Mia Beaulieu early 24 – Mia Beaulieu

Personal

Name: Mia Grace Beaulieu

Birthday: October 20, 2006

Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa

Sports: Field hockey, Golf, Cross Country

Hobbies: Piano, Photography

Graduation Year: 2025

Personal

Name: Mia Grace Beaulieu

Birthday: October 20, 2006

Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa

Sports: Field hockey, Golf, Cross Country

Hobbies: Piano, Photography

Graduation Year: 2025

Field Hockey

Club Name: Central Hockey Club - Athlone, Cape Town

Height: 5’6”

Weight: 119 lbs

Primary Position: Forward

Secondary Position: Link

My family moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Cape Town, South Africa when I was 9 years old so I have grown up in South Africa. I was introduced to field hockey (or just ‘hockey’ as it is called here), through friends as it is one of the most played and admired sports in the country. The passion for hockey comes from the Dutch and English colonizers of South Africa and because of this it is played competitively by both men and women. Unfortunately, the international and American schools I attended either did not offer field hockey or if they did, it was in the grade school and was more of an 'intramural' sport with no experienced coaches, astro-turf playing fields or gym facilities versus a competitive team sport.

Overcoming Adversity

The high school I attend, the American International School of Cape Town, does not offer field hockey. Consequently, I had to find a school that would allow me to play for them.

In my freshman year, I played for Reddam House high school, but although I was the second leading scorer on their first team (varsity team), I was not invited back to play my sophomore year, a couple days before the season was about to start, as parents complained that I was taking playing time away from other kids who attended the school. Consequently, I was unable to play my sophomore year/last year.

Fortunately, through the assistance of my club, Central Hockey Club, I was able to be accepted to play at Pinelands High School, which is a division 2 school, where I have just started my junior year season.

Next year, I have been asked to play at Wynberg School for Girls, which is a division 1 school that is coached by Lazario Brown, my coach at Central Hockey.

2023-2024

Central Hockey Club
https://www.centralhockey.co.za/

Ladies Grand Challenge & Ladies Grand Reserve (Division 1)

During the pre-season try-outs, I made the first team cut (they carried 19 players) to practice with and then to play in the Easter Tournament in the women’s Grand Challenge League (Division 1 women’s league). The first team has 4 current Olympians, including the current Olympic team co-captain, and an additional National Team player. It was a complete honor to practice all pre-season and then to play with such elite athletes at the top of their game. I was amazed at how much I learned from my teammates and how much fun it was to play hockey at that speed!

I played in 4 of the 5 games in the Tournament and scored 2 goals. I led scoring for strikers in those 4 games – I had one more goal than my Olympian striker teammate. The teams we competed against also fielded current and past national team players and current Olympians. I have a couple of games on film from the tournament (although the film quality is poor).

We won the tournament, going undefeated.

Post-tournament, they reduced the first team down to 14 and I am now on the second team, playing the second teams of the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and the University of the Western Cape along with other women’s league Club teams which have players who have played hockey for the South African national team.

I am a starter and the team’s top striker having scored 33% of the team’s goals. In 3 games, I have scored 2 goals, including a game winning goal with 2:45 left to play against the strongest team in the league.

Pinelands High School

I am a starter at striker/forward and have scored 20% of the teams’ goals, scoring 3 goals in 3 games.

Cape Town Premier Hockey League: https://www.facebook.com/ctpremleague
Drafted to play in the Cape Town Premier Hockey League for the Royals & Rebels — this is a private hockey league with 6 franchise teams that includes drafted picks of the top 100 players per age group in the Western Province and Bolands region of South Africa:

2023 - Royals - Tournament was held September 22-25th, 2023; drafted by Denzil Dolley (former South African Olympian and top high school field hockey coach in South Africa). In order to improve our defense, I played Midfield/Link which was a position I had never played. Despite it being a new position, I received a Game MVP for shutting down the opposing team's top player.
2022 - Rebels 2nd place in tournament
2021 - Royals - 1st place in tournament; MVP for one game of tournament

Weekly Schedule:

(includes driving time to and from practice)

Monday: Club practice: 6pm to 9:15pm

Tuesday: High School practice: 3pm to 6:30pm

Wednesday: Club practice: 6pm to 9:15pm

Thursday: High School practice: 3pm to 6:30pm

Friday: Gym workout: 3pm to 4:30pm

Saturday: I play 2 games: A High School morning game and a Club afternoon game. My club team plays 17-minute quarters,and my high school plays 13-minute quarters.

Sunday: Stretches/light workout at the gym

Academics

School: American International School of Cape Town - Cape Town, South Africa

Graduation year: 2025

GPA: 3.88 (transcript available)

Junior Year:

AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP Language and Composition
AP French Language and Culture
Advanced Environmental Science
Global Issues
Publications and Social Media
Independent Project - Carbon Sequestration in Developing Countries

Sophomore Year:

AP Modern World History – Grade A; AP Test Grade: 4
AP Seminar – Grade: A+; AP Test Grade: 4
Advanced Physics
Algebra II
French III
Global Issues
Marimba

Leadership Activities and Special Interests

I have lived in South Africa for over eight years and as a result I am more aware of certain aspects of poverty, lack of education and basic human rights. Education is integral to ending the cycle of poverty, but there must be good systems in place in order to achieve this and understanding the issues facing people in abject poverty is essential.

In my sophomore year I took a Social Studies class called Global Issues. For my end of year project, I chose to focus on education, specifically the lack of education for young girls and women in Afghanistan. [YouTube video link]

I also took an AP Seminar class this past year. As part of the AP exam, I was tasked to create an individual project consisting of an essay and an 8-10 minute presentation that was recorded and sent to the College Board. I chose human trafficking. In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the trafficking of women and children in South Africa. I feel strongly that this topic is overlooked by governments worldwide and instead should be prioritized. [PDF link]

June 2024 - Thailand
This coming June I will be going with eight other students from my high school to an ethnic village five hours away from Chiang Mai, Thailand. In this 10 day trip, we will be tracking the endangered Asian elephant and learning about the culture and cuisine of an ethnic minority group in this region. I’m hoping to gain a further knowledge of environmental preservation, as I did in Botswana last June, and gain a greater awareness of the country's cultural diversity.
February 2024 - Ghana
I got selected to travel to Ghana for the AISA GISS sustainability conference which is the same conference that was hosted in Tanzania last year. At the conference I was grouped with peers from other African International Schools to present a solution to improve the quality of education in Africa using goal 4 of the 17 United Nations Sustainability Goals.
June 2023 - Youth for Conservation
https://youth4conservation.co.za/wildlife-wilderness-botswana/
Traveled to Botswana for conservation and sustainability volunteer trip and lived in an open camp (unguarded and not enclosed). Worked on an irrigation system; rebuilt dam for elephants; conducted wildlife censuses for hyenas, elephants, crocodiles and lions; engaged in anti-poaching work by finding snares in the bush; removed invasive cacti from Limpopo River. Earned 80 hours of volunteer service work.
January 2023 - Selected to attend the AISA - GISS (Association of International Schools in Africa - Global Issues Service Summit) in Arusha, Tanzania for a school sustainability project. Presented at Summit on illiteracy in Africa and volunteered at a local primary school painting school and murals for children of prisoners. https://aisa.or.ke/what-we-offer/programmes/service-learning/aisa-giss/
2020 and 2021 - Volunteered at Miracle Kidz Safe house (a local foster care program for disabled and abused children) and made a sustainable garden so they can have a regular supply of fresh produce for the 20 children at Miracle Kidz. http://www.miraclekidz.co.za/
April 2023 - Volunteered at Lawrence House (a local orphanage) helping to organize a school wide drive for books and sanitary products as well as tutoring children in English writing and reading.
2022–2023 AISCT Marimba Band