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Growing up in a military family taught Sara Halasz to be disciplined, focused and a hard worker. These key values have helped her to be a star in the classroom as well as in her starting position at guard for New Mexico’s women’s basketball team.
Halasz was born in Ohatchee, Ala., a small town surrounded by wilderness. To this day, she still considers the house right off the lake her home.
Halasz has moved all over the world, from Australia to South Korea, and around the United States — Alabama, Washington and Hawaii being just a handful of the states in which Halasz has resided, New Mexico being the latest.
“Moving around helped me socially … especially in sports, by playing with different people, knowing how different people react and getting new skills,” Halasz said.
Halasz’s parents still reside in a small town in Alabama. Her father, Scott Halasz, retired after serving 31 years in the Army just before Halasz’s senior year and had the opportunity to settle in Alabama.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t want to move because it was my senior year,” Sara Halasz said. “That is when my dad retired and I finished up my high school career.”
Halasz’s only sibling, her brother Scott, was also a college athlete, playing basketball for Evergreen State in Washington. The two were able to motivate each other throughout their childhood and they continue to have a close relationship — albeit a long-distance one, Sara said.
“I know he’s proud of me … He tells me all the time,” Sara Halasz said. “My brother doesn’t get to visit as much … but when he does, we get to have family activities.”
Sara Halasz wasn’t just into basketball growing up — she also loved to play softball.
“When we moved to Korea, they didn’t have softball, so I played baseball with the boys.” she said.
After returning to Alabama, she said that softball slipped through the cracks as she worked harder and fell in love with basketball.
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Halasz said she applies herself fully in the classroom, just as she does as an athlete. Last year she received recognition for being part of the Academic All-Conference. A student athlete must have a 3.0 GPA or higher to be eligible for Academic All-Conference and be a starter or significant contributor to that team.
“It is the same thing as on the court; I am determined to work,” she said. “It’s a discipline thing that I have always been taught.”
School has been a strong point for Sara Halasz, as she recently attained her bachelor’s degree in criminology and is now looking to obtain her master’s degree in sports administration.
Injuries have plagued Halasz’s career; she had to sit out her junior year along with her redshirt junior year. After having two knee surgeries, Halasz said she was able to stay positive with the support of her family.
“My parents are very disciplined and my dad always tells me to ‘pick myself up by my bootstraps and get yourself back out there,’” Halasz said. “In this case, I picked myself up by my shoe strings, tied my shoes up and went back out there ready to play.”
Halasz said she has a very close relationship with her family and lives a completely different lifestyle when she goes home to Alabama.
In Albuquerque, she gets to enjoy the city life and hang out with friends. In Alabama, Halasz said she enjoys the luxuries of her family’s boat, swimming, tanning and inner tubing.
Halasz said she would not mind staying in Albuquerque if an opportunity were to arise after she graduates.
“I am getting my master’s in sports administration in May,” Sara Halasz said. “I really want to give back, and if I could, I would want to coach and work my way up in the ranks.”
If coaching does not work out, Halasz said she would have no problem returning to the criminology field.
“I’ve always had something for law enforcement,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do the FBI academy or something in forensics … Anything in law enforcement I’m kind of open game for.”
