Colorado State University Athletics
CSU Rambition unites, raises awareness for female student-athletes
3/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 10, 2015
Social Media Challenge Photo Gallery
By Elizabeth Prasse
Current Sophomore/Member of CSU Swim Team
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Female student-athletes are coming together at Colorado State University through a program dedicated to developing strong women on and off the court.
Since the organization's beginning in 2013, CSU Rambition has given female student-athletes a chance to connect with one another. With the business of practices, competitions, treatment and more, there is little time for female student-athletes to come together - until now.
"I think Rambition has given me a way to connect with other girls and get involved in CSU athletics," freshman thrower Kelcey Bedard said.
The transition from high school athletics to collegiate athletics is not always an easy one, especially for international students such as freshman guard Stine Austgulen.
"When you're coming to college, especially for me from Norway, I didn't know anyone. Then when I came here I actually felt like it was a family, not even just my team, but all the athletes."
A large part of that connection has come through Rambition, which not only connects female student-athletes, but also raises awareness for women's sports through monthly meetings and initiatives.
"I think it's important to focus on female athletes because we don't get a lot of attention," Austgulen said.
Attention they did receive last month, however. Student-athletes, family members and alums - even Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken - participated with Rambition on Twitter and Instagram during the February Social Media Challenge. Student-athletes were encouraged to post on social media a captioned photo for each word of the day. Committee members of Rambition chose 28 words, one for each day of the month, which represented women and women's sports. Some were funny, others inspirational. With each post, the ladies learned more about themselves, their teammates and their fellow CSU student-athletes.
Distance swimmer Gabby Morley connected with the word `toughness' because, "It makes me feel like swimmers aren't the only ones who get up early. It helped show me the hard work every student-athletes is putting in."
Austgulen incorporated what she learned from watching the ESPN Nine for IX documentary Branded, about the marketing of female athletes. She noticed that the social media challenge allowed athletes to post photos that did not discriminate between men's sports and women's sports.
Bedard even included motivational quotes from women and posted encouraging pictures of her teammates in preparation for the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships.
"Being able to do something like this to get the word out about women's sports was a really awesome thing, and I think we should do more of it," she said.
Adrianna Culbert, a member of CSU's volleyball team, agrees. She, along with assistant track coach Ashley Reid, started Rambition to get people involved at CSU and in the community. Later this spring, Rambition will host the second annual E.R.I.C.A Lupus Awareness Walk, in honor of Reid's younger sister who passed away from Lupus.
"It was just one of those things that you do and it makes you feel good because you're doing something that matters," Culbert said.
In addition to the Lupus walk, Rambition has scheduled visits to local hospitals this spring, and is arranging more community service projects, hoping to build off of an already successful group and make it stronger.
The women of Rambition are involved in the community and are winning in their field of play, but they also put the `student' in `student-athlete'. Each team maintains a cumulative GPA above 3.0, demonstrating the strong work ethic of these remarkable individuals coming together to serve a purpose greater than themselves.
At Colorado State University, there are no longer separate teams, but one team: "We are all like a family, a little Ramily." Culbert said. "A Ramily working together to impact the local CSU community and the world of women's sports."
CSU Rambition is home for 164 female student-athletes, 93 of which participated in the February Social Media Challenge. For more information, follow CSU Rambition on Instagramand Twitter.
By Elizabeth Prasse
Current Sophomore/Member of CSU Swim Team
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Female student-athletes are coming together at Colorado State University through a program dedicated to developing strong women on and off the court.
Since the organization's beginning in 2013, CSU Rambition has given female student-athletes a chance to connect with one another. With the business of practices, competitions, treatment and more, there is little time for female student-athletes to come together - until now.
"I think Rambition has given me a way to connect with other girls and get involved in CSU athletics," freshman thrower Kelcey Bedard said.
The transition from high school athletics to collegiate athletics is not always an easy one, especially for international students such as freshman guard Stine Austgulen.
"When you're coming to college, especially for me from Norway, I didn't know anyone. Then when I came here I actually felt like it was a family, not even just my team, but all the athletes."
A large part of that connection has come through Rambition, which not only connects female student-athletes, but also raises awareness for women's sports through monthly meetings and initiatives.
"I think it's important to focus on female athletes because we don't get a lot of attention," Austgulen said.
Attention they did receive last month, however. Student-athletes, family members and alums - even Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken - participated with Rambition on Twitter and Instagram during the February Social Media Challenge. Student-athletes were encouraged to post on social media a captioned photo for each word of the day. Committee members of Rambition chose 28 words, one for each day of the month, which represented women and women's sports. Some were funny, others inspirational. With each post, the ladies learned more about themselves, their teammates and their fellow CSU student-athletes.
Distance swimmer Gabby Morley connected with the word `toughness' because, "It makes me feel like swimmers aren't the only ones who get up early. It helped show me the hard work every student-athletes is putting in."
Austgulen incorporated what she learned from watching the ESPN Nine for IX documentary Branded, about the marketing of female athletes. She noticed that the social media challenge allowed athletes to post photos that did not discriminate between men's sports and women's sports.
Bedard even included motivational quotes from women and posted encouraging pictures of her teammates in preparation for the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships.
"Being able to do something like this to get the word out about women's sports was a really awesome thing, and I think we should do more of it," she said.
Adrianna Culbert, a member of CSU's volleyball team, agrees. She, along with assistant track coach Ashley Reid, started Rambition to get people involved at CSU and in the community. Later this spring, Rambition will host the second annual E.R.I.C.A Lupus Awareness Walk, in honor of Reid's younger sister who passed away from Lupus.
"It was just one of those things that you do and it makes you feel good because you're doing something that matters," Culbert said.
In addition to the Lupus walk, Rambition has scheduled visits to local hospitals this spring, and is arranging more community service projects, hoping to build off of an already successful group and make it stronger.
The women of Rambition are involved in the community and are winning in their field of play, but they also put the `student' in `student-athlete'. Each team maintains a cumulative GPA above 3.0, demonstrating the strong work ethic of these remarkable individuals coming together to serve a purpose greater than themselves.
At Colorado State University, there are no longer separate teams, but one team: "We are all like a family, a little Ramily." Culbert said. "A Ramily working together to impact the local CSU community and the world of women's sports."
CSU Rambition is home for 164 female student-athletes, 93 of which participated in the February Social Media Challenge. For more information, follow CSU Rambition on Instagramand Twitter.
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