University of North Carolina Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Malin Evert
November 14, 2018 | Field Hockey
In the final days of the 2018 season, as the top-ranked Tar Heels prepare to play in the NCAA semifinals on Friday and hopefully move on to the championship game on Sunday, GoHeels.com will spotlight the seniors ending their UNC careers this weekend. Read on for more on Malin Evert, a midfielder and sociology major from Bad Schwartau, Germany
Matt Penner
UNC Athletic Communications
North Carolina's balanced offensive attack wouldn't be possible without Malin Evert. Though she's one of the team's statistical leaders, the transition to UNC was not easy.
On and off the field, Evert struggled to communicate in a new language when she arrived at Carolina. Even the most basic commands from her coaches were difficult to understand.
"I thought my English was good, but it really wasn't," she said. "I just studied in high school for like a few years."
Evert, who is from Germany, recalls being overwhelmed when her coaches shouted the simplest commands from the sideline, like "step left" and "step right." If that wasn't hard enough, the team started practice only a few weeks before the first game. The solution? Evert made a vocabulary list of commands and put it on her stick so she could look up the terms in the middle of the game.
"Communicating face-to-face was easy and they talk slow," she says. "But on the field you're screaming, you have a mouth guard in, everything's so hectic."
The list worked. Evert recorded 12 goals and 6 assists her freshman year, and has been a leader on offense her entire career.
Evert decided to come to UNC largely because she knew former UNC field hockey player Nina Notman, who "highly recommended" the program. Evert at admits that "basically because of her" she came to UNC. The same family that welcomed Nina eased the transition for Malin. Though the transition was tough, it was her teammates, particularly her class, who helped her the most.
"For field hockey it was so easy to find friends, and the team was great and helped me out a lot," she says. "We don't really have groups. We all get along so well. Since we have such a huge class we, we do a lot of things together."
Evert also attributes her successful transition to her coaches, who taught her lessons of hard work and dedication. She describes herself as a comfortable player coming to UNC, but now understands "that it's not always that everything falls into place" on its own. Evert's been mightily rewarded for her hard work. She's never missed a game in her Carolina career and started all but five of those games. Last year, she earned third-team All-America honors and this year she has earned All-ACC second team honors.
Evert is a leader on the offensive end, having tallied 36 goals and 23 assists during her career. This season she has seven goals and six assists while starting in the midfield. Her leadership there, along with fellow senior Eva van't Hoog, has helped give the Tar Heels a balanced attack that led the nation this season in goals per game.
Evert, a sociology major, hopes to eventually work in sports marketing. She plans to find an internship in the field before graduating in May.
Evert will leave Carolina thankful for the love her coaches and teammates have shown her. It's helped her not only adjust, but thrive on the nation's top-ranked team.
Matt Penner
UNC Athletic Communications
North Carolina's balanced offensive attack wouldn't be possible without Malin Evert. Though she's one of the team's statistical leaders, the transition to UNC was not easy.
On and off the field, Evert struggled to communicate in a new language when she arrived at Carolina. Even the most basic commands from her coaches were difficult to understand.
"I thought my English was good, but it really wasn't," she said. "I just studied in high school for like a few years."
Evert, who is from Germany, recalls being overwhelmed when her coaches shouted the simplest commands from the sideline, like "step left" and "step right." If that wasn't hard enough, the team started practice only a few weeks before the first game. The solution? Evert made a vocabulary list of commands and put it on her stick so she could look up the terms in the middle of the game.
"Communicating face-to-face was easy and they talk slow," she says. "But on the field you're screaming, you have a mouth guard in, everything's so hectic."
The list worked. Evert recorded 12 goals and 6 assists her freshman year, and has been a leader on offense her entire career.
Evert decided to come to UNC largely because she knew former UNC field hockey player Nina Notman, who "highly recommended" the program. Evert at admits that "basically because of her" she came to UNC. The same family that welcomed Nina eased the transition for Malin. Though the transition was tough, it was her teammates, particularly her class, who helped her the most.
"For field hockey it was so easy to find friends, and the team was great and helped me out a lot," she says. "We don't really have groups. We all get along so well. Since we have such a huge class we, we do a lot of things together."
Evert also attributes her successful transition to her coaches, who taught her lessons of hard work and dedication. She describes herself as a comfortable player coming to UNC, but now understands "that it's not always that everything falls into place" on its own. Evert's been mightily rewarded for her hard work. She's never missed a game in her Carolina career and started all but five of those games. Last year, she earned third-team All-America honors and this year she has earned All-ACC second team honors.
Evert is a leader on the offensive end, having tallied 36 goals and 23 assists during her career. This season she has seven goals and six assists while starting in the midfield. Her leadership there, along with fellow senior Eva van't Hoog, has helped give the Tar Heels a balanced attack that led the nation this season in goals per game.
Evert, a sociology major, hopes to eventually work in sports marketing. She plans to find an internship in the field before graduating in May.
Evert will leave Carolina thankful for the love her coaches and teammates have shown her. It's helped her not only adjust, but thrive on the nation's top-ranked team.
Players Mentioned
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