Mia Abello

Playing Field Hockey at University of Virginia Fall of 2023
The Kinkaid Middle School
The Kinkaid School (2019 - 2023) Varsity all 4 years, Captain Senior Year

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From Mia:
1.Favorite Field Hockey Memory? Why?

For the past 7 years, our crew has had countless weekend play days, dance warm ups in the facilities, and hundreds of mind-fields. They all make me smile. Specifically, Disney 2022 always makes me remember the joy and grit of Pride. Emily crushed it in shoutouts and we held WC. I remember running to celebrate and hug the team. We held on tight to that trophy all the way back to H-Town!!

2.What was your most exciting recruiting experience?

Recruiting!! Couple awesome things come to mind. When I first think about the era, I look back on the morning of June 15th - how nervous I was, the excitement to answer phone calls, and overall the shock. Then comes, all the memories with my Mom and Dad traveling to different colleges on our own and taking it all in. Lastly, the true love I felt on my visit at UVA - the school pride, walking on grounds, connection with coaches, and being in the mountains. I knew that was it.

3.Why are you playing field hockey in college?

When I started Texas Pride, I played because I loved sports and being with my best friends. Texas Pride became part of who I was, as I started to crave getting better and wanted to be a stronger player. Our team grew together. I always saw college as a goal in the future, but truly lived in the moment and worked on getting better everyday. I am playing in college because I love to compete, challenge myself, and play with my best friends - really the same reason I joined Pride.

4.What have you done this summer to prepare?

In order to prepare for UVA, I have trained on and off the field by running, swimming, biking, and lifting. Hockey wise, I have played with Pride, attended USA camps, Nexus, and worked individually on my game. Also - lots of stretching and activation and foam rolling!!

5.If you could give one piece of advice to younger girls who want to play field hockey in college, what would it be?

First off, have fun!! Dance, ask Adam trivia, maybe do a takeover on insta, make Tina laugh! Next, find a passion for day to day grind. This allows you to seeing growth in the little things - perhaps being more explosive on pull rights or accuracy on shots. Discipline will separate you.

6.Who was the most influential person in high school?

My Dad - showing me the power of hustle, leadership, and having fun

7.Favorite post practice/ game snack?

Iced Oatmeal Cliff Bar ( Love the concession stand)

8.What pre game rituals do you use to hype yourself up before a game?

Emily and I did a handshake and a dance before every Pride game. Always making me smile and ready to play

9.What made you want to be a college field hockey player?

When I was in middle school, I saw the level of play that the u19 girls played at and in high school (I was a ball girl in middle school for Kinkaid) and it inspired me to be as driven and on such a close nit team. I looked forward to practice every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday because I got to be with my friends and be challenged by Tina. Continue the grind!

10.What was one of the toughest experiences?

One of the toughest experiences as a team was loosing RCCS in 2021; however, a fire was lit inside of us and we pushed the next year to prove ourselves and we did it as a team.

11.Year you began playing field hockey? How?

12 years old - learned through PE class at Kinkaid with Ciconte and then joined the Pride league, but soon realized I wanted to be in the travel team group.

From Tina:
Favorite Mia Moment (old) / why?:

I remember when we first moved Mia to center back. We were on our PA/ Princeton trip and for some reason, we decided to move Mia from DCM to Center back. This was a crucial trip for the Superstars and once we made position switch, it opened up the field. Mia always had strong distributing skills and suddenly we were able to distribute out of the backfield to everywhere on the field. She was such a natural communicator and player back there from the start.

Favorite Mia moment (new)/ why?

Mia killed it at NCC in 2022. It was not surprising how soon after she was named to the national team. We had this one game against Spirit who had this stronger player on their forward line. We came up with this game plan before the game to try to eliminate her from the field. Halfway through the first quarter, Mia yelled to the sidelines to abandon the plan because she could handle her in the backfield on her own. Mia was right. Not only did she score the game winning goal, but she managed this girl the entire game. I was extremely proud of Mia and her leadership in that game.

Story we will forever tell about Mia:

Mia is one of the most positive players I've ever worked with. No matter the situation, you could always count on Mia to give a good ole 'We got this guys'. She had incredible energy that could change everything about the game. She always did such a great job of working her hardest and leading by example. We will miss that.

Favorite Mia recruiting moment/ why?

Mia had a very interesting recruiting process. The 2023's were one of our first classes to have a June 15th recruiting start date. Mia received a lot of interest and really wasn't sure what she wanted, so this was a process. She was extremely thoughtful and took her time to figure out exactly what she wanted. In the end, it was UVA. My favorite part of the process was just watching her go through all of the schools and really figure out what she wanted. When she finally decided on UVA, she was so happy and felt so at home there. I cannot wait to watch her compete for UVA this Fall.

First memory of Mia / why?

Mia was a part of our first U12 teams. She was on the trip to Richmond where we had to create our own tournament because the tournament we were going to attend didn't actually run and we found out after the flights were booked. The team placed third and it was the start of many travel trips to come.