Each Thursday, sophomore defensive back Dominique Hawkins will give fans an inside look at the 2009 Fighting Sioux football team.
Volume 1: Thursday, July 16
August 28th, 2008 was a Thursday evening and would be my first test as a Fighting Sioux Football player. About 15 minutes before game time, I’m sitting at my locker at the Alerus Center listening to my iPod – which is part of my pre-game ritual to this day. I was listening to the song “Scream On Em” by The Game. It gets me ready and focused for the game. Soon enough, Coach Mussman comes into the locker room and the team takes a knee surrounding him as he gives us the pre-game prep talk. We break the huddle as a team at the end of his speech, and it’s time to leave the locker room for our first game of the season.
As a team, we marched through the halls of the Alerus Center toward the giant, blown up Sioux helmet that leads us to our field. The adrenaline pumped through my body each step I got closer to running out onto the field. It wasn’t my first time running out of the helmet, but tonight was different; I was starting for the first time. So many things ran through my head and I didn’t know what to expect.
Standing and waiting to run out of the helmet felt like a century, but finally we exploded out onto the field. The fans got louder and the place erupted as we ran across to our sideline. At that moment, I knew the University of North Dakota was the right place for me, and for me to stay.
Now for a little about myself. My name is Dominique Hawkins and I’m 20 years old. I’m a sophomore defensive back and a returning starter. The past couple of years as a member of a Fighting Sioux have been great and I love everything about the campus, the people, my coaches and teammates. Those are the main reasons why I decided to attend UND.
Going back before my college years, I was born and raised in Plymouth, Minn. I attended Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth and was a two-sport athlete all four years of high school. I played football and ran track to stay busy. During my junior year of football, UND started showing interest towards me. The coaches stayed in contact throughout my senior year even though I was hit with a season-ending injury. The rest of my senior year during recruiting, I visited different colleges and talked to multiple coaches. I liked certain things at certain schools, but in the end, I felt and still do feel, that UND is where I’m meant to be.
Last year was an amazing year, not only for me, but for our team and program as a whole. It was our first Division I season. We finished out the season at 6-4 and hope to improve this coming season. In my opinion, we have a tougher schedule this year, but I feel we are all focused and on the same page as a team. Everyone has been working hard so far this off-season and will continue to work hard.
As most of you know, we have an intense first week with Texas Tech on our schedule. I feel that I can speak for most of the team when I say it is going to be a great experience and big test for our program. I am excited and can’t wait to see what the year brings us.
Dominique Hawkins #30
