Meet FRÉ Ambassador Victoria Hayward, Professional Softballer & Aspiring Olympian

@victoriahay

About Victoria: Victoria was born in Toronto, Canada and currently lives in Orlando, Florida. She is the youngest athlete to play for the Canadian National Team. She has won five medals competing for Canada: two Silver at the Pan American Games and three Bronze at the World Championships.

My fitness journey

I’ve always been very active. I grew up playing softball and soccer, and skiing. I played collegiately for the University of Washington and I’ve been on the Olympic softball team for Canada for the past 12 years. I love the community and team aspect of softball. I've always loved team sports and I enjoy the challenge of sport in general. Softball is a sport of failure, which makes successes within it that much more enjoyable.

Every day you strive to get 1% better and even the smallest wins are incredibly rewarding. 

My proudest moments

1. I recently won the Jenny Finch Award in the Professional League. It’s awarded for teamwork and integrity and it was a huge honor to receive!
2. After 12 years out of the Olympics, my team qualified on home soil in Vancouver.

Preparing for the Olympics

It’s a really hard grind. I had to quit my job to put my dream first. I’ve just finished 6 weeks of intense training and now we are having to take a break amid the crisis. I’m currently training without equipment and in quarantine. As a team, we’ve gone through so much and I know we can persevere. Our sport has been in and out of the Olympics and overall it has been a challenging journey.

Coping with Covid 19

There are a lot of question marks and I’m trying to stay positive, since so much can change so quickly. I try to consume positive media and limit time spent looking at the news. I try not to get lost in the vortex of ‘what if’ and ‘what could be.’ I exercise and go outside every day. I’m taking things day by day.

Confidence and belief in yourself are very important. I was taught ‘you are confident because of your preparation’ and when things get hard, I think of all my work and all that I’ve put in. I stay positive and in a mindset where I can accomplish things. I set a mission or intention of what will make the day a good and productive one each morning. It can be something very simple like the phrase ‘positive energy’ or the word ‘growth.’ Then, I focus the day on this intent.

The power of community

What I’ve learned through team sports is that my wellness and health are my number one priority. It has made me realize there’s so much power when you have a community around you and when things get hard it’s important to know my teammates are alongside me. They can be alongside me mentally, even if they are on the other side of the world.

Why I love FRÉ

My biggest skincare challenge is sun protection. I grew up with lots of games and practice outside. As a kid, I was bad at wearing sunscreen.

The thing I love most about FRÉ is their daily moisturizer with sunscreen. It's part of my routine and it has helped with skin damage that has accumulated over the years spent playing outside.

Every day before I work out, I put on GLOW ME and every time I run or go to practice outside I use GLOW BODY. It’s amazing before an outdoor run. I recently started using the night routine too and RECOVER ME is fantastic. When I sweat and when I’m outside, the products don’t run in my eyes and they are super light with both sun protection and tint. I also really love that FRÉ is all about community. The FRÉ Community is a group of women who want to help other women. Women often compete so having a community that wants to share health and wellness tips and help one another is awesome.

RAPID FIRE:

• Favorite exercise? Running
• What comes to mind when you think of FRÉ? Community
• What are you most excited about in life right now? The future and hopefully the Olympics
• What’s something you’d still love to learn? More about how I can help people
• If you were a hashtag, what would you be? #positivevibes or #inthemoment
• Who do you admire the most? My Mom
• What is your mantra? You got this
• What’s the best advice that you’ve ever received in your life? Follow your passion no matter what it is
• What is an issue that you wish we spoke about more often? Gender equality
• What does it mean to be a woman today? Being strong and confident and equal
• What does sweat mean to you? Passion and willingness to do whatever it takes to reach your goal
• What’s one skincare tip you swear by? Sunscreen is gonna save your skin, and save your life! Anything with SPF in it is gold!