Dear Cardinal Faithful,
As our student-athletes prepare to wrap up the first quarter of the 2024-2025 academic year, there are many achievements to celebrate, challenges to examine, and exciting opportunities ahead for the new year. This installment of the Athletic Director’s Newsletter will provide the latest updates from our department as we navigate the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics and continue our mission of developing champions in life through a world-class student-athlete experience.
FALL SPORTS UPDATE
This fall marked a historic chapter in the story of Stanford Athletics as our fall programs debuted against new opponents in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Farm hosted exciting conference opponents from across the country, highlighted by major home victories, including a late game-winning goal that secured a win against No. 2 North Carolina for women’s soccer, a midfield goal gone viral for men’s soccer to take down Notre Dame, a victory over No. 3 Louisville by women’s volleyball to complete an undefeated home season in Maples Pavilion, and football’s comeback win over the No. 22 Louisville Cardinals to celebrate the program’s senior night.
We currently have several programs in the hunt for national excellence, including women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and men’s water polo. Several of these teams have postseason competitions here at home on The Farm, and I hope you will come out and support them as they compete for championships.
While our student-athletes stepped up to the challenge and thrived in a new conference, our coaches and staff collaborated on the most obvious adjustment with the ACC transition: travel. Utilizing scientific studies, research, and experience, under the guidance of our sports medicine and performance experts, our programs are learning what works best for each team as they travel greater lengths to compete and achieve at the highest levels. We're refining ways to mitigate the impact of student-athletes being away from campus, such as recording select classes and enhancing communications with faculty about travel. I’d like to express a special thanks to our faculty athletics representative, Professor Jay Mitchell from the law school, who, alongside Provost Jenny Martinez, has been instrumental in helping us prepare for this new environment of competition.
With increased travel for many of our student-athletes, the network of support on The Farm is vital to not only their athletic and academic success, but also to their well-being and personal development. This Stanford Momentum feature demonstrates how our incredible team of professionals and experts in sports performance, athletic training, sports psychology, nutrition, sports medicine, and academic advising & student-athlete success and well-being use research and data to provide the best possible experience and resources to nearly 900 Cardinal student-athletes each year.