanted for her college career.
The UCLA starting lineup had nearly six seniors, with little room for underclassmen to break through. With all of these factors working against Hannah at UCLA, the school was also under fire for its college admissions scandal, where around 50 people were indicted for their roles in an athletic enrollment scheme.
One girl was even on the soccer roster, yet never played or practiced with the team once. The scandal concluded with a former men’s soccer coach getting sentenced to prison as he would forge fake athletic profiles for the students.
With the clear lack of confidence from her coaches, the absence of opportunity for the high flying defender, and chaos ensuing in the behind-the-scenes of the program, Hannah made the difficult decision to enter the transfer portal.
“I knew that the opportunity for me there wasn’t going to be what I wanted to be. I didn’t really like the culture of the team and the environment that I was in. So I knew that I wanted to leave,” she said. “And that was hard, because like I said, it was my childhood dream.”
As challenging as the decision was, leaving the program she had always envisioned herself with, she found the grass was greener when she made the move from sea level to 5,000 ft.
That’s when the match made in heaven came to be, Hannah Sharts and Colorado’s backline.
Stop us if you've seen this before?@shanadehopcroft ➡ @hannahsharts21 #GoBuffs // #SideBeforeSelf pic.twitter.com/dIBmEpd4SK
— Colorado Buffaloes Soccer (@CUBuffsSoccer) September 30, 2021
From not even playing a complete game with UCLA, she took a ginormous step up and started all 22 of Colorado’s matches the following year, only being subbed out five times before the final whistle.
In her first year in black and gold, Hannah scored her first collegiate goal, a match-winner against rival Washington which helped the Buffs get back to the NCAA tournament in 2019.
In 2020, she would go on to lead the team in minutes played and would only exit four matches. Hannah settled in and had a spectacular sophomore season with the Buffs, smashing two back-to-back match-winning goals, while helping the team to eight incredible shutouts. She was second on the team in goals scored and total points that year, all while she graduated with a Communication degree.
A little confusion but @hannahsharts21 celebration says it all! pic.twitter.com/pmSRpg6PVb
— Colorado Buffaloes Soccer (@CUBuffsSoccer) September 5, 2021
The 2021 season was more of the same, she led the CU squad in minutes played and tied for third with the most points. Her effectiveness both on the offensive and defensive side of the field has been felt the minute she arrived on the team. Making her second consecutive First-team All-Conference after transferring from the same conference, there is no question if Hannah is winning the breakup.
When she traded hills for mountains, Hannah also traded the bench for a leading role, as she now watches the squad sub around her as she remains CU’s anchor at Prentup Field.
Although the decision clicked on the field right away, it wasn’t as fast in Hannah’s head. When she put her name in the transfer portal, she wasn’t sure where she would end up, but remaining in the Pac-12 to be able to play her former team UCLA interested her. Then when CU reached out and Hannah’s trusted club coaches gave their approval, she took a visit.
Like many who see the snow glisten off the Flatirons and the beautiful views all around Boulder, you are hooked, and nothing was different with Hannah “it was so different from anything I’ve ever seen before. I mean you can’t beat the views in Boulder at all.”
She also has taken quite the liking to Ralphie, claiming it was the cutest collegiate mascot around.
Ralphie is the best mascot in all of college football (and there’s not even a close second)! I love her with all my heart.🦬💛🖤
— han✨🦋 (@hannahsharts21) September 18, 2021
It didn’t take her long to get accompanied with the already very talented CU soccer squad and their coaches, “I just I loved the program here with the coaches, the culture that they perpetuate is so much more positive and supportive and an environment that I knew I could really develop into the best player that I could be.”
Finally, with some support behind her sales and belief in her, Hannah Sharts was right back in the role she was destined for.
While the CU squad often makes subs to keep the players refreshed and the pace up, Hannah usually remains out on the pitch as the team’s defensive anchor. Since joining the squad, she has led the team in minutes played and has a crucial role in being one of the last lines of defenses. Although, when you think of flashy and exciting soccer, you don’t automatically go to the lockdown defender in the back, Hannah brings swagger all over the pitch.
“Playing for a coach who believes in you really does work wonders,” Hannah said about Head Coach Dani Sanchez and his staff.
Her physical size and defensive mentality might take you by surprise when you see her smiling, described as one of the sweetest people off the pitch, Hannah will bully you inside the lines. Her defensive mentality and physicality of her game often prove too much for oncoming defenders.
“I think maybe it’s like an alter ego, I can be pretty mean on the field,” said Hannah, who knew her alter ego was the second coming of one of her favorite players Liverpool star, Virgil Van Dijk. While she might not know what to do with herself after she scores and her huge smile is quite deceiving, Hannah knows exactly how to shut down the opposing attack.
(Photo Credit/Lance Wendt)
The backline pair between goalkeeper Dani Hansen and defender Sharts has grown in chemistry from outside the pitch and on the field since the start. If you listen in closely during matches, you can hear Hansen constantly yelling and controlling her backline, helping Hannah to the right position.
“You know, she’s kind of my blind eye, she sees what I can’t see, and vice versa. So we have a really close relationship and it helps on the field,” Sharts said.
As both athletes were incoming transfers from another school in one of the toughest conferences in Women’s D1 soccer, the duo in their first season together helped Colorado to eight shutouts. The onfield tandem has taken Prentup and the rest of the Pac-12 conference by storm, overlooked by their original schools, they came together and made something special in Boulder.
Colorado found a diamond in the UCLA rough when Hannah Sharts came to play for the Buffs. The deadly defender has more than proved her worth with the squad, as she constantly is in on the action on both sides of the pitch, wrecking the opposing team’s plans.
For the future of the shining Buffalo, fortunately, due to the first-year redshirt and COVID-19 rules, Hannah will be able to come back for another year before she will attempt to play professional soccer, possibly going overseas to make it happen.
From being stuck on the bench, almost losing the love and will of the game she had dedicated her life to, Hannah now captains the excellent CU backline and is a vital part of Colorado soccer.
