Liana Hinds ‘12 played her last professional soccer game in 2023. She now works for the Hartford Athletic, a men’s pro team in the United Soccer League, and when she looks out at Trinity Health Field on a game day, a few thoughts come to mind.  

One is “How did I do all that running?” Women run about five miles during a pro soccer game.  

Another thing she ponders is what she misses about playing the game, which started for her at age 5. 

“I tell the people I work with I want to be out there so bad,” she said. “Yeah, I do.” 

But there is more to the game than what happens during those 90 minutes on the field. 

“I miss playing, but I don’t miss all of the outside things that come from playing,” Liana said. “There’s just a lot with women’s sports — you don’t get paid enough, there aren't as many opportunities to play, you get coaches that don’t get paid enough.” 

Still, soccer has taken her to places she says she otherwise would not have seen. Liana’s father played professionally in Trinidad. He coached her during much of the time she played youth soccer. “When I was 6, 7, 8, he’d get me up at 7 [a.m.] to go practice outside with him,” Liana said. “He’d always emphasize doing more than just what you do at practice and always trying your best.” 

By the age of 13, Liana was playing for the Trinidad and Tobago U-17 team and already traveling internationally. “We were preparing for the U-17 World Cup, and we would have tournaments and camps in different countries — Brazil, Venezuela, and a bunch of Caribbean countries,” she said. At Loomis Chaffee, she played varsity soccer all four years and captained the team as a senior. She went on to play for UConn and the U-20 and senior national Trinidad and Tobago teams, then professionally in New England, Sweden, Iceland, and Scotland.   

“I did the most sightseeing in Iceland, and it was one of my favorite places,” she said. “I enjoyed the food, and the people were very friendly.” 

She lived on Vestmannaeyjar, an island chain off the south coast of Iceland, and played for IBV. The club practiced and played home games on the island, but for away games the team had to take a 30-minute ferry ride and two-hour drive into Reykjavík, the capital and largest city in Iceland. “So through that I saw a lot of the country,” she said, “and when family and friends came over, we’d rent a car and see all the glaciers and geysers and hot springs. Iceland feels like a different planet.” 

Her first pro contract, for $1,000 a month, was in Sweden. Typically, she said, a team pays for your housing, your flight to the country before the season and the return trip to your home country. All the rest is on you. She lived on the top of a hill “that took me 40 minutes to walk up after practice.” She did not have a car. She recalled one treacherous day in the spring when snow was barreling down as she trudged up that hill. “I think I still have videos on my phone,” she said with a laugh. 

Liana said Loomis Chaffee helped her learn to be independent, which helped her in college, where she said juggling being a student and a Division I athlete was demanding. “But UConn does its best to set you up for success,” Liana said. “You have strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers, recovery spaces, academic advisors. Everything is in place for you.” 

Playing overseas, she said, “can be a little isolating, but teaches you how to handle things on your own. It makes you grow up quickly.” 

Liana played in the 2010 U-17 Women’s World Cup and made her senior debut for the Trinidad and Tobago senior national team in 2014. She said there was little preparation for big games.  

“We’d have World Cup qualifiers, and they wouldn’t announce the coach until a month before, and we wouldn’t have a camp until two weeks before the qualifiers,” she said. “And we are playing against teams such as the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica that are playing [together] consistently. Their players are also playing in clubs and leagues that are of high quality, and Trinidad doesn’t have that. So, on top of not being prepared properly, we don't have the players who have experience, so that's always setting us up for failure.” 

A long-term goal, she said, is to make the soccer federation stronger in Trinidad and Tobago. “I really do want to impact the national team, the federation, in a positive way,” Liana said. “There is potential. Some of the best, most hard-working, driven players were there, but we didn’t have the structure, guidance, and resources to keep up with the teams we played.” 

For now, she is trying to make a difference with the Hartford Athletic in her role working with corporate partnerships. Part of her job is “executing the vision” of how a business wants to partner with the team. She also coaches the U-11 girls team in the club’s soccer academy. Hartford Athletic launched its girls academy about a year ago and now has five teams. 

Liana, who also does some private training, has coached youths before.  

“I enjoy developing players, watching them get better,” she said. “Seeing them grow in confidence over time — I like being a part of that journey.” 

A journey that started for her at age 5.