Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
For the first time in Tuskegee's history, a women’s soccer team is competing in the NCAA Division II after launching their inaugural season on Saturday taking on Edward Waters University at Cleve Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium.
While the Tuskegee team played hard throughout, the game ended in a 5-2 victory for the Edward Waters Lady Tigers. But for Tuskegee, the match represented just one of many bold steps in Tuskegee’s Renaissance Era toward reclaiming Tuskegee’s dominance in intercollegiate athletics with well-rounded, highly competitive students who are high achievers in the classroom and on the field.
Dr. Mark A. Brown, President and CEO, and First Lady Gwendolyn Brown huddled with the team ahead of the game to congratulate them on making history.
“You are doing something that has never been done in our 145 year history and I am so proud of each of you. You have trained hard and the entire Tuskegee family is here to support your success,” said Dr. Brown before asking the team for some pointers on foot position as he got the ball rolling with a kick to Genesis Austin, a goalie on the team and a freshman from Indianapolis, Indiana.
“This feels amazing,” said Austin when asked her thoughts on the game and season ahead. “We’re all excited to play the game we love.”
The love of soccer has brought many freshman students to Tuskegee, including Syria Bryant from Smyrna, Georgia.
“She has been playing soccer since she was five years old. I helped her practice in my front yard,” said Bryant’s grandmother, Sandra Bryant, one of more than 30 family members who traveled together to Tuskegee to be in the stands, all sporting custom “Team Syria” t-shirts.
Bryant’s mother, Kendra Bryant is excited about what the new team can mean for other young Black women in soccer and beyond. “It is important to see Black women in soccer at this level. When they see the Tuskegee team being first, it will encourage them to be the first in other ways, too,” she said.
Bryant said the news of Tuskegee’s new team was a big deciding factor for her daughter who is a wing on the team.
“She had several options, but soccer definitely influenced her to choose Tuskegee,” she said. “Other relatives attended Tuskegee so in a way we feel that we know Tuskegee. Tuskegee feels like family.”
The women’s team will be back on the pitch Wednesday for a home match against the University of Auburn at Montgomery.
For more on Tuskegee's new men's and women's soccer teams, see Tuskegee University is on the Field with Soccer Goals.
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