This will be one of my shortest articles. Above is a picture of the Naval Academy Women’s Soccer team. First of all, these young women earn your respect—every day.
Someday, they will be F-18 pilots, nuclear engineers, ship drivers, or Marine Recon officers. Today, though, they lead regimented and disciplined lives, learning to be good citizens. They are acquiring job skills. In the future, these experiences will come together, and some of them will become incredible mothers and wives. Their priorities will change, just as many of their male counterparts will learn that lessons from sports and academics serve a higher purpose; education is a means to an end, not the end itself.
The same is true for sports. To me, the team picture speaks of wholesomeness. There are no tattoos or bling, no nose rings or blue or purple hair. Their identity comes from within. They don’t need accessories to call attention to themselves. Their accomplishments, their sport, their future professions—and perhaps someday their vocations as wives and parents—will speak for themselves. They have obviously committed themselves to “service before self” and to a greater cause. This is the best of what a well-rounded education can offer. It is the best of who we are. They are the best of us
There is no DEI, no woke culture, no NIL. They won’t be passing through a “transfer portal.” Their lives have purpose. Athletics is a means to an end
I don’t know much about soccer. Admittedly, I don’t enjoy watching it. But I believe soccer players, along with basketball players, are the best all-around athletes. Their sport demands speed, agility, strength, and hand-eye coordination. It requires people skills. I have never met a soccer player—male or female—whom I didn’t like. That isn’t the point, though. The real point is that young people who go through this kind of process are not only making themselves better—they are making all of us better. They don’t need to tell us how good they are. Their accomplishments, now and in the future, will always speak for themselves.
