ACADEMIC HONORS FOR SOFTBALL AND WOMEN'S SOCCER -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 NFCA AND UNITED SOCCER COACHES TEAM ACADEMIC HONORS

There are times when we refer to and think of the student-athletes on campuses and forget about the "student" part. Even in these days of N.I.L. fueled promotions and corporate America flocking to climb on the association train of popular college athletes with their products, stores or corporations, let's remember this. You have to make the grades to be eligible and stay in college. This isn't "play for pay"...it's "make the grades to stay". 

Maybe that's why it's refreshing to hear about outstanding academic results for the programs. We feature two of the many awards in the UofL women's sports from 2021-22. Today, we'll look at softball and women's soccer as a couple of examples of "Excellence in academics". 

The NFCA Scholar Athlete Honors are awarded when a student-athlete achieves a 3.5 grade-point average for the year in their academic pursuits  Louisville Softball recently had 10 of their student-athletes honored with this national award. 

Sam Booe, Mia Forsythe, Carman Greenwood, Cassidy Greenwood, Maddi Grant, Easton Lotus, Taylor Roby, Korbe Otis, Jenna Servi and Kendall Smith are the Louisville honorees for 2021-22.Overall, the team posted a 3.415 for the 2021-22 academic year. Three Softball Cards were Dean's Scholars ( 4.0 for the year }.  And 19 softball student-athletes were at 3.0 or better. I like to kid that I had a 4.0 at UofL. I added the 2.0 I got in each semester, and, voila!... there it is. 

Louisville women's soccer was recognized as a College Team Academic Award recipient. This award recognizes those programs who finish the school year witha 3.0 of better GPA. The Women's Soccer Cards had a 3.606 cumulative award for the 2021-22 season. 

Obviously, combining the rigors of being a university athlete and the games, practices and strategy sessions take up a considerable amount of a student-athletes time. Combine that with academics and a bit of a social life, combined with community involvement and you can well understand why college is a time of learning and practicing time management. 

These two sports are just a couple of examples of how all the sports student-athletes spend their years on campus. It's a good preparation for the rest of life as well. Try to remember that... the next time you see a student-athlete make the clutch goal, pass, assist or stop.  

Also remember there are coaches who are helping the process along, as well as academic advisors, professors and teacher's aides. Ask Gabi Leon who helped her become an NCAA Champion. I'm betting the list of people is as long as the winning vault height she turned in at the Championships, and that the list is filled with plenty of people who never touched a pole vaut pole. . 

When you hear the phrase "it takes a team" -- remember the team can be widely variated and encompass all reaches of college life. 

Similar successes can be found in all the other women's sports programs on campus. UofL had brainy basketball players, great GPA golfers, top of the class tennis stars, fantastic Field Hockey student-athletes and the list goes on and on. No, we don't expect to hear a 10,000 fan chant of "Nice GPA !! Norika All The Way !!" later this year...but be proud of the time your Cardinals are devoting to academia...and athletics. 

paulie