Words by John Hobbs.
Growing up, Caledonia Gladiators’ Tierra Hodges enjoyed a plethora of sports with a household that was naturally sporty.
Her parents included her in numerous activities, but one sport originally stood out – and it wasn’t basketball.
“I started playing basketball, or sports in general, when I was five,” Hodges says.
“My mum, my parents put us in all kinds of sports: soccer, football, track and field, cheerleading, basketball. We played a little bit of everything.
“I grew up in an athletic family, so I’ve always played some kind of sports. And I got serious about basketball probably around high school. I was [playing] softball at first.”
But despite enjoying softball immensely, the lure of basketball pulled her like a magnet. Already very sporty in her upbringing, the sport came naturally to her.
“[It was] in high school, probably around 11th, 12th grade, when I got my trainers and we started working day in and day out, and I started feeling myself get better and better,” Hodges recounts.
“And then people started telling me, ‘Yeah, you could play in college,’ and I started believing it, and then that became my goal. So that was the end-all, be-all for me.”
BASKETBALL WAS A GOOD OPTION
Hodges stuck with basketball, despite the many options she could have chosen, and for her, it was the right move.
She spent five years at Furman, averaging 18.1 points and 11.8 rebounds in her senior year before joining Kouvottaret in Finland to begin her professional adventure.
She thrived in the Nordic nation, posting an awe-inspiring 17.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in her rookie campaign, before heading to the Newcastle Eagles, where the two-way player established herself as one of the dominant players in British basketball.
Last season, Hodges averaged 19.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game, while shooting an outstanding 53.1% from the field, 39.3% from three-point land and 90% from the free-throw line.
“You have to prove to your team, to your fans, you also have to prove to yourself that I can play at this level, or I can compete with these other players,” Hodges said.
“So, I think every year, I think I’ve just shown myself more than anybody that I can compete, I can get better, I can improve in the areas that I may be weak in. So, I think just finding that thing to prove every year, personally and of course, to fans.
“I mean, you don’t have anything to prove, but personally, you are your biggest critic. So, I think for me, just showing that I could be better, I could accomplish everything, how I impact my team and everything. I think every year brings something new and different that makes me want to keep going.”
And through moving north of the border to Caledonia, a team that won the Betty Codona Trophy in January and finished fourth in the Championship standings last season, Hodges is relishing a team that has the same drive, same competitive nature that Newcastle also does.
“I mean, Caledonia has always been a team that knows,” Hodges explained. “They press full court, pick up full court, and make you work for everything.
“We really had to be on our A-game when we played them. So, honestly, just being excited to join that and being on the other side of that, I’m excited for it.”
Caledonia Gladiators begin their defence of the Betty Codona Trophy this Sunday against Manchester Basketball.