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When Meagan Cormier Hamilton BKin'16 joined the University of Regina Cougar women's soccer team in 2009, she had one goal - to play somewhere she knew she would continue to enjoy the game. She found that and so much more. "They were the best years of my playing career," she says of her five seasons, which she finished in 2013 as the all-time leading career scorer, a record she still holds with 21 career goals and 12 assists. "Playing soccer created a work ethic and commitment for me, but playing with the U of R really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and challenged me to be better … it taught me to elevate every characteristic, every quality that I could, which now applies to running a business or being a wife or a mom or a friend."
Hamilton grew up playing soccer in Regina. She was selected to play for Team Saskatchewan at multiple national tournaments and traveled to Edmonton monthly as part of the National Team Program. As rewarding as it was, the intensity in a national program led to uncertainty if soccer was even in her future. "I had a bad injury and even took a full year off of soccer between Grade 10 and 11," she says. "I had to decide: did I want to continue to pursue soccer and work harder and get better, or am I done?"
Needless to say, she decided to continue and even spent a summer in 2008 playing for a semi-professional team, the Edmonton Angels, in the Alberta Major Soccer League. It reignited her confidence and elevated her love of the game and it made her focus on what the sport truly meant and what she wanted out of university.
Meagan Cormier Hamilton BKin'16 on the pitch in 2009. Photo: U of R Athletics
"I had so much fun playing for the Cougars. It was the best decision I could have made."
When Hamilton joined the Cougars in 2009, she helped the team continue to build upon the foundation of players-turned-friends - spending as much time together off the field as on it, even travelling together on vacations in the off-season and taking a humanitarian trip together to Mexico in 2012. "When everyone is treated as family and loves and respects one another, it translates on the field, and you want to play for each other," she says.
By her fourth season in 2012, the Cougars finished third in the conference. They hosted a playoff game against the University of Saskatchewan at the beginning of November. "It was so cold," Hamilton recalls. "We scored in the first 15 minutes of the game and then in the last 30 seconds, U of Stied the game and we had to play a 30-minute overtime. We didn't usually get a lot of fans to our games, and that year, with our first playoff game, most of the other Cougar sports teams came out to support us. It was the most packed I have ever seen the stands and the fans stuck it out through that blizzard. When no one scored in overtime, it went to a shootout. We won and everyone rushed the field. It was a surreal experience."
Hamilton spent a month playing for Team Canada at the Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, before her final season began. Following the season, she took a break from soccer. She focused on her education, finishing her Bachelor of Kinesiology degree at the U of R instead of taking opportunities to play professional soccer in Europe. Soon her interest in fitness turned to bodybuilding. "It was another passion I had found," she says. "I started personal training and began my own business. It's crazy to think that I took about six years away from playing any soccer, but I found other avenues of athleticism that I really enjoyed."
During that time, she met her future husband through bodybuilding, and in 2018, she moved to his home in Houston, Texas, where she is now an owner of Team Hybralete. It's also where she returned to soccer. "We started an indoor women's professional team and are very involved in the soccer community," she says, adding that life is busy with their four Huskies. She and her husband are also expecting their first baby in April of 2025, which has meant a step back from playing soccer while she continues to manage the team.
Hamilton remains close friends with the women she played with on the Cougars and keeps up with the current team. While she is grateful to have left a legacy with her scoring records, she also waits for the day when someone beats them. "I'm really proud of how the program continues to evolve," she says. "I had so much fun playing for the Cougars. It was the best decision I could have made."
Top: Meagan Cormier Hamilton BKin'16. Photo: Michael Hamilton
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