A Conversation with the Washington Spirit's Hal Hershfelt
Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt sat down with Walking Bucket to discuss the 2025 season, her teammates, player empowerment, and more.
On player empowerment, the Spirit's kits, her ankle, the Olympics, and her teammates
There are times when you turn on a game, see a player, and you just instantly know that they have it.
You can't describe it. You just know what it is when you see, well, it.
That's how I felt about seeing Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt during her rookie season last year.
It's her approach to the game that I love, a rangy, long-striding midfielder who doesn't shy away from contact on the pitch, and the loose nature she has off of the pitch that makes her standout.
I wanted to learn more about Hershfelt, so I scheduled a time to chat with her. Below is the conversation if you like to see the back-and-forth Q&A style of approach, but below, you can watch the full video from our conversation.
Enjoy getting to know Hal Hershfelt.
Michael Waterloo: Hello everybody. Welcome back to another edition of The Walking Bucket, and I am not by myself today. I am actually joined by Hal Hershfelt from the Washington Spirit. Hal, how are you doing today?
Hal Hershfelt: Good, how are you? Thanks so much for having me.
MW: Yeah, absolutely. I'm doing very well, and I need to get started with two questions that everybody wants to know:
First, how's the ankle feeling? And second, how's Bobbi?
HH: The ankle's feeling great. I’m getting better every day. I mean, it's nothing too long term, but I feel like with ankles you just gotten be careful because they're susceptible to re-rolling. So just playing it safe and yeah, getting better every day.
Bobbi’s great. She's my bestie. I love her. I actually just got her a cat tree, so she's, she actually hasn't ... I'd love to say that she's ecstatic about it, but she hasn't figured out how to use it yet, which seems pretty basic (laughs), but maybe she'll figure it out in a couple weeks.
MW: We're all just doing our best. Bobbi included. I want to look back at the Challenge Cup. It seemed like it was kind of a tale of two halves there for the Spirit. The first half kind of seemed like the Spirit had some nerves, where Orlando seemed very together. Washington seemed like, “OK, we're still getting our feet under us,” but then you see the second half, you just looked like a totally different team. What changed at halftime?
HH: I honestly think ... I mean, that was our first game of the season. I know technically it wasn't a regular season game, but I still count it as a regular game. I just think that we were getting our feet underneath us. We have a lot of new players in key positions for us, and I mean, I remember how I was in my rookie year trying to get in the system, get in the rhythm, and that just takes time.
This season is super long, and our group really has so much potential when it comes to that, but we definitely settled in toward the second half. I think it was just a matter of getting our feet underneath us and kind of getting used to each other and more confidence. I feel like we're a little frantic the first half, but the second half I feel like we're like, “OK, we're in this now. Like we need to play.”
MW: And you definitely did play, ended up beating Orlando, the team that you all lost to last year. How big was that for you just to be like, “OK, hey, we can do this, we can compete,” like, look out for the Spirit?
HH: Yeah, that felt good for the ego for sure. After last year, how the final turned out, unfortunately, it felt good to be able to pull that win out. I really don't think that was our best game either. And the fact that we were able to win, I think goes to show our resilience and how persistent we are. Things might not be going our way, but we'll figure out how to pull out a win.
MW: I want to talk about Ashley Hatch for a second. You know, there's a lot of people who are talked about on Washington as being key players for the team. It was Ashley Sanchez before the trade. Trinity Rodman gets talked about a lot, but Hatch is just locked in to start the season three goals so far. How important is she to the team on the field and off?
HH: I mean Hatch, like not even just this season, I know she's had like a hot start this season, but last season toward the back half of the season, I feel like she just is on the incline and I feel like it's just so awesome to see because she's such a good person and good leader off the field too.
I go to her all the time just asking her dumb rookie crap that I didn't know what the hell was going on last year. I would go to Hatch. She's just been so great for our younger players, but also, she's such a great example on the field every day in the weight room at practice, she just always brings intensity, and I feel like it comes out in important games and important moments. She's just been so consistent, so I love it.
MW: She's so much fun to watch. Always out there with a smile on her face. It's just, it's great to see. Kind of shifting into more sad news, as we saw Tierna Davidson recently go down with an ACL tear. I believe, if I'm correct, that you tore yours in high school, and I'm actually doing this interview from Marietta, Ga., believe it or not, where you went to high school. So, what advice would you have for Tierna or Juju Watkins recovering from an ACL tear based on your experience?
HH: I feel like you can kind of use this piece of advice with everything.
It's something that I try to do, and I mean, it's so sad how common it is. Just hearing all those names that have done it only recently, and they're all big names, so I feel like it's getting a big focal point now, but how often it happens. I was coaching a clinic like this past off season, and I was meeting like a bunch of like 12, 13-year-old girls who had already torn their ACL and have come back. I was like, “Oh my God.”
Like, I feel like it's just crazy how common it's, but honestly just showing up every day. I feel like you can use that like with everything when it comes to PT and stuff. I mean, I'm kind of going through that now where I'm like, “Ugh, I don't wanna do like ankle pumps for the thousandth time,” but you just got to show up and do it regardless of how you feel.
It’s just showing up, putting in the work, and like trusting that it's going to get you somewhere. I think for me it was like trusting all the people that were trying to rehabilitate me and help me out and just like really buying into the exercises. Even the little things. That helped me.
MW: You're used to kind of bright colors from playing at Clemson with the bright orange to last year's highlighter color. Even this year's kit, it kind of reminds me of an Oregon Ducks-type feel, if you will. Are you just kind of used to those bright colors and kind of standing out in the field right now?
HH: Honestly, yeah. Like you said, in college, it was a bright orange or a bright purple. They're very distinct colors, and I feel like with the Spirit, like everyone knows what that neon yellow is. I kind of love it. It makes it distinctly ours.
MW: But we did see the Spirit recently tease the cherry blossom gear, and it looks fantastic. I saw that yesterday on Instagram. I was like, OK, OK, Washington.
HH: No, they've been stepping up with the gear. I mean like we partnered up with a separate designer and she's been doing like our merch as of lately. It's so cool. It's kind of retro, and I love it.
MW: Do the players geek out about the kit day like the rest of us do when they drop? Obviously, you all are seeing it ahead of time, but are you all kind of that excited about it as well?
HH: Yeah, because we can get it off our chest (laughs). I feel like we keep it a secret for a while, and we're like, we got to see what the people think or like we can't wait for it to drop because they did so well with our media and the drop and everything. I think all of us were excited to see that.
MW: I want to talk about the Olympics really quick. How valuable was that experience for you and just how surprised were you to kind of get that nod, if you will?
HH: I feel like I put out a really good performance in the first half of my rookie year, and all of my rookie year, but it was really cool to see. I feel like in the past it was harder to get looks for the national team for new people to cycle in.
And it was cool that like a bunch of us, it was like, “OK, we performed in our first year.” There you go, you're going to the Olympics. Because we kind of deserved it based on our league play. It was really cool just to be a part of that, and I mean, it was beautiful and being able to see the city.
I mean, I got to see the Eiffel Tower. Um, that's insane. I'm from Mississippi, so it's like (laughs). I get to look back and be like, I went to like an Olympics after never being called into a national team camp in my life. It was amazing. It was a dream come true.
MW: The NWSL kind of did away with the draft this year. As a player in your second year, what are your thoughts about kind of like the power dynamic shifting to the players and if other leagues should kind of follow suit with that?
HH: I love it. I was blessed. I had a good experience when it came to the draft, and I ended up at a place that I'm so thankful for. I'm very happy with where I am, but like I know a lot of people, that wasn't necessarily the case. And I think it's just great that we kind of have more autonomy when it comes to where we want to end up, what we think is a better fit for us, and where we see a future home.
Because I think, yes, this is our job for sure, and coming into this job, you have to have the expectation that you might make a move at some point. But to be able to have more stability in one area, I know that doesn't have to do the draft more so it has to do with non-consensual trades, but I think it's really cool that we have more autonomy over our careers and how we want our lives to look.
MW: I wrap up every interview with some rapid-fire questions. We're going to start with two word associations: Trinity Rodman.
HH: Talented
MW: Croix Bethune,
HH: Shifty, cocky (laughs)
MW: As a defensive-minded midfielder who anticipates very well, who's the hardest player for you to slow down in the open field?
HH: Hmm. Like in the league or on my team?
MW: In the league.
HH: Oh God. This is more general. I can't think of one person right now, but when I think of people like defensively, I think of Alyssa Thompson because she's so quick and she's so tiny.
For someone like me who – I have long strides, and I make big tackles – that is so nerve wracking when I'm against someone with little, tiny steps. Because if I don't do it right, it's a foul. You know what I'm saying? So, I'd say some people who are really tiny and really quick.
MW: As somebody who is a pro athlete, you do a lot of interviews. What's the question you get asked the most?
HH: I get asked about Bobbi a lot. It's probably because I don't shut up about her, but at the end of every interview it's Bobbi. What's up with Bobbi? I get asked about my tattoos a lot, too.
MW: Well, I'm glad I started it with Bobbi instead of ending it with Bobbi. I was doing some research, and I found out that you worked at Paradise Grill in Marietta. What is your go-to order at Paradise Grill?
HH: Oh God (laughs). OK, so I think since I was working around Mexican food so much when I was there, I really didn't like getting Mexican food. I would get like the grilled chicken Caesar wrap or the wings. Those were my go-tos.
MW: Sticking on the food theme here: Best Eats in DC.
HH: I'm a fraud because I really haven't been to DC that much, because we live really far out. We're based out of Northern Virginia, but I went to a place recently in DC in Georgetown. I love Thai food, Vietnamese food, all that stuff. It's called Rimtang, and it's like this cute yellow house, right in Georgetown. I love it. It was so good.
MW: What's on your playlist right now?
HH: This is one that's always on my playlist: “Unforgettable” by French Montana and Swae Lee. That's a good one that I listen to a lot.
MW: And on a cross-country plane ride, what are you listening to? Are you listening to a podcast? You listen to a playlist? Watching a movie,
HH: I listen to a playlist. I have a playlist of all my oldies but goodies, and I only save it for plane rides even though it's getting kind of overplayed. Because I am on the plane a lot.
MW: And last one here for you, what's the key going forward for the Spirit to have a successful season?
HH: Consistency. I think like what we talked about earlier about like how sometimes I feel like our style of play requires a lot of chemistry and learning how to move off of each other. And once you kind of build that up, it's about like maintaining that. Because once again, it's such a long season, and it's so easy to have mountains and valleys, I think finding a good, consistent state is key to winning.
