Elliot Cowan: Killing It With Kindness
If you need to see an athlete who can balance elite skill, a fiery competitive nature, and sportsmanship, Elliot Cowan is the perfect combination.
One of the areas top basketball and volleyball players, Cowan is known as a leader in her school and sporting community, both athletically, and for her on court character.
“On the court or on the field is where I feel the most comfortable,” says Cowan. “To show disrespect to officials, coaches, teammates or opponents or make the game personal takes away from everyone’s experience. I love the game, whatever sport I am playing. It is such an awesome experience for me, I feel like I would never want to affect or take away from anyone else’s opportunity to enjoy my happy place.”
In the time of a global pandemic, that happy place of the field, ice, and court has been taken away from so many athletes. Returning to school this Fall, as a key contributor to so many UCC Lancers teams, it was difficult for Cowan to know that this year would be different than any other.
“Returning to school without sports has definitely been a different experience than my previous years at UCC. For my first two years of high school, there was a regular routine of sports starting right away and continuing on throughout the entire year. On the second day of school basketball would start and I would go from one season to the next, having practices four days a week with tournaments on the weekends. Now my days are not filled with sports, but instead consist of practicing on my own and working out, waiting for seasons to hopefully begin with no start date in sight.”
For Cowan, like many other athletes, it’s now up to their intrinsic drive to keep them moving forward, and working toward goals of playing at a higher level.
“While I feel that my skills are improving throughout COVID, it is difficult to gauge my progression when I’m not put into game scenarios,” Cowan said.
The UCC Lancers star, who has also suited up for the Wallaceburg Airhawks, Chatham-Kent Wildcats, Chatham Ballhawks, Wallaceburg Sting, and has collected numerous medals competing in beach volleyball, it’s these missed game experiences that have left the biggest gap to fill.
“During this pandemic I have missed a lot of things about sports including my teammates. But the thing I have missed the most are the games. Games are the ultimate goal. Games provide the ability to see that all of the preparation is paying off. While I work hard and try my best during practice, I strive to be most effective during games.”
“I love the feeling of being in big moments and knowing that I can impact the result,” she continued. “Those moments when my brain shuts off and my body goes into game mode, where my preparation and instincts take over. The feeling of being in complete control and not being afraid of the outcome, just being in the moment.”
With that said, Cowan, remains one of the areas top athletic prospects, and will undoubtedly have the opportunity to take her game to the next level when the world opens up again.
“I have many goals for the future, and many of them consist of what I want to accomplish athletically. One of these goals includes playing post secondary basketball at a University level. I love the game of basketball and don’t want my basketball adventure to end after high school. I would love to continue playing basketball and keep pushing myself to become better and improve.”
True to herself however, and the character she displays in ever facet of sport, Cowan sees her future in athletics as one of giving back as well.
“Another goal that I have is to incorporate all I’ve learned from sports and become a coach. My love of athletics was encouraged by my coaches and by people I looked up to. I would love to be able to return the favour to younger athletes, to help them learn and grow as people and love athletics the way I do.”
With her skill on the court and field, and values off, Cowan will certainly be impacting Chatham-Kent’s young athletes long into the future.