Visiting The White House With Our National Champion Women’s Lacrosse Team — And Remembering How Important Sports Are To College And Life

Not long ago, I joined 30 accomplished young women to go to the White House.

They weren’t political science students embarking on internships or aspiring journalists preparing to grill world leaders. Rather, they were the members of the Pace Setters women’s lacrosse team — newly crowned as the NCAA Division II champs, our first-ever national championship squad — and they were in Washington for College Athlete Day. While the White House has long invited winners in the big-deal Division I sports for a visit — your Michigan football teams, your Duke basketball squads — this was the first time teams from all three NCAA divisions were included.

It was a beautiful spring day, and it was a memorable, meaningful afternoon, as more than 1,000 student athletes representing 47 teams and 19 sports gathered on the South Lawn. The Biden Administration wanted to honor smaller schools, and athletes from less high-profile sports, and the result was this extraordinary turnout.

I was thrilled to be along for the ride, to be there alongside our remarkable student athletes, a committed and talented group of young women who are as impressive in the classroom as they’ve been on the playing field. They’ve worked remarkably hard this season, they’ve achieved great things, and they deserve all the attention and honors they can get. They had a wonderful time celebrating, meeting others from other schools, listening to remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris, and taking photos.

As I listened to Harris and other speakers, including former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, the NCAA president, and as I met players, coaches, and leaders from other colleges and universities, and as I reflected on the afternoon, I also found myself moved and inspired by the tenor of the day — and by the display of what I’ll call old-fashioned amateurism that I saw all around me.

For the most part, the students being honored at College Athlete Day were at the apex of their sports careers. They’re all gifted, committed athletes — but unlike those Division I football stars, Division II women’s lacrosse players and Division III soccer players or swimmers don’t often have the chance to turn pro. Rather, they’ve been playing college ball simply because they love it, and because of the skills and life lessons they draw from their time playing college sports.

These student athletes will go on to be businesspeople and technologists, nurses and teachers, not quarterbacks and shortstops, and the truth is they’ll be even better prepared for their careers because of their experiences on the playing fields.

I saw that reality, and that enthusiasm, all around me at the White House. I saw evidence of what a powerful force sports is for colleges and universities across the United States.

These happy student athletes were confident and connected. They know how to work together and how to achieve their goals. They know the meaning of commitment and resilience. The certainly know the meaning of teamwork and leadership. “You made tremendous sacrifices,” Vice President Harris told them, “training through injuries, birthdays, vacations, and even a pandemic. You know, all of you, what it means to commit and to persevere.”

These student athletes are leaders of their communities, and they set the tone for their campuses. The skills they learn in training rooms and on practice fields, and discipline they display on the court, will serve them well throughout their lives and their careers.

And that, I realized as I watched the festivities on that sunny day, is exactly why sports must remain such an integral part of college.

That amateur ideal — fair play, good fun, sport for its own sake — is essential to the college experience, and really essential to the American experience. It is something that is lacking all too often in our society today. And it is something that was on full display at the White House on College Athlete Day.

Indeed, it is exactly because these athletes are the true amateurs, the kinds who are playing for the love of sport and not for hopes of rich sponsorship deals, that the day had such meaning. And while we don’t all have the ability to play at the national championship level, or even at the varsity level, there is some sports activity for nearly everyone, whether it’s a club sport or an e-sport or something other sort of campus activity that brings us together and makes us part of a larger whole.

As we think about how to make our society healthier, how to rebuild the connections among and between us, we would be wise to remember the value of sports and other similar activities. In a time of tight budgets and constant digital distractions, let’s be sure to preserve those traditions. Sports are a great part of college, and a great part of life.

In America, as we always tell little kids, if you put your mind to it, they can even take you to the White House.