February 2022 // 50 Years of Carolina Women's Athletics

T H E

ISSUE XXVI

O F F I C I A L

M A G A Z I N E

O F

T H E

R A M S

C L U B

YOU PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE GREATNESS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE RAMS CLUB AND HOW YOU CAN IMPACT THE LIVES OF CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETES, VISIT RAMSCLUB.COM. P.O. BOX 2446 | CHAPEL HILL, NC 27515 | (919) 843-2000 | RAMSCLUB.COM |

@THERAMSCLUB

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Working on an issue focused on 50 years of Carolina women’s athletics afforded the opportunity to talk to student-athletes and coaches from the last five decades who made the choice to come to Chapel Hill.

They came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were lifelong Tar Heels. Some never knew anything about Carolina other than the cool color before they started receiving recruiting letters.

But all had one key trait in common: they wanted to be great. Even though every story we heard for this issue was different, it was remarkable how similar they were in one key area—the belief that coming to Carolina would surround them with like-minded individuals, both on their own team and across campus, and allow them to excel.

That’s the culture that has been built by a half-century of greatness. Long before supporting women’s sports was trendy or a hashtag, the University of North Carolina was actively demonstrating the virtues of a broad-based athletic program.

The benefits are obvious today. Tar Heel women’s soccer is one of the most dominant programs in the history of college sports. Field hockey has won three of the last four national championships. Women’s tennis and women’s lacrosse are annually among the very limited pool of realistic NCAA title contenders.

That type of environment is attractive both to

potential players and potential coaches. There were very few jobs that could have pried Courtney Banghart away from Princeton; Carolina was one of them, because of the complete approach to excellence. Danna Durante didn’t necessarily have to get back into coaching after a decorated career with Georgia’s gymnastics program, but Carolina’s appeal simply made too much sense.

The financial realities of the current era of major college sports mean women’s sports are facing the same serious questions as other programs throughout athletic departments. But one thing is certain.

Make time to visit Carmichael Arena or Karen Shelton Stadium or Dorrance Field and you’ll find some of the most accommodating stars—and fiercest competitors—on campus. You’ll read more about many of them in these pages, and learn how Carolina has cultivated a culture of competitiveness and championships.

It’s been a very productive, very successful 50 years.

And the Tar Heels are just getting started.

Adam Lucas Editor in Chief

PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB // EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS // CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANDREW STILWELL & LEE PACE // PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI // DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING

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“This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them.” — DEAN SMITH IN 1997

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EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS edition ON THE COVER: Courtney Banghart and Alyssa Ustby have returned the women’s basketball program to the national rankings.

COVER PHOTO: JEFFREY CAMARATI

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EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3

TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6

EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

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Words of Wisdom

Mentorship program pairs student-athletes with experienced wisdom

CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 20

EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

26 A League of Her Own Malaika Underwood has made a life in athletics, both on and off the field

BY ANDREW STILWELL

BY ADAM LUCAS

EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

12 Layouts to Law

Courtney Bumpers Grande took advantage of her Tar Heel opportunities

BY ADAM LUCAS

EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

16 Always on the Move

Pistons executive Britta Williams Brown has built a career in athletics by being constantly adaptive

BY LEE PACE

34 The Next 50

After a half-century of excellence, Carolina women’s athletics is poised to build on that success

BY ANDREW STILWELL

FIRST PERSON

38 ‘Inspired to excel’ Three-time champion on the Carolina community of excellence

BY ERIN MATSON

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TA R H E E LT I C K E R DONORS TO THE ForevHer TAR HEELS INITIATIVE ARE ALREADY MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE LIVES OF WOMEN STUDENT-ATHLETES AT C AROLINA:

$ 1IN0TOTAL4 M COMMITMENTS

$49M

IN SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT SUPPORT

$29M

IN FACILITIES FOR WOMEN’S SPORTS PROGRAMS

$ 2 7M

IN DIRECT TEAM SUPPORT

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3 ,5 00 + DONORS TO FORevHER TAR HEELS

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WOMEN STUDENT-ATHLETES EARN RAMS CLUB SCHOLARSHIPS ANNUALLY

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ALL WOMEN’S PROGRAMS IMPACTED

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ALL WOMEN’S PROGRAMS RECEIVING NEW FUNDING

Our University has long been a leader in women’s collegiate sports with an impact felt worldwide.

Launched in 2019, FORevHER Tar Heels is an initiative established

by The Rams Club and Carolina Athletics to champion our women student-athletes of the past, present and future. FORevHER Tar Heels seeks to enhance resources for Carolina women studentathletes by enabling alumni, parents and friends to give talents and assets to scholarship, facilities, team support and mentorship. By ensuring the future through your financial support, you guarantee the Carolina tradition of excellence continues for generations of FORevHER Tar Heel women student-athletes to inspire, to connect and to lift us all.

Thank you!

ForevHer S POT LI GH TS A group of National Champion field hockey alumnae came together with Ken and Cheryl Williams to give funds to name the team room at Karen Shelton Stadium.

Led by Joy Durling and Moira McFadden Sullivan, these Tar Heels funded the newly named “Champions Club” room in the team’s facility – a room that serves as a gathering place for current and former student-athletes and supporters of the program.

“At Carolina, we learned what it took to be a champion,” says Erin Cox O’Leary, a field hockey alumna. “The Champions Club represents those lessons – to confidently share the field with friendship, with gratitude, and with resilience.”

“At Carolina, we learned what it took to be a champion.”

FORevHER Tar Heels provides valuable funding to Carolina’s women’s sport programs in a variety of ways.

One component of the initiative is the FORevHER Tar Heels scholarship, awarded annually to a current female student-athlete. For Jill Shippee, an All-America track & field studentathlete and the 2021-22 recipient of the scholarship, the award is greatly appreciated.

“I know there are a lot of student-athletes who wouldn’t be in the position we are now without a scholarship,” says Shippee. “It’s a true honor to be named a FORevHER Tar Heels scholar. It has been amazing to be a part of the athletic legacy of women student-athletes at Carolina, and helping establish the culture for future student-athletes. I’m excited to see that through during my last year.

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At Carolina, an opportunity often starts with a scholarship and is enhanced by valuable support once student-athletes are in Chapel Hill.

Scholarship endowment gifts provide a legacy of support in perpetuity, while cash gifts allow our coaches to improve the student-athlete experience immediately. For women’s lacrosse alumna Nancy Hahn Heaton, ensuring both happen was accomplished with a combination gift of an estate bequest and a cash gift.

“I find that my time at Carolina continues to play a large part in my life,” says Heaton. “I thought it was important to make sure that that experience remains available to future potential Tar Heels, and that our coaches have what they need to make that experience as impactful as mine.”

“As a former student-athlete at Carolina and a coach, I know that sometimes you need some help on the fly.”

Coaches and student-athletes know the importance of being agile and able to adjust at a moment’s notice – whether it’s during a game or when running a sports program at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.

Carolina coaches find great value in gifts made directly in support of a program through a “friends” account. Carolina legend Charlotte Smith wants the women’s basketball program to have that agility – and does so in a creative way.

“As a former student-athlete at Carolina and a coach, I know that you sometimes need some help on the fly,” says Smith.

“For that reason, I give $23 a month to the ‘Friends of Carolina Women’s Basketball’ fund – matching up with my jersey number while I played. It’s important to me that Carolina Women’s Basketball has what it needs to succeed.”

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WORDS OF WISDOM

WORDS OF

WISDOM Mentorship program pairs student-athletes with experienced wisdom

BY ANDREW STILWELL PHOTOS BY UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

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n October of 2019, The Rams Club launched FORevHER Tar Heels, an initiative to build and inspire a Carolina community that champions and empowers women student-athletes not only through financial support of scholarships, facilities, and teams, but also through enhanced career development and mentorship.

The FORevHER Tar Heels mentorship program was announced on February 29, 2020, and paired 40 female student-athletes with 40 Carolina alumnae and friends who are passionate about supporting these young women and helping prepare them for life after Carolina.

“Doing research on that particular demographic, it showed that female donors are more interested in transformational engagement as opposed to transactional engagement,” said Shelley Johnson, Director of Carolina’s Baddour Leadership Academy.

“Transformational engagement is more interpersonal, and through a mentor program, it allows a donor to be on the ‘front lines’ of seeing how student-athletes are impacted by their investment.”

Johnson got involved with the FORevHER Tar Heels mentorship program at the suggestion of former Rams Club Associate Executive Director Sue Walsh, in order to provide an element of form and structure to the program.

“Research shows that one of the things where mentor programs

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tend to fall apart and lose their impact is that there isn’t a structure, and with our experience and curriculum that we’ve developed through the Leadership Academy, we’ve been able to provide that level of structure to the engagement experience,” she said. “Having been a former student-athlete, this is something that’s near and dear to my heart. Professionally and personally, it was an opportunity to be engaged in something unlike anything I’ve ever been involved with.”

the early 2000s. Both Tucker, Deputy Athletic Director at UNCWilmington, and Williams, Chief Development Officer of the USA Basketball Foundation, were excited about the opportunity to mentor the next generation of Carolina women’s studentathletes.

“It’s a great opportunity to interact with someone who has walked the same hallways, slept in the same dorms, and made the same sacrifices they have as a student-athlete,” said Tucker.

“I definitely promote giving back to the Rams Club and I give back financially, but it’s also important that we share our time with current student-athletes. It’s “RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ONE OF THE THINGS WHERE MENTOR PROGRAMS not just leaving a legacy when you were there as TEND TO FALL APART AND LOSE THEIR IMPACT IS THAT THERE ISN’T A a student-athlete yourself. It’s about continuing to share wisdom to the student-athletes who STRUCTURE, AND WITH OUR EXPERIENCE AND CURRICULUM THAT WE’VE are currently there on campus.”

DEVELOPED THROUGH THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY, WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO “The initiative was something that was near PROVIDE THAT LEVEL OF STRUCTURE TO THE ENGAGEMENT EXPERIENCE” and dear to my heart,” added Williams. “Just pouring into those young ladies who may not HOOP PHI know what they want to do, but now they have women who have Two of the 40 inaugural mentors in the program are Tiffany been in their shoes before, now into their careers, who can give Tucker and Jennifer Williams, a pair of Carolina Women’s them that guidance and provide that support system if needed.”

Basketball alumnae who were teammates for two seasons in Coincidentally, both women were matched with women’s

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WORDS OF WISDOM basketball student-athletes – Tucker with Janelle Bailey, and “I would love to be local and be able to get to more games and Williams with Jaelyn Murray. While the men’s basketball team is see Jaelyn in person more often. But I hope she knows that this known for the “Carolina Family” moniker, the women’s program isn’t just a FORevHER Tar Heels thing. I’m locked in with her and has their own “family,” known as Hoop Phi. will advocate for and support her once she graduates and goes “It’s almost our own ‘sorority’ in a way,” said Tucker. “We’re into her career.” women who’ve worn the jersey of the University of North When asked if they wished a mentorship program was in Carolina and we’re bonded together by that uniform and the existence during their time at Carolina, both women answered collective experience we’ve all had.” with a resounding “Absolutely!”

Even through the pandemic, with Tucker in Wilmington, “Even through COVID, we’ve been able to build these intimate Williams in Denver (and prior to that, Alabama), and Bailey and relationships with these young women who are literally cut Murray in Chapel Hill, both mentor-mentee pairs continue to from the same cloth we’re cut from,” said Tucker. “We know, we stay in constant contact via text. It’s what family does. understand the sacrifice, and I know for a fact that it would have “[The “Zoom” world] isn’t as bad for me because I’m not local, been incredibly beneficial to have a formal relationship with an and I check in frequently with Jaelyn through text,” said Williams. alumna that I could call on, or she could check in with me to say “Now, when the pandemic hit, I was in a different role. I was an ‘I’m here for you and am just wishing you well.’” athletic director [at Alabama State], and trying to figure out how “This program would have been tremendous, not just to me, to get my kids competing safely, all while I was pregnant. I had but to a lot of my teammates who didn’t necessarily have it all a ton on my plate, and I shared that with Jaelyn at the time, and figured out,” Williams said. “I think several of my teammates she was super understanding.”

The pair were able to connect in person “THE INITIATIVE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART. when Alabama State traveled to Cary to play JUST POURING INTO THOSE YOUNG LADIES WHO MAY NOT KNOW WHAT THEY in the Women’s College Cup in 2021.

WANT TO DO, BUT NOW THEY HAVE WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN IN THEIR SHOES “When we traveled to Cary, I made the BEFORE, NOW INTO THEIR CAREERS, WHO CAN GIVE THEM THAT GUIDANCE AND effort to go to campus, catch a practice, talk to Jaelyn in person and talk to Coach Banghart PROVIDE THAT SUPPORT SYSTEM IF NEEDED.” and the team,” Williams said. “When Coach Banghart was introducing me to the team, noting that I was a could have really benefitted from hearing from professionals in three-year captain, Jaelyn interjected and said ‘She’s also my certain roles so that they didn’t just focus on basketball. The mentor!’ which was pretty cool.” mentorship program pairs student-athletes with mentors who Tucker noted that when she and Bailey both took the DiSC could talk to you about how to transition once the ball stops personality assessment, part of the mentorship program, the bouncing. Once the ball stops bouncing, how do you reinvent or similarities between the two didn’t end with basketball. redefine who you are and what your career looks like?”

“We are literally both alike,” Tucker said. “We have exactly As the FORevHER Tar Heels mentorship program prepares to the same personality type. The universe brings people together welcome its second student-athlete/mentor cohort later this in unique ways. We’re both very results-oriented, we’re actionyear, both women are eager to continue to participate. based people. We love a challenge. We’re very enthusiastic, and “I’ll continue to participate as long as they’ll have me,” Tucker it was interesting that we were able to connect so early, based said. “It’s only going to make our university better, it’s only going on that personality assessment.” to make our department of athletics better, to continue to have these relationships with these student-athletes so that they’re A CONTINUING BOND able to connect with women at a different level from a different Talking to both Tucker and Williams, it’s clear the impact that perspective, who have also worn the uniform.” the mentorship program has had on the mentors themselves.

“As alumnae, we want to continue to be mentors to the “When I look at Jaelyn, she doesn’t get a lot of minutes, but women’s basketball team while they’re in school,” Williams she inspires and encourages the team in so many other ways,” concluded. “They know they have a sister who will always be said Williams. “Through watching her, she’s taught me the part of that sisterhood and support circle, long after they’re importance of a positive attitude, and how to uplift and inspire done playing. those around you with a more visible role to continue to be “As long as the FORevHER Tar Heels program will have me, great.

I’m locked in.”

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LAYOUTS TO

LAW

Courtney Bumpers Grande took advantage of her Tar Heel opportunities

BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTOS BY TWILA ALLEN & UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

C

ourtney Bumpers Grande chuckles slightly when she starts to describe her current job. The former standout Tar Heel gymnast is a little apologetic.

“Even when I try to describe it to other attorneys,” she says, “their usual response is, ‘You just went a little bit over my head.’”

Grande is an attorney in Franklin, Tenn., where she works for Community Health Systems as the senior corporate counsel for managed care. Exactly what that entails is not entirely important, other than to know that the detailoriented personality that made her so excellent as a gymnast also feeds her passion for the law.

It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 15 years since she was competing for the Tar Heels; at least one routine still lives on YouTube and is a constant testimony that Courtney Bumpers Grande is most likely the greatest gymnast in Carolina history.

Originally from Stone Mountain, Ga., she scored a perfect 10.0 on the floor exercise in the fourth meet of her Tar Heel career and continued that excellence for all four years.

She finished fourth on the balance beam at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, then won the individual floor exercise national championship as a sophomore by scoring 9.9375. How could she get better? She won the floor championship again as a junior, this time with a perfect ten.

That excellence fit in perfectly with the other women’s sports at Carolina. Grande was at Carolina when the women’s soccer program won a national title, field hockey was consistently on the doorstep of a championship, and women’s lacrosse was in the infancy of what has become a perennial national contender.

“There’s an expectation at Carolina that everyone is going to be good,” Grande says. “I don’t think Carolina wants to be known as a school that has one or two good sports. Carolina is about

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being an athletically and academically well-rounded university that provides wonderful opportunities to everybody.”

Even when Grande was racking up championship level scores for the Tar Heels, she knew she had other passions outside of gymnastics. She’s the rare college student-athlete who expressed an interest in the law while she was in school, followed through by attending law school at Penn, and then pursued it professionally.

Although it sounds challenging to blend two demanding disciplines, Grande found that it came naturally.

“My entire life, I was balancing academics and gymnastics,” she says. “Gymnastics is unique because before you ever get to college, you’re already used to practicing a large number of hours when you were younger. But the NCAA limits practice hours in college, so you actually end up practicing fewer hours when you get to college.”

That gave her plenty of time to accumulate the grades and resume necessary for an Ivy League graduate school, and her good work at Penn landed her a job as a federal

prosecutor in Charlotte before transitioning to her current corporate role.

Grande doesn’t have as much time for gymnastics currently, because she’s balancing her job with an active family that includes a four-year-old son and an eight-month-old daughter. They’re just starting to get into sports, and eventually they’re likely to discover their mother paved a path for them that proves it’s possible to combine almost anything with an athletic career.

And one of the first things she’s likely to tell them: it all started in Chapel Hill.

“When I think of my time at Carolina, the first thing that comes to mind is opportunity,” she says.

“I had wonderful opportunities to grow as an athlete. I had wonderful opportunities in academics. I had a pretty narrow major, and Carolina had an outstanding school of public health where I could take classes as an undergrad.

There’s an opportunity to be successful in so many different ways.”

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“I HAD WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW AS AN ATHLETE. I HAD WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES IN ACADEMICS. I HAD A PRETTY NARROW MAJOR, AND CAROLINA HAD AN OUTSTANDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH WHERE I COULD TAKE CLASSES AS AN UNDERGRAD. THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.”

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ALWAYS ON

THE MOVE Pistons executive Britta Brown has built a career in athletics by being constantly adaptive

BY LEE PACE PHOTOS BY DETROIT PISTONS AND BRITTA & WILL BROWN

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ritta (Williams) Brown was so new to her new job with the Detroit Pistons in August 2020 that she’d “not even found the bathroom” when the NBA sent out an avalanche of memos and directives on the league’s efforts to reboot its season after its March suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the franchise’s newly minted senior director of basketball administration, it would be her job to coordinate the Pistons’ medical and operations staff, coaches, players and outside vendors to create a bubble for the team to convene later in September. The Pistons were not one of the 22 teams the NBA invited to its bubble in Orlando based on standings the day of the spring suspension, but they were allowed to essentially set up and run a mini-training camp in Detroit.

“I laugh now looking back at those first days,” she says. “From the very beginning, we had a Covid leadership team and we met every single day. Safety was our number one priority. Hotel, transportation, logistics—all of that had to be coordinated.

We had a great staff and team. I was just the quarterback.

“I was just thrown into it from the very beginning. People are looking to me to make decisions. Looking back, you realize there is beauty in learning to be nimble.”

Nimble, indeed, works well in defining the life of the Baltimore native who came to Carolina in the fall of 2004, played four years of lacrosse and earned a degree in economics in 2008.

Nimble to move from an early dream to play college field hockey but pivot into lacrosse when she thrived in a Baltimore club lacrosse team called the Sky Walkers and attracted the attention of Tar Heel coach Jenny Levy.

Nimble to move through coaching, high school admissions, fundraising and donor service positions at five venues before reaching what she calls a “dream job in professional sports.”

Nimble to juggle a marriage with another pro sports professional (husband Will Brown works on the video staff of the Detroit Lions of the NFL) and decide to live in an RV for 18 months in San Francisco because of the adventure element coupled with the exorbitant cost of Bay Area apartment rentals.

And nimble to thrive in a world with few female peers.

“I try not to think about that,” Britta says. “You just want to excel in your role, and you just happen to be female. Still, having a role that’s not typical for a female does

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EXCELLENCE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS have some pressure. You want to do really well so you can continue to blaze a path for those who come behind you.”

Britta grew up in suburban Baltimore and played field hockey, lacrosse and basketball through high school. She landed on the radar of Levy, who also grew up in Baltimore and has an extensive network in Mid-Atlantic lacrosse and athletic circles. She played defender for four years for the Tar Heels.

“We always like to take kids who maybe don’t have as much experience in the game of lacrosse but are great athletes,” Levy says. “We just saw Britta with a lot of potential. We have built a lot of championship teams with players like Britta. We can bring them in, mold them, train them to become great lacrosse players. Her energy and spirit were awesome. She was hard-working and tough. She fit all of the things we look for.”

Britta sponged up all the lessons from a coach who would go on to a 26-year and counting career leading the Tar Heel program and would collect national titles in 2013 and 2016—teamwork, focus, discipline and overcoming obstacles.

“What I always appreciated was that Jenny would not let you cut any corners,” Britta says. “If you wanted to slack off, she would not let you do that. I appreciated the accountability she brought to the team. I try to take that with me—that people have to hold themselves accountable to a high standard.”

After Carolina, Britta spent three years at the University of Maryland in special event planning and donor engagement and then moved back to Chapel Hill to join the Rams Club staff as a regional director of engagement. She met her husband Will while in College Park (he was on the Terrapin football video staff), and when he got a job offer from the San Francisco 49ers, they picked up, moved west in early 2017 and Britta found a position at a prep school coaching lacrosse and working in the admissions office. Then the Lions called Will, and the Browns were receptive to moving back toward the east—closer to her Baltimore roots and his family in South Carolina. Britta worked two years at Eastern Michigan University in athletic development before catching the eye of Pistons management.

“I thought she could really grow and become a star in her role when she got her feet under her, and that’s been the case,” says Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver.

Beyond coordinating the team’s Covid operations protocols, Britta oversees the operational logistics and administration of the basketball operations department. That includes supervising important events like summer league, the NBA Draft and training camp, day-to-day team scheduling and support (practices/game execution, meetings, protocols), budget management, NBA league office reporting and coordination of basketball-related efforts to support business operations.

“I’ve always been kind of an operations and logistics person, that’s kind of just how my brain thinks,” she says.

She’s putting into place many of the skills she learned playing lacrosse.

“As an athlete you learn about teamwork, having empathy for others, building a family culture,” she says. “Being a student-athlete helped me with that. There’s the desire to be excellent. At Carolina, we talked about excellence and wanting to win and compete at the highest level.

Everything I do, I think back to my days at Carolina.”

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Or, as Levy says, “Be flexible, stay flexible and have a good sense of humor. With that, a lot of good things can happen. That certainly fits Britta.”

Britta and Will have applied that philosophy to their home life as well.

Will grew up in Georgetown, S.C., and as a boy wanted to be a truck driver and travel across the country—or at least get an RV when he retired and take to the road. He also worked as a cook at a country club beginning at age 16 and wondered if the food and restaurant business might be his ticket to travel. Then he fell into doing football coaching videos at Benedict College in Columbia and thought that, too, would be a way to travel. Since then, he’s worked in video operations at Middle Tennessee, Connecticut, Maryland, the 49ers and Lions.

“Will took me to an outdoors show when we were in Maryland,” Britta says. “It was first time I’d ever been in one. I saw they could be really nice and have modern amenities, like a small apartment.”

“I decided as a kid I wanted to retire and drive an RV around the county,” Will adds. “Then I said, why wait? You’ve got open road and beautiful sky. And it’s easy to tell where we’re parked—you’re going to smell good food coming from it.”

The Browns bought an RV when they moved to California and, after a while in a $2,500-a-month, 700-square foot apartment near Levi Stadium, they decided to live full-time in the RV. During down-time and vacation they traveled around the state of California, and Britta created a blog called “Browns’ Dope Little Adventures” to chronicle their trips.

They have a sign they post at each RV stop: “Welcome to our Happy Place – The Browns.”

The Browns drove their RV to Detroit when Will went to work for the Lions in early 2018. But cold midwestern winters made them rethink having the RV as their permanent residence, so they now live in apartment and use the RV for weekend and vacation excursions.

“I’m a city girl from Baltimore. I never imagined myself going RVing, much less living in one,” she says. “When you step out of your comfort zone is when you find the most fun.”

ALWAYS ON THE MOVE

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C A R O L I N A E V E R YWE A R Rams Club members like to wear their Carolina Blue, and they’ll wear it all over the US and the world. If you have a photo of you in your Carolina gear in front of notable landmarks in the US and abroad, send them our way to be a part of Carolina EveryWear!

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To have your photo included: -Send your photo digitally to bornandbred@ramsclub.com.

-Identify everyone in your photo and the location of the photo.

Here are the “Rules”: -At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member -You must be wearing Carolina gear -You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify).

SHOW US YOUR COLORS!

6 1) Bill Groce of Asheville & John Westefeld at Pebble Beach, CA; 2) Mark McKnight of Raleigh at Playa del Carmen, Mexico; 3) Ben Batsalel & Matt Lee of Asheville, NC, at the African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal; 4) Ann, Gavin, Addison & Jimmy Wilson of Wilmington, NC, at the Honaki Heritage site in Sedona, AZ; 5) Kayleigh & Steven Frank of Cornelius, NC, on the Road to Hana in Maui; 6) RJ Beatty of Hillsborough, NC, atop the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland; 7) Anna, Mason & Ashlynn (family of Charles & Chris Mason) of Mount Carroll, IL, skiing on Rock River in Illinois 8) Suzanne & Chris Marshall of Spartanburg, SC, at Pearl Harbor, HI Opposite Page Photo Credit (clockwise from top): UNC Athletic Communications, Jermaine 20 Vazquez, Bibb, Isaiah B O R N &Jerome B R E DM. Ibrahim, Jeffrey Camarati, UNC Athletic Communications, Ira Wilder, Andy Mead

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C A R O L I N A Postseason

Carolina is the only school in the nation where all of its fall sports programs advanced to the postseason in 2021 – including the ITA Fall National Championship in doubles for Fiona Crawley and Elizabeth Scotty. Congratulations to the outstanding Tar Heel student-athletes who represent this University in such an amazing way!

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A TRADITION OF WOMEN’S SPORTS EXCELLENCE

15 TAR HEEL WOMEN’S TEAMS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 39 WON BY WOMEN’S TEAMS 22

WOMEN’S SOCCER

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INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

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FIELD HOCKEY

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WOMEN’S TENNIS

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WOMEN’S LACROSSE

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

YEARS OF CAROLINA WOMEN’S ATHLETICS

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VARSITY TEAMS BEGAN COMPETING IN 1971-72 AS CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE AIAW

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NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

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ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAS

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CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS ramsclub.com 23

Important Membership Changes Coming in 2022-23

At the University of North Carolina, it starts with an opportunity. An invitation to outstanding student-athletes to earn

an education at an elite public university. To train, compete and excel under the guidance of legendary coaches at the highest level of collegiate sports. To join a family.

The mission of The Rams Club and members like you is clear – to provide those opportunities to more than 850 student-athletes in 28 varsity sports as they relentlessly pursue excellence in competition and in the classroom. That pursuit of excellence comes at a significant cost.

In order to meet the financial challenges created by rising scholarship and operating costs, membership levels will increase beginning July 1 with the start of the 2022-23 membership year.

Carolina is committed to meeting the challenges that threaten our ability to offer student-athletes the educational and athletic opportunities that have become a hallmark of Carolina Athletics. Together with you, we can continue our relentless pursuit of excellence – and continue to provide our Tar Heels with the best student-athlete experience in the country.

For more information on the the financial challenges faced by Carolina Athletics and how the membership level increases may affect your Rams Club membership, visit ramsclub.com/membershiplevels.

“I’m a living testament to someone believing that I had value and that my time at Carolina and the opportunity to go to school and play soccer here was worth their investment.”

-Mia Hamm

Women’s Soccer ‘94

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OBSESSIVELY

EXCELLENT

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BORN & BRED

Alyssa Ustby has found the perfect home at Carolina

BY ADAM LUCAS PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

OBSESSIVELY EXCELLENT

C

ourtney Banghart’s eyes lit up as she was asked about one of her favorite topics—her players.

She went through the full roster, describing their quirks and their personalities. And then she got to Alyssa Ustby.

“She’s a freak,” Banghart said of Ustby, “and it’s awesome.”

That’s the quintessential description of Carolina’s sophomore standout, the one who grew up battling with her three older brothers in driveway basketball at their home in Rochester, Minnesota, and now carries her own toaster and loaf of bread to Tar Heel NCAA Tournament games.

Unlike many of today’s Division I athletes, Ustby (it’s pronounced US-bee) wasn’t groomed from birth to be a basketball superstar. In fact, the family was surprised when she first participated in a YMCA basketball game that included girls and boys and scored 16 points in her first game.

So her parents, Todd and Lisa, realized she could play. They knew that in middle school games, when the score got out of hand, they sometimes had to tell her to stop stealing the ball from her opponent and taking it in for a layup. But they weren’t ingrained in the basketball world. And when their daughter came to them in seventh grade and said, “The coaches said I should play AAU basketball,” they had a very simple response: “What’s AAU?” It wasn’t long before they understood very well the details of travel basketball, and it wasn’t long before one of Ustby’s AAU coaches told them, “She’s going to be a Division I basketball player.”

Todd’s incredulous response: “Really?”

But that coach was exactly right. And although Ustby kept playing as many sports as she could all the way through high school—her softball coach once taught her to hit lefty in an afternoon so she’d be a couple steps closer to first base and could get even more hits, and she immediately looked like a natural—most of the recruiting calls were coming from basketball coaches.

One of those calls was from a talented young coach at Princeton, Courtney Banghart. She instantly connected with Ustby, two powerhouse females who loved to compete, but there was a problem: as part of the Ivy League, Princeton doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. With so many good basketball choices in the Minnesota area, it was going to be tough to go halfway across the country and also pay for the privilege of doing so.

But then Banghart took the job at Carolina, and the situation became obvious.

“Courtney is amazing,” Todd Ustby says. “She has confidence in her players and the players thrive because she has confidence in them. We visited a lot of other coaches and met a lot of personalities. But Courtney had a plan. Alyssa was part of that plan, and Courtney told us exactly what was going to happen, and that is what has happened. She’s an amazing coach and communicator.

“When we did our official visit at Carolina and saw the campus, saw the community, and talked to the coaches and saw the gym, Alyssa knew right then and there she wanted to be at Carolina.”

Before she departed for Chapel Hill, Ustby had to deal with the disappointment of the cancelation of a possible state championship season as a high school senior.

But that’s also when she began to make the leap that has characterized her college career so far. Instead of sitting around and wallowing in her frustration, she channeled it into twicedaily workouts. The schedule was simple: “I saw that Covid pause as a moment of separation,” she says.

“I knew it was going to be really hard to get up and do my own workouts and stay disciplined during that time, and so I wanted to use that time to separate from everyone else. I got up at 5:30 and worked out in the garage. I’d finish with my workout, have four eggs, a protein shake and some milk. Around the time I was cleaning up the kitchen, my dad was getting up for work. That’s how bad I wanted it. My drive was so strong that it really wasn’t that tiresome for me.”

That was just the first of her twice-daily workouts. Ustby

“

WHEN WE DID OUR OFFICIAL VISIT AT CAROLINA AND SAW THE CAMPUS, SAW THE COMMUNITY, AND TALKED TO THE COACHES AND SAW THE GYM, ALYSSA KNEW RIGHT THEN AND THERE SHE WANTED TO BE AT CAROLINA.”

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OBSESSIVELY EXCELLENT held herself accountable by tracking every session on a white board in the garage. The effort paid off a couple weeks after she arrived at Carolina, when Banghart told her, “You’re a lot more ready than we expected.”

The rest of the conference soon learned that Banghart was right. Ustby started 17 of the 24 games her freshman season, earning All-ACC Academic honors while also propelling the Tar Heels back to the NCAA Tournament.

That postseason trip to San Antonio to face Alabama is where the Ustby legend grew. Most players boarded the team plane with a bag stuffed with gear and shoes. Ustby had all of her clothes crammed into her backpack, because her suitcase was loaded with a few other necessities.

“I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed,” she says. “I brought a toaster, a loaf of bread, bananas, a smoothie machine, frozen fruit, yogurt, and some milk.”

This begs the question of exactly how the NCAA falls short in their toasting capabilities. “I was just being careful,” Ustby says with a grin. Nothing, even the NCAA Tournament, was going to interrupt her nutrition regimen.

This type of fanaticism is exactly why Banghart called her a “freak,” in the sense of the word that is said with admiration by coaches. As you would expect, as a sophomore, she’s near the team lead in minutes per game and has started every game for a Tar Heel squad that has elbowed its way into the national rankings.

The same way Roy Williams had Tyler Hansbrough, Banghart

has Ustby. They simply look at the world in the same way, react the same way, soak in coaching the same way. In an era when women’s college coaches are regularly having to apologize for their behavior on the sideline, Banghart rarely goes much further than a well-timed eye roll.

Likewise, Todd Ustby says he has never, ever seen his daughter complain about an officiating call or argue with a referee.

Several years ago, he asked her about it. “Two things, Dad,” she replied. “A referee is never going to change the call. And I don’t want to be on the bad side of a referee. So it’s not worth it.”

After all, Ustby is much too busy to waste time arguing with officials. She’s been playing piano since the third grade. She had a near-viral moment when her brother filmed her riding a ripstick (similar to a skateboard) while juggling three basketballs and making a layup. With in-person visits curtailed, she’s been pen pals with a patient at UNC Children’s Hospital.

Over a thousand miles from home, Ustby has found the perfect fit, and she’s intent on leaving the program better than she found it.

“I love being a Tar Heel because the environment is so healthy,” she says. “The relationships I’ve made with my classmates and my professors, I feel like I can grow in so many aspects of my life, not just athletically. Challenging myself in the classroom is a big part of my experience at Carolina. There are so many people willing to help you and encouraging you to ask questions. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”

“

I LOVE BEING A TAR HEEL BECAUSE THE ENVIRONMENT IS SO HEALTHY. THE RELATIONSHIPS I’VE MADE WITH MY CLASSMATES AND MY PROFESSORS, I FEEL LIKE I CAN GROW IN SO MANY ASPECTS OF MY LIFE, NOT JUST ATHLETICALLY. CHALLENGING MYSELF IN THE CLASSROOM IS A BIG PART OF MY EXPERIENCE AT CAROLINA. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WILLING TO HELP YOU AND ENCOURAGING YOU TO ASK QUESTIONS. I COULDN’T IMAGINE IT ANY OTHER WAY.”

NICE KICKS

Alyssa Ustby also has a slight shoe obsession. We asked her to rank her favorite three off-court shoe choices:

Jordan 1

Jordan 3

Jordan 11

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A LEAGUE OF HER OWN

A LEAGUE OF

HER OWN

Malaika Underwood has made a life in athletics, both on and off the field

BY ADAM LUCAS PHOTOS BY UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS & MALAIKA UNDERWOOD

M

alaika Underwood is part of a very exclusive group among University of North Carolina student-athletes: those who received a full athletic scholarship for a sport that is secondary to the one that eventually became their most decorated pursuit.

Underwood, a San Diego native, came to Carolina on a volleyball scholarship.

She excelled, including winning the ACC Tournament MVP award in 2001 and helping propel the Tar Heels to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

She’s clearly an accomplished volleyball player. But all her athletic dreams— and many of her athletic achievements—have actually come on the baseball field.

Underwood has represented the Team USA in baseball ten times in international competition, more than any other male or female on the diamond, and has won four gold medals. She’s achieved so much in and out of athletics that it’s difficult to know exactly how to describe her. But one depiction is indisputable: she’s a baseball player.

“I grew up playing baseball and that was my passion,” she says. “In San Diego, playing outside and playing baseball sandlot-style was an everyday thing. I played Little League. And in my mind, that’s all I cared about. I wanted to be the first woman in Major League Baseball.”

Underwood’s athletic career diverged when she needed to find a sport to occupy her time in the fall and winter of her freshman high school year. She knew she’d play baseball in the spring, but didn’t want to take a typical PE class in the other seasons. She needed to be part of a team.

Not surprisingly, she was a natural at volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter. Recruiting attention in both sports soon followed, giving her a unique decision to make: pursue her passion of baseball, in which there was no clear path to the next level—or, arguably, even a next level—or the newfound enjoyment of her “other” two sports.

That’s what led her to Chapel Hill on a recruiting visit in the fall of 1998.

“When I showed up for my official visit at Carolina, the leaves were changing, and for a California girl the leaves and seasons were so dramatic,” she says.

“They knew I was a Carolina basketball fan by way of Michael Jordan, and

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MY BEST ADVICE

Underwood’s insight for student-athletes on navigating NIL

Asked for her best insight for current student-athletes navigating the world of name, image and likeness, Underwood said the following: “I would be very cautious about entering into any deal that was exclusive or that extended beyond my college career.

I would also encourage them to ask for help. Ask people to read the agreements you’re signing. Use your campus and family networks to help you figure out what you’re signing. It’s so early.

Don’t be a case study later on, ‘Here’s what you shouldn’t do.’” arranged for me to meet Dean Smith. He was kind enough to spend a few minutes with me. I had a blast on Franklin Street.

“I still had one recruiting trip left, to the University of Rhode Island. I got off the plane after my visit to Carolina and told my dad, ‘I know where I’m going to school. Stop the process.’”

Thom Underwood advised his daughter to finish out her recruiting commitments, but Malaika already knew she was a Tar Heel. And while she couldn’t play baseball for the Heels, it did put her conveniently less than a halfhour from the USA Baseball complex in Cary.

She made the National Team for the first time in 2006, when she helped win a world title for Team USA. And she’s been a fixture ever since, even while building a successful career in an emerging area of key importance to current college athletes.

Underwood currently works as the senior vice president for licensing at One Team Partners. In that role, she works closely with professional sports, but she’s also integral to the company’s efforts with college athletes, which puts her squarely in the middle of the name, image and likeness discussion nationally.

Her current area of focus is group licensing, a topic where Carolina has been among the national innovators in the early months of the new world of college sports. It’s a rapidly changing field, one in which even the experts—Underwood was recently named to Sports Business Journal’s prestigious 40 Under 40 list—know the parameters change daily.

“I remind myself every day that we’re only seven months in,” she says. “I think there will be a lot of things that we look back

and say, ‘I can’t believe that used to be OK.’ I do think we’re moving in the right direction. The opportunity for athletes in college to maximize this moment in time for themselves, whether through individual opportunities or group licensing opportunities, is fantastic. As a former college athlete, I wish I had that opportunity.”

It’s not difficult to imagine Dean Smith being very pleased that a few minutes spent with a promising high school recruit has helped break new ground, extend the Carolina legacy across multiple fields, and find new ways for student-athletes to expand their influence. As Underwood says, it’s difficult to fully identify “home” when you’ve lived on both coasts and currently live in the Atlanta area.

But there’s just something about Chapel Hill. With a busy schedule that includes a family and two children, Underwood wishes she had the opportunity to return to Carolina more often. She hasn’t been back on campus since before the pandemic began. But like a longtime friend who picks up a conversation right where it left off, no matter how long an absence has been, she knows exactly what Carolina means to her.

“There’s something special about just the campus itself,” she says. “I miss the brick buildings, the quad, Carmichael. It’s a great place. But it’s overwhelmingly about the people. I stay in contact with a number of teammates who I played with. The bond we have is amazing, and it has continued for so many years even as we’ve gone our separate ways and started families. We’ve ended up in different places but we’re still very much connected, and that’s what Carolina is to me.”

“

THE BOND WE HAVE IS AMAZING, AND IT HAS CONTINUED FOR SO MANY YEARS EVEN AS WE’VE GONE OUR SEPARATE WAYS AND STARTED FAMILIES. WE’VE ENDED UP IN DIFFERENT PLACES BUT WE’RE STILL VERY MUCH CONNECTED, AND THAT’S WHAT CAROLINA IS TO ME.”

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THE NEXT FIFTY BORN & BRED

After a half-century of excellence, Carolina women’s athletics is poised to build on that success

BY ANDREW STILWELL PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI

I

n 1997, 26 years after the first seven women’s athletics programs – basketball, field hockey, volleyball, fencing, swimming & diving, tennis and gymnastics - began play at North Carolina, Dean Smith was asked about Carolina being considered a “basketball school” or “football school.” Smith simply remarked, “North Carolina is a women’s soccer school, we’re just trying to keep up with them.”

In the quarter century since Smith’s iconic quote, North Carolina has proven that it’s more than a “women’s soccer” school – it’s a “women’s sports” school. The first 50 years of women’s athletics at Carolina to put it in simple terms – have been very good. Originally part of the physical education department, those original seven programs have more than doubled to 15 competing in NCAA competition, and in the past 50 years, have amassed thousands of collective wins and nearly 40 national championships between them.

“I’ve seen an incredible revolution, not only at Carolina but also in my sport itself,” said Anson Dorrance, head coach of the women’s soccer program since 1978. “I’ve seen the transformation of UNC, a school that I played soccer for in the early 1970s, transform itself from not just an excellent university that competed very well in men’s sports to a program that went from sort of zero to sixty in women’s athletics. Now, every single year, we have one of the best women’s athletic departments in the country.”

A CHANGING LANDSCAPE

But as Carolina enters into the “next” 50 years of women’s athletics, what will the future look like? Where do the Tar Heels fit in? Will the athletic successes to which the University and its fans have become accustomed continue? The landscape of women’s college athletics has changed significantly in the past half century.

Prior to the establishment of Title IX in in the early 1970s, less than four percent of girls played a sport. Today, that number has increased more than 10-fold. More than 43% of high school athletes are female, and that number will continue to likely increase with continued expansion and opportunities. Before 1982, the NCAA only sponsored six sports for women: cross country, fencing, field hockey, rifle, skiing, and volleyball. Today, the NCAA sponsors 21 women’s sports, with another six designated as “emerging” sports.

Media coverage has continued to expand for women’s sports as well. ESPN, founded in 1979, now features eight cable television networks (including four whose primary focus is college athletics) in addition to multiple online platforms where fans can watch their team live via streaming. The “worldwide leader in sports” broadcast 15 women’s championships in 2021 and the championship broadcasts of the four “most popular” women’s college sports – basketball, softball, volleyball, and gymnastics – all saw audience viewership increases during the past year.

Another fairly recent addition to the college sports landscape is the ability for studentathletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness in ways that previously were

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2

1. Tar Heels celebrate the 1994 women’s basketball NCAA title.

2. Sue Walsh is one of the most decorated individual athletes in Carolina history.

3. A familiar sight: women’s soccer celebrating an NCAA championship.

4. Women’s lacrosse has evolved into a consistent national contender.

3

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THE NEXT 50 unavailable. It’s definitely no longer the 1970s. Times have changed, and will continue to change heading into the future.

The good news? Carolina is leading the way in women’s athletics, and will continue to do so for years to come.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR SUCCESS

Across Carolina’s 15 varsity women’s programs, there have been nearly 300 trips to the NCAA Tournament since 1982. Four women’s programs – field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and basketball - have won team national championships, while four more – tennis, track & field, swimming & diving, and cross country – have featured student-athletes who claimed individual national championships.

The championship pedigree was one of the most exciting factors for women’s basketball head coach Courtney Banghart, who joined the program as its fourth-ever head coach in 2019.

“One of the main attractions I had to the University of North Carolina was the women’s program in general,” recalled Banghart. “You want to go to a place where success matters, not only in your sport, but in your gender’s sport. It shows a commitment to women’s athletics. If you look at the championships, but also the breadth and scope of the athletic offerings here, there’s just no match.”

Those successes on the court have led to successes in recruiting as well, with Banghart bringing in the third-ranked recruiting class in 2021, lacrosse seeing commitments from five of the top 20 players in this year’s graduating class, and national team participants for both field hockey and soccer regularly choosing to play their college years as a Tar Heel.

In recent years, the facilities that house many of Carolina’s women’s sports teams have also received significant upgrades, making them as good as, if not better than, any other collegiate facility in the country, ideal for continuing Carolina’s winning ways on and off the playing surface.

“We have transformed this campus into some of the best sport facilities in America,” Dorrance said. “Carmichael is such a wonderfully intimate place for women’s basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics. If you look at the new Karen Shelton Stadium, it’s probably the premier field hockey stadium in America. You look at the new soccer and lacrosse stadium, which is incredible. With these facilities, I think we have an opportunity to continue to impact on the highest possible levels and all sports across the spectrum here at UNC.”

A GROWING AUDIENCE

Where it was once quite uncommon to find live women’s sports broadcasts on television, through advances in modern technology, nearly every contest for Carolina women’s basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball will be available live this academic year, via traditional television on the ACC Network or streaming on options like ACC Network Extra or ESPN+.

Launched in 2019, the ACC Network televises more than 500 regularseason and tournament games from across the conference’s 27 sponsored sports. Along with its digital platform, ACC Network Extra, the two combine

to broadcast more than 1,500 ACC events each year, a number that will likely continue to grow in the future.

“For women’s sports, there is lots and lots and lots of room for lots and lots and lots of growth,” said Nick Dawson, ESPN’s Vice President of College Sports programming in a 2021 interview. “If I were looking to invest in a genre of futures of American entertainment, women’s sports would be close to the top of my list.”

As coverage has expanded for women’s sports in the ACC as well as nationally, the conference’s television revenues have increased as well.

With the recent addition of Comcast to the list of providers who carry ACC Network, increasing the television footprint by 90 million more homes around the country, the television revenues, along with potential audience for live women’s athletics, will continue to grow which will be beneficial for all 28 of Carolina’s athletic programs.

“For us to stay competitive, we’ve got to figure out how to support the 28 different sports here at a level where all of us can compete nationally,” Dorrance said. “With Comcast jumping in to the ACC Network, which will certainly impact on the revenue, I think as that money gets distributed across sports, I think we have an opportunity to continue to impact on the highest possible levels and all sports across the spectrum here at UNC.”

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

When looking at the list of coaches who have guided Carolina’s women’s programs over the past 50 years, there are certainly some notable names who have called Chapel Hill home for multiple decades.

Dorrance has been at the helm of the women’s soccer program for 43 years, while field hockey’s Karen Shelton just celebrated her 40th season at Carolina. Softball’s Donna Papa and volleyball’s Joe Sagula both have spent 30-plus years at Carolina, and Jenny Levy is not far behind, entering her 28th year as the only head coach women’s lacrosse has ever had.

Coaching home games in a stadium that bears her name is an honor that’s not lost on Shelton, especially as her career winds down.

“It’s very humbling and still a little surreal,” said Shelton. “I’m proud and grateful to the people who made it happen, and I feel good about the legacy that I’ll leave when I retire. I’m proud of this program and how we’ve grown over the past 41 years. We’ve grown with the times, and our facility is a reflection of that growth.”

As Carolina heads into its next 50 years, the names at the top may change, but the successes are in position to continue. Of Carolina’s 15 women’s programs, eight have a coach who was hired in 2019 or later, including Banghart, who is excited for the future of Carolina women’s athletics.

“Building a team at Carolina is special. Not only are you adding people to the family, but you’re adding people to the brand,” said Banghart.

“The brand at Carolina is ‘excellence’ – it’s a verb here. We’re looking for people who are ‘in.’ Not only those who go to class, but are thought leaders. Not only those who work, but those who grind.

“When you get those kinds of people, you build something special.”

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You can think it’s the sips from the Old Well. Or that we wake At the highest level, the atmosphere at UNC has always up with Carolina blue skies and God already on our side. Whatever fostered student-athletes to leave Carolina better than when they your argument, I can’t pinpoint why the atmosphere and culture arrived and to make those around them better. around UNC women’s sports continues to attract and produce the And you don’t dream of being a Tar Heel if you don’t also best in everything. dare to be a champion. The two go hand-in-hand. Winning is a But I can share what four priceless years at Carolina have tradition here, and it’s what motivates each of us - athlete, coach, revealed to me. fan, everyone.

My journey as a female athlete has We play to win, but our sustained always been grounded in a simple success is a byproduct of the culture the infinitive: “to inspire.” 9-year-old Erin didn’t Carolina family nurtures year after year. forget the first time Karen Shelton saw her Karen Shelton has left her mark on 41 It’s the Carolina family who has that play; she wanted to learn from her and be of the 50 years of UNC women’s athletics. unforgettable impact on so many part of the dynasty she created. 15-year-old She’s ingrained in her players that we are young women, who lights the fire Erin didn’t only care about scores of UNC “beautiful, strong, powerful women” in Field Hockey games; she loved watching within us to run towards challenges everything we do. the girls play hard, smart, and together, She’s told us countless times to never when others run away, and who promising herself she would do whatever forget this, and looking back, it seems in greatly inspires us to believe in it took to be out there one day. my heart Carolina has been reminding me 21-year-old Erin cares about winning of the same for years. It’s something we, ourselves and teammates, always.” championships, but she also cares about as female athletes, will take with us for the crowds of younger players and fans rest of our lives. waiting for autographs after games, or having to respond to So, keep telling 9-year-old girls they too can become legends, consistent streams of DMs from kids asking how to become a Tar champions, and leaders. All they need is a little inspiration.

Heel someday.

I believe what separates Carolina women’s athletics from every other university isn’t just the state-of-the-art facilities, the unwavering support from the Rams Club and our community, the treasure trove of conference and national championship trophies, or everyone’s undeniable desire to be a champion.

It’s the Carolina family who has that unforgettable impact on so many young women, who lights the fire within us to run towards challenges when others run away, and who greatly inspires us to believe in ourselves and teammates, always.

ERIN MATSON Each team’s atmosphere is built and upheld by remarkable Field Hockey coaches, undoubtedly influenced by the greats who came before them. They understand their job is to not only mentor on the playing field, but more importantly, in life.

And while every coach has different ways of cultivating this, every female athlete knows she’s part of something much bigger than herself. She owns the fact that she represents her program, but also her university.

She understands that whatever she does would not be possible without those that came before her and those that stand beside her. She takes pride in being an inspiration to the next generations, setting and breaking records while hoping other 9-year-olds dream of doing the same.

The mindset isn’t one that everyone shares, and it’s one that must be preserved. That’s what’s so special about each female athlete here. And what, in turn, invites only the best of the best.

Illustration by Jason McCorkle

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