Profile: Huron senior Eva Erhardt more than earns Roxy Block Sportsmanship Award

The Roxy Block Sportsmanship Award is given each year to a varsity field hockey player who displays great sportsmanship, documented public service, leadership qualities, exemplifies love of sport, has a positive impact on her team and empowers female peers.

If you know Eva Erhardt, you would think the award was based on all of her amazing qualities and attributes. The Huron senior not only checks all the boxes, but takes each one to a different level and adds a few accomplishments of her own along the way.

During halftime of the Division 1 high school field hockey championship game in Chelsea back in November, Erhardt was awarded this very special Roxy Block Sportsmanship Award, which is named for Roxy Block, an amazing person and longtime contributor to the game of field hockey in this area who died of cancer in 2017. Block’s family presented the award to Erhardt, a four-year varsity athlete and team captain for the River Rats in 2021.

Erhardt, who also plays field hockey for the Pinnacle Field Hockey Club, is a three-sport athlete for the River Rats. She not only played field hockey but plays hockey for Skyron and is the varsity captain for Huron softball.

But athletics is only a small part of her very busy schedule.

Erhardt also is the founder and president of a club called Huron Against Trafficking. “The goal of the group is to educate our peers and raise awareness in the community about human trafficking,” she says. “We also raise money for organizations supporting survivors.”

Erhardt, 17, keeps very busy outside of school.

She is the co-chair of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Youth Council; is a member of the Leadership Team for the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) Youth Group; serves on the Michigan Community Foundation Youth Project; and is a Girl Scout Ambassador.

Erhardt also has been very active over the years with the YMCA. She is a member of the Ann Arbor YMCA Global Youth Citizens and was part of an initial group drafting a grant proposal and then launching a youth-led leadership development program. This collaboration between Ann Arbor YMCA and Albay Y in the Philippines is for teens committed to advancing initiatives designed to combat water and air pollution in their local community and abroad.

Erhardt was presented the Huron HS Scholar-Athlete Award (2020-21) and both the Silver Award and Bronze Award from Girl Scouts of Michigan. She earned the United Way of Washtenaw County Varsity Letters (2019-2021) for completing more than 170 hours of community service.

She enjoys volunteering her time and working on important causes as much as she does defending the goal in field hockey or hitting a home run in softball. It’s just the way she’s wired.

“My love for volunteering began with smaller projects when I was younger,” she says. “Being a member of Girl Scouts and then FUMC Youth Group introduced me to different organizations and taught me the importance of service. Once I found areas of interest, volunteering was not working and instead a part of my life – something I look forward to.”

Eva, the daughter of Elizabeth Donovan and Joseph Erhardt, has a 3.9 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society.

She first became interested in field hockey because both of her older sisters played the game. “I first tried it out on a Rec & Ed team and soon joined Pinnacle. I fell in love with the community. It was challenging, but supportive and it helped me grow on and off the field.”

Erhardt started Huron field hockey her freshman year as a JV captain but also played in varsity games and tournaments, including when they won their second state championship in a row. She also helped lead the JV team to the JV state championship.

“In my sophomore year and junior year, I played sweeper on varsity,” she said. “My senior year, I was voted captain and played sweeper and some midfield.”

She says being named captain was “really important” to her.

“When I was a freshman, I looked up to the varsity captains and I wanted to make sure I could do that for the underclassman,” she says. “It was fun to support other players in the program, connect the team, and assist the coaches in drills and lineups.”

Erhardt hopes to play club field hockey in college.

“I have not picked a school yet, but I am excited for the future,” she says.

All photos by Terry Jacoby / WLAA