THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605120097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
When she at last picked her jaw off the ground and recovered from the news of her impending motherhood, Virginia Beach's Laurel Martin began planning her comeback.
Yes, the pregnancy was a surprise, and at total odds with Martin's attempt to make the U.S. Olympic field hockey team. But now that she was expecting, a precise schedule, ironically, was Martin's only hope of following through.
A strict diet to minimize weight gain. Exercise up until the birth. Back to the gym soon afterward, with an eye toward quickly rejoining the national team, from which 16 Olympians will be announced May 15.
So Kali was born Jan. 16. By mid-March, Martin was back in Atlanta, Kali in tow, training with her teammates.
That's where Martin, 26, remains to celebrate her first Mother's Day. Where she sat on a bench one recent evening, bouncing Kali on her knee after an exhibition game, discussing her double life, casually acknowledging the scope of her mission, and then turning misty over its magnitude.
``See, it really doesn't seem amazing,'' said Martin, a native Pennsylvanian who, as Laurel Hershey, was a 1990 All-American at North Carolina. ``Not in the least.''
Then she thought of her husband James, a Navy SEAL, back in their new home near Virginia Beach General Hospital and unable to visit this particular weekend.
She thought of all the ``silly errands'' - getting Kali to the babysitter, the laundry, the groceries - that grow more serious with the demands of field hockey.
And after missing so much training time to become a mom, Martin thought of the emotion invested in, and the vulnerability of, her Olympic quest.
``This is a huge challenge,'' she said. ``I have a pretty strong faith, I pray a lot, and that helps me. And just looking at (Kali). She'll give you a smile ...
``You come back from a tough day of practice and I'm like, `Well, I didn't do it today. If they were going to select the team today, I didn't do it.' And you just look at the little girl, and she smiles at you, and you're like, `But I have a family, and I have a baby.' ''
Martin married and moved to Virginia Beach in 1991, when she was selected to the national team.
The U.S. failed to qualify for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, however. So Atlanta in '96 has been the target for a rapidly improving team that was third in the last world championships.
Martin is one of many forwards, though, and her return to the national team was not even guaranteed. But in a pre-arranged two-week tryout, Martin was impressive enough to convince coach Pam Hixon to bump her roster from 22 to 23, increasing Martin's chances.
``She certainly wasn't hurting us or holding us back at all,'' Hixon said. ``I've really got to give her a lot of credit. She's really putting herself out ... doing the extra training and the extra practice that she needs to catch up to the rest.
``She (became) a longshot when she got pregnant, so I still think she's a longshot. But she definitely has a shot. She's in the hunt, let's put it that way.''
And if that hunt leaves her empty-handed, well, Martin's not sure she wants to think about it.
``That's so tough, because if I don't make it I'll be really, really upset because I did everything right,'' Martin said. ``I didn't overeat, I worked out as soon after the pregnancy as I did, I put it all on the line to make this dream.
``I'm not seeing my husband, he's not able to see Kali grow up when she's this young. I feel selfish in a way, but by the same token, I know it should all be worth it. So if I don't make it, it'll be heartfelt. Heartfelt.''
As Kali gurgled, Martin looked off into the twilight.
``Shoot, they ought to know I've got the fight,'' she said. ``They have to know I've got the determination.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Laurel Martin has a new reason to make the Olympic field hockey
team - to round out a story that'll make infant daughter Kali
proud.
by CNB