Maximum Impact: The Camber Hayes Story

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Camber Hayes is 'geeking out.'

It's a Sunday night in August, only a matter of hours after Miami Soccer's exhibition game against Louisville, and Hayes is glued to the screen in front of her.

However, she's not watching film of her textbook corner kicks against the Cardinals or a highlight reel of all of the times she intercepted the visitors' passes in the midfield.

No, Hayes is engrossed in an Animal Planet show about lions and cheetahs in the African savannah.

Of course, for a Biology/Pre-Med major pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian, this particular entertainment choice makes perfect sense.

"I feel like every kid, when they grow up, they're like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to be a vet!' And then they find something else that they want to do. For me, I just didn't find anything else I wanted to do, so I stuck with it," Hayes laughed.

"I'm toying with if I want to have a private practice where I do dogs, cats and the 'normal stuff' or if I want to work at a zoo. I think working at a zoo would be so much fun, just casually working with lions or something!"

Hayes is well on her way to her dream, boasting an impressive 4.0 grade point average heading into her senior year with veterinary school on the horizon. Camber Hayes

She and the RedHawks also have big dreams on the soccer field heading into this week's regular-season opener at Ohio State. Miami is coming off its best record since 2016, a 9-5-6 mark last year that included a victory over rival Ohio in the MAC Tournament.

The Red and White allowed just 14 goals in 20 matches last fall, and the standout from Bowie, Md. is a big reason why.

"Camber's role is so important," said head coach Courtney Sirmans. "In our style, we need a holding midfielder who's comfortable receiving the ball off of our back line. She is very aware of her surroundings: She knows where pressure is coming from and where teammates are, which allows her to make decisions quickly.

"Her short-range passing is great, but the way she can drive a pass forward as well and play balls in behind the back line, she's able to put texture on it. She's just a very technical player…

"She's so good at reading the game, so when we're defending, she's able to move her teammates around her to help our defensive shape be a lot more organized, which is [a big reason] why we didn't have very many goals scored on us last year.

"If she notices a defender step into the midfield to follow someone, she's smart enough to know that she's got to fall into that back line. She's just really intelligent and can figure things out in the run of play."

Hayes got her start in the sport at a young age. Although neither of her parents played soccer, Camber's older brother Jacori (who now plays with MLS club Austin FC) picked the game up early and each of his younger siblings eventually followed in his footsteps.

"He's eight years older than me; I went to his games, and I was so bored," Camber recalled. "I was like, 'I don't want to watch him play! I want to play!' And so that's what started it."

Camber Hayes

Hayes tried her hand –er, foot—at other sports, including exactly one speed skating team practice ('I was really fast in the straightaways, but when I went to turn, I would keep crashing into the wall!'), but ultimately made a name for herself on the soccer pitch.

She visited Miami after the coaches saw her play at a tournament in Maryland and was impressed with what she found in southwest Ohio. "I was like, 'Whoa, this place is actually so beautiful,'" Hayes recalled, even though she hadn't initially been familiar with the university. "Once I got on campus, it felt like home.

"I also got to meet one of the biology professors that I would have freshman year, so that was really cool. No other place that I visited allowed me to meet anybody that I would interact with academically.

"My parents made sure that I knew academics were an important piece to finding a school, and so I really valued that."

The well-rounded Hayes has received a number of recognitions and awards during her time in Oxford, including First-Team All-MAC, Academic All-District, Second-Team All-Midwest, Academic All-MAC, President's List and Miami Athletics' Leann Grimes Davidge Award –in the last year alone!

Several of the honors she's compiled encompass not only academic and athletic success, but also her community service and involvement. In April, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named Hayes the female 2023 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year. She became the first student-athlete in Miami University and Mid-American Conference history to earn the prestigious award and was selected out of a pool of nearly 1,000 nominees.

The myriad off-field contributions on Hayes' resume stood out, including time spent with Watkins Park Animal Medical Center, Doctor's Community Hospital, Feed the Hungry and S.H.A.R.E ministries, Athletes in Action, the Miami Scholars Program, Miami Bridges Program and the Louis Stoke Alliance for Minority Participation, just to name a few.

"I got a call saying I was a finalist, and I was like, 'What? No way! This is awesome!' Then I started reading the bios on the other finalists, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh – they're so much cooler than me! I'm glad I got this far!'", Hayes said.

"It was so surreal. I still can't believe it, honestly… [but] it just allowed me to reflect on everything that I've done and see the impact that I have made." Camber Hayes

On the field, Hayes has not only been a pivotal playmaker for the Red and White (producing half of the team's 16 assists a year ago), but also a key leader since being named a captain midway through her freshman year.

"When Camber speaks, everybody listens," Sirmans said. "But I think it's her work ethic and how she trains that everyone really has tons of respect for. She's someone who shows up every day and you know exactly what you're going to get. She's probably our most consistent player."

With her position in the center of the team's formation, Hayes is a big part of everything that happens offensively and defensively, and that's just the way she likes it.

"I try to make as big of an impact on the game as I can," she nodded. "Whether that's just winning the ball or, if they're not playing through the midfield, making sure I communicate with my teammates…

"I try to make sure I make an impact and my presence is felt on the game."

The RedHawks hope to blend a strong nucleus from last year's squad with a talented group of newcomers to contend for the program's first MAC Tournament championship since 2012. And unsurprisingly, Hayes will be in the middle of it all.

"We're looking really good," she said after the exhibition victory over Louisville. "We've got a lot of returners, and the freshmen have been great so far, so we're definitely going to make a deep run in the MAC playoffs.

"And we're aiming to win the whole thing!"

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

Come cheer on Hayes and the RedHawks in their home opener this Sunday, Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. vs. Indiana State!

Players Mentioned

Camber Hayes

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