Editor’s Note

The Rockbridge Report Sports Edition magazine represents the work of students who enrolled in two courses that I taught in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Washington and Lee University during winter term 2022.

Students in Sports Reporting, Journalism 210, developed and executed the ideas for the stories that appear in this issue. They interviewed athletes and coaches, shot photos, and wrote the stories that appear in the magazine.

The students in Editing for Print and Online Media, Journalism 351, immersed themselves in the creative process of developing a print magazine. They engaged in what we affectionately described as “font-free-for-alls” as they debated the efficacy of various fonts and color schemes. They worked together to fine-tune the cover design. They chose photos and created graphics, and they envisioned and executed the layouts for each story. The product in your hands illustrates the magic that occurs when students in two classes join forces to produce a high-caliber magazine that captures the hopes and dreams of young athletes who compete in local high school and college sports.

At their core, the stories in this issue highlight the lifealtering experiences of student-athletes at W&L, the Virginia Military Institute, and the local high school as they compete on fields of play. The magazine’s most dominant theme centers on the issues of race, gender and socio-economic diversity, and their impact on student-athletes and their coaches.

One story provides insight into W&L’s historic run at a men’s soccer national championship last fall by focusing on the experience of a player from Zambia. Another piece describes how student-athletes juggle the demands of attending a highly ranked liberal arts university. Yet another story examines the agony of ACL tears, an injury that afflicts women soccer players with alarming frequency and haunts them as they rehab their way back to competition.

My fervent wish is that you, the reader, are as proud of the students as I am. It is often said that playing sports teaches kids about the ups and downs of life. The same can be said about reporting, writing, and editing sports.

Toni Locy Professor of Journalism April 8, 2022

Stef Chiguluri, a goalie on the Washington and Lee University women’s lacrosse team, practiced for two weeks before her coaches noticed the bruises on her shins. She had played without the protective gear because she couldn’t afford shin guards. She hadn’t said anything to anyone, even though she knew she was taking a chance on getting hurt.

“I really just needed [shin guards] because I kept getting hit in the same spot and my bruises were pretty severe,” Chiguluri said. “It got so bad that my coaches had to come to me and say, ‘We’re buying you shin guards.’”

Chiguluri said it’s hard for coaches to identify athletes who need financial help. “There is this whole iceberg analogy,” she said. “There’s the stuff you can see and then there’s the stuff hidden beneath the surface. You can see people’s skin tone and sometimes people’s gender identity—and sometimes not even that. But socio-economic diversity is often something that isn’t so visible.”

Washington and Lee is an elite,