Some Questions With… Patrick Hogan
Charleston Battery defender Patrick Hogan joined us for the latest edition of “Some Questions With…” the center back made himself a mainstay as part of the 2021 Battery team as a Rookie having played in College at UNC-Charlotte in his hometown. 2022 has been difficult for him, having picked up an injury early on in the season before he could make a larger impact. Read on for what he had to say:
BYP: You broke into the team early on last year and have struggled this year because of injury and changes in formation. How has that challenged you as a player?
PH: Yeah, I was very fortunate to come straight out of college and get big minutes in the USL. I was very happy with that, to get those games and those minutes under my belt. It was a good experience for me. And then this year, with a new coach, new staff, and pretty much a whole new team, I knew I was gonna have to fight for a place. I was pretty unfortunate with getting an injury, but that’s just part of the game. You can’t dwell on it, you just have to keep moving forward and try to get back into the lineup and do everything you can to get back in the lineup.
A lot of the buzz around you coming out of pre-season was that you came back a little bit leaner, was there a reason behind that?
My main goal coming out of last season was to really focus on speed. So I talked to Mike Anhaeuser and some of the staff and the easiest way to do that was to trim the body fat and body fat percentage. and that will automatically make you a little bit faster, and to work on speed drills. In the off-season, I really grinded, did two-a-days, was working on watching everything I ate, eating really healthy, cutting down on carbs and desserts, fatty foods, whatever… I just really focused on leaning myself out so that I feel a lot quicker and honestly faster than I did last year.
Because of the guys that left and the new arrivals, after just a short time on the team you’re now expected to be a veteran and help people settle in. Is that something you’ve enjoyed?
Yeah, of course! I love leading and I honestly love bringing the guys together. I think for me, it was just kind of the role of welcoming the guys in and showing them how we do things here. Making sure they know the culture here. We’re a family. We do everything together. We’re all in this together, ups and downs and everything in between. I like to try to bring everyone together and I would think I’m a funny guy, so I like to make people laugh when they do come join us.
You’ve now been here for awhile, so what’s your favorite thing to do around the city?
Yeah, I actually first went to the Battery a couple months ago. I’ve been back a few times since. It’s extremely nice. Honestly, I love Charlotte, it’s my hometown, but Charleston is amazing. You can’t get much better than this. I mean, [it’s been] voted number one US city… There’s no question why that’s the case. The weather’s amazing, the people are all very nice, the food’s incredible. There’s not much you can hate about Charleston. Besides maybe the heat! [laughs]
Patrick Hogan in action for the Black and Yellow. Ross Almers, Ben Clemens and Michael Wiser photos
This is the first season where fans have properly been able to come out and see the team since COVID began. What difference does that make for you as players?
Oh, it makes a big difference! You can feel the energy on the field, so when you’re tired it really helps to push you that extra yard you need to go. It’s also nice, because last year we didn’t really get to mingle with the fans… So this year we’ve done a couple meet and greets and some of the players have met the people that come and watch us play every week. Those people come out to support us every single game and wear their Battery stuff, even when we’re on the road, you get people going to different venues to watch the game all together. It’s like a family, and they bring us together and they make us better on the field. Their energy is amazing.
You led the charge on St. Patrick’s Day telling us all to eat corned beef. We had a few things to say about that and we heard you had a rebuttal?
I would like to say that I didn’t know that corned beef was not the traditional Irish dish, but it is an Irish dish that you eat on St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe, statistically and technically I wasn’t correct, but um, everyone eats Corned Beef on St. Paddy’s Day! I do it every time, so I’m gonna stick with it. To each their own, I guess.
How Irish are you?
My Great-Grandparents came over on my Mom’s side, and my Grandparents on my Dad’s side were both Irish so it’s a big Irish Catholic family.
We’d like to thank Patrick for his time and put on record our shared love for the Irish. The Battery welcome Sacremento Republic to Patriot’s Point on Saturday. July 30th. Kick off is at 7:30 PM and the game will also be streamed on ESPN+.
TOP IMAGE: PATRICK HOGAN ON THE BALL FOR THE CHARLESTON BATTERY. ROSS ALMERS PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO
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