This story was originially published in February of 2025, but we wanted to spotlight Athlete Ally once again during Pride Month!

Over the past five years or so, student-athlete advocacy in the NCAA has grown by leaps and bounds. At Brandeis, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which has been an active part of student-athlete life for decades, has seen an increase in affinity groups. These smaller subsets of the SAAC enable student-athletes with shared experiences to have a place to grow within those groups and discuss issues that affect them. In addition to Student-Athletes of Color (SAOC) and Athletes Without Borders for international students, this year, Brandeis Athletics is sponsoring an Athlete Ally chapter for LGBTQ student-athletes.

The idea to bring an Athlete Ally chapter to Brandeis started in earnest during the spring of 2024 when Steven Bunson ’82 and his wife, Joy, who sits on the board of directors for the national Athlete Ally organization, reached out about a Brandeis student-athlete attending Athlete Ally’s annual Athlete Activism Summit.  Rani Balakrishna ’25 of the softball team, who currently serves as President of the Brandeis Student Union, eagerly accepted. 

For two-and-a-half days at the Summit in Louisville, Kentucky, last summer, Rani met with student-athletes, coaches and administrators from around the country and from all levels of the NCAA. 

“We brainstormed ideas and listened to speakers,” Rani said, including Dr. John Carlos, the bronze-medal-winning 200-meter runner from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, known for his raised-fist protest along with gold medalist Tommie Smith on the podium. 

“We talked about how to be inclusive of queer folks through sports. One of the most important things I learned about being queer in collegiate athletics is that it doesn’t look like one thing at all.”

Inspired by her time at the summit, and with financial help from the Bunsons and other generous donors, and the on-the-ground assistance of staff members Dempsey and baseball coach Derek Carlson ’91. 

“I wanted to be involved with Athlete Ally because I think it is important for LGBTQIA+ athletes to compete as their authentic selves,” said coach Carlson. “It’s also important for us as coaches, administrators, and teammates to demonstrate the importance of inclusivity in sport.”

With a full plate on campus already, Rani worked diligently to find like-minded student-athletes who could help her start an Athlete Ally chapter at Brandeis.  Among those she enlisted were classmates and softball teammates Fiona Doiron ’25 and Anna Kolb ’25, and a pair of incoming first-years, Elle Yung ’28 of the track and field team and Jordan Wallace ’28, also of the softball team. 

Elle had been involved with advocacy at the Trinity School in New York City, serving as president of Trinity’s Gender Sexuality Alliance, where she was able to help educate the entire student body about her experiences living life as a queer person. She was also inspired by meeting another trans track student-athlete, Artemis Reynolds ’24. Jordan was drawn to Brandeis because of the level of acceptance she felt at Brandeis as a whole, through the University’s Gender and Sexuality Center. 

“Coming into college as a trans athlete, I felt the need to have a platform to educate people,” Elle said. “Not only that, considering the political climate we are in, queer athletes and queer people in general needed a support group and a sense of community in order to talk and get through the hard times.”

Since getting started last fall, Athlete Ally has focused on finding representation in the organization from all 19 of Brandeis varsity teams as well as the 22 club sports so that smaller moments can start to feel bigger and bigger.  The organization will hold its first big event on Friday, February 7, when it hosts a Pride Night during Brandeis’s basketball doubleheader against University Athletic Association rivals Washington University. The men face the Bears at 5:30 pm and the women at 7:30 pm. Both teams will be sporting rainbow tape on their uniforms and shoes. There will be raffles and food for all those in attendance as well as stickers with a Pride-themed version of Athletics’ new ‘B’ logo. Triskelion, the University’s long-time queer affinity group, and Intersection, the more recent group for queer people of color, will have informational tables.

“I view this as a huge visibility opportunity for Athlete Ally,” Elle said. “We can create more dialogue with students, starting with ‘Oh, that Pride game was cool.'”

As a whole, the 2024-25 college sports season is coming to an end. However, there are still a couple sports going. We of course have the NCAA Baseball Tournament getting into crunch time, with the Diamond Heels advancing to super regionals against Arizona. However next week in Eugene, Oregon, we’ll have the NCAA Track & Field championships taking place.

As a team, the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s or women’s track teams aren’t likely to compete for the overall team championships, but there are several Heels that will compete in individual events. Ahead of the action kicking off on June 11th, let’s take a look at the Carolina T&F athletes headed to Eugene.

On the men’s side of things, runner Ethan Strand has made arguably the biggest waves of any UNC T&Fer in recent years. Back during the indoor season, he won the national championship in the 3000m, while setting records both in that event and the mile.

Not surprisingly, he will also be in the running — pun somewhat intended — in some events at the NCAA outdoor championships. Strand has qualified for both the men’s 1500m and 5000m events. He will be joined in the 5000 by fellow Heel Colton Sands, who just snuck into the event as the final qualifier for the championships.

The other Tar Heel man headed to Eugene will be Tommy Kitchell. Having won the ACC Championship in the shot put, Kitchell has set school records this season, and will now look to continue that with a good performance at NCAAs.

On the women’s side of things, UNC’s biggest hope is probably runner Makayla Paige in the 800m. Having won the national championship in the indoor version of the 800, Paige qualified for the championship meet with the fourth best time for the outdoor version.

At the very next distance, senior Taryn Parks is into the prelims at the 1500m. Sydney Masciarelli is the ninth seed in the 3000m steeplechase, having finished third in the ACC this year. In the field events, Katie Joyce will compete in the finals of the javelin throw, having also won Bronze at ACCs.

Track and Field at the NCAA level features not only the best in up and coming American T&F athletes, but also a lot of the best from around the world. Winning the national title will be a difficult task for any of the Tar Heels headed out to Eugene, but we wish the best of luck yo all of them.

BILLINGS — The Midland Roundtable on Tuesday announced the team designations for its 2025 Montana All-Star Volleyball Classic.

The fourth annual intra-state match will be held Friday, June 13, at 6 p.m. at Lockwood High School in Billings. The 18 participants were originally announced on April 10.

Following are the team breakdowns for the upcoming event:

Blue Team

Roster: Addie Falls Down, Billings Senior (MSU-Northern); Avaree Thompson, Billings Senior (Dickinson State); Taylor Speake, Gallatin (Central Washington); Sofia Kimmel, Bozeman (Carroll College); Juliana McFarland, Belgrade (Dordt, IA); Jaycee Cleveland, Butte (Dickinson State); Claire Hoadley, Missoula Big Sky (Rocky Mountain College); Ellie Reinertson, Gardiner (Montana Tech); Cadence Lundgren, Gallatin (Kansas State).

Coach: Aubrey Beaumont, Rocky Mountain College

Red Team

Roster: Ella Goeltz, Florence-Carlton (Providence); Taiya Guptill, Hardin (Miles Community College); Birdie Heuiser, Helena (Carroll College); Kennedie Noseep, Billings Skyview (Central Wyoming); Morgan Jones, Bozeman (Southern Illinois); Gianna Ruprecht, Columbus (Rocky Mountain College); Hope Gonsioroski, Baker (Lubbock Christian, TX); Lauren Fox, Bozeman (Carroll College); Nora Dominick, Shields Valley (Montana Western).

Coach: Maureen Boyle, Carroll College

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference announced its 2025 men’s water polo conference schedule on Tuesday. The conference slate will run from Thursday, Oct. 2 to Friday, Nov. 14, with each team playing six conference contests.
 
The West Coast Conference was ranked as one of the top men’s water polo conferences in the RPI last fall with six of the seven teams ending the year ranked in the final coaches poll.
 
Pacific, the 2024 West Coast Conference regular season champions, will host Air Force on Thursday, Oct. 2, to open conference play. West Coast Conference Tournament champion California Baptist will open the Conference slate at home against Pepperdine on Thursday, Oct. 9. 
 
The 2025 West Coast Conference Tournament will take place on the campus of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., Nov. 21-23.
 
Official dates are as of June 3 and subject to change.
 
2025 West Coast Conference Men’s Water Polo Conference Schedule
 
Oct. 2
Air Force at Pacific
 
Oct. 3
LMU at San José State
 
Oct. 5
Pacific at Santa Clara
 
Oct.9
Pepperdine at California Baptist
 
Oct. 11
San José State at Pacific
 
Oct. 12
California Baptist at Air Force
 
Oct. 16
Santa Clara at California Baptist
 
Oct. 17
Air Force at LMU
Pacific at Pepperdine
 
Oct. 18
Santa Clara at San José State
 
Oct. 19
Pacific at LMU
Air Force at Pepperdine
 
Oct. 24
Pepperdine at San José State
LMU at Santa Clara
 
Oct. 30
California Baptist at LMU
 
Nov. 2
California Baptist at Pacific
San José State at Air Force
 
Nov. 8
LMU at Pepperdine
San José State at California Baptist
Santa Clara at Air Force
 
Nov. 14
Pepperdine at Santa Clara
 

Santa Monica’s month-long Pride celebration returns in June with expanded programming across multiple venues, culminating in a full day of events on Saturday, June 21.

The citywide celebration spans the Promenade, Pier, Main Street and Santa Monica Place, featuring art, activities, entertainment and community resources supporting the LGBTQ+ community. The partnership includes Downtown Santa Monica Inc., Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica Pier and Main Street Santa Monica, collaborating with the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica Travel & Tourism.

At Santa Monica Pier, Fabulous Fables: Drag Queen Pride Family-Edition runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. inside the historic Merry Go-Round Building. The family-friendly event, presented with The Crow Comedy Club, features face painting, live performance by Santa Monica Playhouse, poetry reading by Santa Monica Poet Laureate Anne Carmack, drag storytelling and a Books & Cookies pop-up.

The Pride at the Pier Beach Sporting Experience runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with OutLoud Sports hosting mini tournaments in kickball, dodgeball, soccer, football, volleyball, tennis and cornhole. Simultaneously, Pride at the Pier Beach Volleyball offers open-format play for all skill levels through Pride Point Volleyball.

Santa Monica Place hosts Pride Disco and Kid Zone from noon to 4 p.m., featuring a family-friendly Silent Disco and craft activities with Cayton Children’s Museum. The venue’s Lanterns of Love display will illuminate Center Plaza throughout June.

Pride on the Promenade takes place from 2 to 7 p.m. with musical performances, giveaways, interactive games and LGBTQ+ businesses on Third Street Promenade. The event is part of Downtown Santa Monica’s Entertainment Zone, allowing guests to carry alcoholic beverages while strolling.

Main Street Santa Monica offers Drag Bingo in the Beer Garden from 3 to 6 p.m., alongside the Summer Soulstice celebration. The street closes to cars from Strand Street to Pier Avenue for live music, family activities and art installations.

The weekend concludes Sunday, June 22, with the Pride on the Pier Dance Party.

Additional June events include the City’s Pride Proclamation on May 27, SaMo Pride Drag Bingo Night on June 5, AIDS LifeCycle Finish Line Festival on June 7, Family PRIDE at Annenberg Community Beach House on June 13, and Rainbow Family Storytime at Ocean Park Branch Library on June 17.

For event registration and vendor opportunities, visit eventeny.com/events/pride-on-the-promenade-20126. Main Street Drag Bingo tickets are available at mainstreetsm.com. Complete schedules and updates are at SMPride.com.

Edited by SMDP Staff