My Story: Soccer's Ashley Leonard

After a long break, the soccer team will be back on campus within the next week and I'm excited to take on my final season after being away from my teammates and soccer for too long. I think we are all anxious to get back and ready to take on the challenges that come with being student-athletes because we miss it so much. While we've been physically away from each other for a few months, we've found ways to stay connected and have been able to focus on things we aren't necessarily able to in the busyness of our typical student-athlete lives.

Taking initiative in the community is something our team and athletic community believes is important for us to participate in. Over the course of the pandemic, the team participated in Soccer United Against Hunger and has raised over $3,000 and 80 pounds of food. Providing for people facing unemployment and food struggles during tough times is something we have been blessed to be able to do. When we are at school we stay active in the community by consistently volunteering at local organizations such as Curbside Ministries, Arcadia Senior Living, and Warren Elementary School with Second and Seven organization.

We tried a unique way of training through quarantine so that we could keep our soccer skills sharp and the community involved. We rotated through players and posted a new soccer drill every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through the first couple of months of the pandemic. This helped us to feel like we were still training as a team in a remote way and providing ideas for the younger community that also had their sports taken away from them.

Also, on June 8th, many girls on our team ran 8.46 miles as part of Athletes4CHNGE in honor of George Floyd. We did it as an act of mourning the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that he couldn't breathe due to unjust police brutality. By doing this, our team wanted to show that we stand with every athlete and person of color on WKU's campus and in the world. We wanted to inspire advocacy and raise awareness that our athletic programs believe in and stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. We hope to continue the conversation when we get back to campus and use our privilege to lift each other up until equality is met.

As athletes, it's important to remember we wouldn't be here without the support of our family, school, and community and to reciprocate all of the support they have provided us with. Not only do we have a privilege as athletes to advocate for the communities struggling, but a responsibility to use our platform for purposes greater than our sport. Eyes are on us when we are on the field, but people follow the way we act and react off of the field as well. We have been given an opportunity and a voice to inspire and mold younger generations by the way we act and give back. We have a purpose in our community that holds more power than we think, and without our action change cannot be inspired as quickly.

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