I had February 14, 2021 circled on my mental calendar for weeks.
The Big Ten’s Olympic sports were returning after months of confusion and uncertainty amid the pandemic. That frigid Valentine’s Day marked the beginning of the season for Northwestern lacrosse, a program I had followed since I first picked up a stick in seventh grade.
I was nervous I’d enter Ryan Fieldhouse the wrong way, get lost inside or somehow break NU’s COVID policy. But I was also thrilled as a kid who loved lacrosse and spent her middle school years reading USA Lacrosse Magazine cover to cover.
When gameday arrived, I watched Izzy Scane score nine goals, tying the then-program record, which she naturally went on to break later in her career. I was starstruck calling her and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller after the game, my heart racing as I dialed the phone. I couldn’t believe I could regularly interview one of college lacrosse’s greatest coaches and some of its best players, getting a better sense of how they saw the game.
I was hooked on beat writing, relishing the feeling that no one on campus knew more about the lacrosse team. But what’s particularly unique about my beat writing experience at the Daily is that I covered just one men’s sport: football during the ill-fated 1-11 season. My main coverage areas lay in women’s sports: field hockey, lacrosse, volleyball and cross country.
Primarily focusing on women’s sports led to some of my favorite moments of my college experience. In a world where women are derided for every misstep, for every bit of emotion shown, for daring to be great, it was thrilling to watch countless Wildcat women defy expectations and be truly, fully themselves.
I’ll never forget lacrosse’s Hailey Rhatigan’s powerful stick drop in the 2023 NCAA Semifinal, an exclamation point on the Cats’ rout of Denver. Or when lacrosse’s Lauren Gilbert crouched to the ground, tears streaming, after North Carolina came back from an eight-goal deficit to defeat NU in the 2022 NCAA Semifinal. Or softball’s Danielle Williams’ sheer dominance on the mound at the Tempe Super Regional in 2022 en route to a Women’s College World Series appearance.
These moments, among others, of women embracing their emotions and athleticism on the national stage are what I will remember the most about covering Northwestern athletics.
Covering women’s sports led to some of my favorite memories off the field, too. The lacrosse national championship in 2023 comes to mind, as I wandered Chapel Hill and got coffee and bagels with Jake Epstein, Sophia Vlahakis and Sarah Meadow on the off-day between games. I loved being part of the section of student reporters at soccer and lacrosse games over the years, chatting about the game and other NU athletic happenings.
I feel lucky that my peers at The Daily and other student publications also care deeply about women’s sports. I’ve never met a NU student who’s treated women’s sports like a second-rate beat. There are also many phenomenal women in sports at Northwestern, making it a bit of a shock when I interned in the real world and realized reality isn’t so utopic.
Only 15% of sports stories are reported by women journalists, and just 15% of sports coverage focuses on women’s sports — a reality totally contradictory to Northwestern student journalists’ embrace of women’s sports.
It’s disheartening that opportunities to cover women’s sports full-time professionally are extremely rare. It’s been thrilling to watch the rise of Caitlin Clark and see just how much has changed for women athletes in recent years. But, for now, jobs covering women’s sports aren’t arriving along with the rise of the WNBA and other women’s professional leagues.
Regardless of where I work or what my beat is, I will always pitch stories about women’s sports and women breaking barriers in men’s sports. While I’ve cared about women’s sports since I was a kid, The Daily crystallized my desire to highlight trailblazing women in my work.
I’m going to miss the beauty of a lacrosse game under the lights at Ryan Fieldhouse, pink hues of the sky over Martin Stadium during a women’s soccer game and the intensity of volleyball games at Welsh-Ryan Arena. These places, along with The Daily’s office on the third floor of Norris, were my campus homes.
I know student journalists will continue fighting the good fight covering women’s sports in these locations and wherever the teams travel across the country. Here’s to hoping professional media outlets catch up.
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