Tri-Sport Phenom Faith Hutchins Receives Hometown Hero Award
By Liz Maciocio
High school sports require huge commitments: practices every day and games throughout the week. How do student-athletes have the time to do their homework and remain committed to a sport every day? Well, one SKHS senior Faith Hutchins knows how to make it work.
“I play soccer in the fall, basketball during the winter and softball in spring,” Hutchins said. This leaves Hutchins with very little time in-between seasons and daily practice.
“After school, I usually have practice, a game, or recovery,” Hutchins added. “Then I go home and do homework and get ready for school the next day, eat dinner, and go to bed.”
Hutchin’s high school experience has been much different than many other SKHS students’ who chose no to participate in sports or extracurriculars. From an early age, most of Hutchin’s free time, she said, has been full of sports.
“I started playing soccer, basketball, and softball when I was 6 years old,” the SKHS senior said.
At a younger age, the All-State soccer goalie even played other sports, including gymnastics and dance. “I just didn’t like those sports as much,” said Hutchins. “In soccer, basketball, and softball, I feel stronger and more confident.”
As a result of her countless hours of hard work on and off the soccer and softball fields and the basketball court, Hutchins was named one of South Kingstown’s 2019 Hometown Heroes.
“I remember watching her in tryouts,” SKHS Girls Soccer Coach, Scott Rollins, said, “The first save she made, I knew she’d be a star.”
Teammates feel the same way about Hutchins.
“When Faith is in goal, I have no doubt that she will do her best for the team,” Sophomore starter, Avery Martin, said.
Rollins agrees. “As a coach, to look back and the goal and see her in there is an unbelievably calming feeling.”
This Hometown Hero award is given to athletes who show outstanding effort and success in the sport they play — and this is exactly what Faith Hutchins has accomplished.
In her four years at South Kingstown High School, Hutchins helped lead her soccer team to three state final games, the Lady Rebel basketball team to a state final game, and this previous year, the SKHS softball team to their first state softball title.
In November, Hutchins pitched a shutout in goal in the state championship to defeat Cumberland, her second state title and the school’s first soccer state championship in 20 years.
The level of success that Hutchins has reached does not come easy — it takes a tremendous amount of work and time. “My life is devoted to family, school, and sports,” Hutchins said.
This leaves very little downtime, admits the busy high school senior.
Since Hutchins excels in each of the three sports she plays, it has been hard to decide on which sport to pursue in college. The All-Division, All-State, All-New England, and All-American athlete has been offered spots from college soccer, basketball, and softball programs.
Faith’s father, Mark Hutchins, has been a coach or assistant coach for Faith’s sports teams throughout her life. “Through these coaching experiences, I have gotten to see Faith grow in a new light,” he said.
“Faith has always worked hard towards her goals,” said Mark Hutchins. “I am proud of what she has accomplished and I am looking forward to seeing where her future takes her.”
“There has been a lot of ups and downs deciding on which sport, but my heart is with softball,” Hutchins said.
Hutchins’s hard work and success have not only been astonishing for the people of South Kingstown to watch but especially for younger kids. Faith’s qualities of commitment, success, and her drive to get things done, have been things that many people aspire to develop throughout their lifetime — and Faith has done it all in a short seventeen years.
Her poise and confidence in every situation during the game is something for developing athletes to look up to, making Faith Hutchins the epitome of a Hometown Hero.
https://www.wpri.com/sports/hometown-hero/hometown-hero-faith-hutchins/
