VIS I TA T IO N BY ELISABETH WRAASE ’07
VIRTUES on the FIELD
Optimism. Kindness. Perseverance. Humility.
The Salesian Little Virtues that define Visitation’s
women of faith, vision, and purpose also set apart our athletes. Both within the Independent School League (ISL) and on their collegiate teams, Visitation women are known as go-getters, motivators, and leaders. Above all else, Visitation athletes are the teammates you want next to you whether you win or lose.
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Clare Richards ’18 with the ISL-winning Cubs in her senior year THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
Veronika Pettey ’17 plays for Northeastern University; Alexis Gray ’16 plays in DCSAA/Championship game in 2015—the Cubs won; Alexis Gray ’16 graduates from Loyola University Maryland this year. OPPOSITE PAGE
Kathryn Kelly Middleton ’07 and Mikey Bilotta ’09 in Middleton’s first salute
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HOLY FRIENDSHIP
“Visitation teaches you about the utmost value of strong female friendships, and having that as the foundation for your life,” said Rose Lichtenfels ’10, a rower at Visitation and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. “You understand how to be a part of something that involves being together and how that multiplies the strength [of the individual].” Veronika Pettey ’17 saw the power of friendship firsthand as she and a classmate built the Ice Cubs, the school’s club ice hockey team, from the ground up. In the first year, the Cubs only had one team; the next year, their numbers tripled. “Even though we had practice at 6 a.m., it made me appreciate the sport a little more, because I saw how much joy it brought,” said Veronika. She was named second team All-Met by The Washington Post in her senior year and now plays for Northeastern University; her team won this year’s women’s Hockey East championship. Visitation is “such a strong community because everyone wants to better one another,” said Veronika. She elaborates, “It wasn’t about individual success. I realized in college that I was just as happy, if not more so, for other girls who scored …
Learning that the community is bigger than yourself; I had that [ingrained] in me in high school.” Basketball player Alexis Gray ’16, who is on the team at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, echoed that teamwork was the biggest lesson she learned on the court. “Looking back now, I definitely would say [Visitation] was the best four years of my basketball career,” she said. “Not just from winning, but the friendships I still have on the team.” Alexis credits the Cubs’ close friendships with winning the Independent School League banner all four years—and she took that lesson with her to college. “You play four years of basketball together, but once it’s over, what do you have? What I brought was a deep connection and friendship with my teammates.” To build that bond, says Catholic University lacrosse player Clare Richards ’18, you need to lean into humility. She explains, “The best part about playing sports is having a connection with all your teammates and having the humility to be genuinely happy when your team is doing well, not just yourself.”
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HUMILITY
“[Visitation] was the best four years of my basketball career. Not just from winning, but the friendships I still have on the team.” ALEXIS GRAY ’16
PERSEVERANCE
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OPTIMISM “Being a good athlete is just as much about knowing how to lose as it is about knowing how to win,” said Rose. The rigorous academics at Visitation, which challenge students to push their limits, prepared her to handle failure, learn from it, and move forward. The effort and hard work required in the classroom translated to sports, agreed Clare. “If you’re going to do something, it’s worth doing it 100%. In the classroom and on the field, I would try to do that,” she said. Giving everything means bringing energy to the field; for Clare, that means joyful optimism. In fact, she said, if her teammates were to describe her, optimistic would be the word they would choose. “I always try to look at a negative situation in a positive light. In sports, there are ups and downs,” said Clare. “What you remember is the positive. Smile through it. You’ll get through it as a team, and it will get better.” For Alexis, perseverance goes beyond the scoreboard; she battled many personal injuries over her time at Loyola. “I didn’t let setbacks bring me down and kept working hard to get back out there to play again,” she said.
“Smile through it. You’ll get through it as a team, and it will get better.” CLARE RICHARDS ’18
BE WHO YOU ARE
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BE THAT WELL
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A good athlete brings her best self onto the field. She is dedicated to the sport, a team player, and humble— constantly learning and improving. Kathryn Kelly Middleton ’07 knows this well—and so do her soccer teammates from the Naval Academy. By the time she graduated, all of her teammates knew Katie’s motto: “Be who you are and be that well,” the wise words of St. Francis de Sales. For Katie, faith has played a role in everything she does. Following her career in the Navy, Katie worked in ministry at a Salesian parish and as a hospital chaplain. She is now working toward her doctorate in religion and culture at Catholic University. “Visitation gave me a foundation of faith that grounded my first experiences out in the world as a young adult,” Katie shared. It was needed as she
graduated and headed to the Naval Academy; the transition was not easy. “As someone who didn’t exactly follow the rules super well even [in high school], it was a rough adjustment,” she said. “Early on, I couldn’t help but doubt myself as I felt others doubt me, but I found my footing through the Navy women’s soccer team. Of all the places on campus, I felt God’s presence in my life most on the soccer field—I felt like I had found a little piece of Visitation.” It was the words of St. Francis that helped Katie as she felt the pressure to “fit the mold.” She sought to bring her best self—her authentic self—to the field each day. “I was free to move, to run, to full-out compete, and goof around … St. Francis’ saying, ‘Be who you are and be that perfectly well’ was this little undercurrent that I whispered to myself as I was navigating uncertainty
GRATITUDE
“Gratitude is [a Little Virtue] that comes back,” Veronika said. “I learned it at Visi; [I am] grateful for the opportunity to just go there and what I learned outside of academics. I definitely see myself appreciating little things more throughout college. [I am] lucky to play for the team I play for now, and our success.” Veronika shared that her gratitude helps her not take anything for granted. Alexis believes gratitude is the top Salesian Little Virtue to demonstrate as an athlete. As a senior, her college career was cut short due to Covid-19. “Being grateful to play a sport, and to play it at the highest level,” she commented, “I was taught that at Visi.” In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Clare feels the same way. “You never know when you’re going to be off the field,” she said of Catholic University’s too-short spring season. “Honestly, the best moments are when you make good plays with other people. That’s something I always look for.” Photos courtesy of Kathryn Kelly Middleton ’07, Alexis Gray ’16, Veronika Pettey ’17, and Clare Richards ’18 Clare Richards ’18, playing for Catholic University
and doubt. And as I found my footing, it helped me reach out to my teammates and be a voice of assurance, to help them see, value, and live out their own gifts, and laugh at our many missteps along the way.” Because of that little whisper, her teammates are familiar with St. Francis. Those were the words Katie came back to for everything—a “be who you are” card for a birthday, advice shared to a freshman who had a difficult day, praising a teammate in gratitude during a team prayer. “It was a message that connected with what we were going through—wondering if who we were really was enough. Soccer was our place to be our full selves and reground before we went back into the Naval Academy world, and I tried to play hard and build that up as a sacred space for us,” she said. Looking back at her career from college athlete to today, Katie says that it is her friendships that have helped her define who she is—and that started at Visitation. “Visitation has continued to form me through the network of friendships that
became intrinsic to my life and just who I am. So I guess that is the lesson Visitation has given me—an understanding of the transformative effect of connection,” she shared. “Visitation made me realize that I could become a better version of myself by connecting with people who challenge me and help me to see God at work in the world.” It’s a lesson for which she is “forever grateful.” Kathryn Kelly Middleton ’07 with the U.S.A. Armed Forces soccer team
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