Beyond the cheering crowds and the final whistle, the journey of a college athlete is a demanding one. Recognizing this, the University of Puget Sound is taking a significant step in supporting the whole athlete by prioritizing the well-being and leadership development of its female student-athletes, thanks to a generous endowment of $1 million from 1991 graduate Christi Offutt and the Offutt Family Foundation. The gift fuels the launch of the Elevate: Women's Athletics Wellness & Leadership Development Program, a comprehensive initiative designed by Puget Sound Athletic Director Amy Hackett to address the unique challenges faced by women in sports.
“This is such an interesting time for women's athletics,” Hackett said. “There's an explosion of national interest and success, yet there's still fragility in certain areas."
The Elevate program will offer tailored resources in critical areas like mental health, nutrition, injury prevention, and leadership development to empower the university’s women athletes.
“One of the Offutt Family Foundation’s core areas of focus is education initiatives that create innovative learning opportunities and efforts that support the enrichment of learners beyond the classroom,” Offutt said. “The Elevate program’s commitment to preparing students for success both on and off the field and in their future endeavors inspired the foundation to lend its support.”
At the forefront of these issues are the mental and physical demands placed on student-athletes. Kelly Brown, director of Counseling, Health & Wellness Services (CHWS), explains that although student-athletes generally transition well into college life, the pressures may contribute to anxiety, depression, sleep, and eating habits. Injuries can further complicate these challenges, potentially impacting a player's sense of identity.
“Our student-athletes are typically really high achieving,” Brown said. “But the downside of that is that they can be really hard on themselves."
To combat these challenges, the Elevate program is designed to provide a balanced support system. Nutrition counseling will be provided to ensure they fuel their bodies for peak performance while maintaining a healthy relationship with food. The program will also offer mental health support, helping athletes navigate the pressures of academics and athletics. Additionally, educational tools, such as workshops, and support groups will be created to empower athletes to develop coping mechanisms and build resilience.
Stephanie Cox, head soccer coach at Puget Sound, applauds the initiative. Cox has a deep understanding of the issues that student-athletes encounter. A former student-athlete herself, she achieved a national championship with the University of Portland, secured an Olympic gold medal as a defender for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2008, and had a long career with OL Reign, Seattle’s professional women's soccer team.
“For a lot of these players, they are recruited here for a reason and now, their role may be different entering into their freshman year," she says. “It can be a difficult transition to college athletics and the expectations and standards that we have for them as Loggers."
She goes on to say that this transition can be particularly challenging, potentially leading to identity crises. This is why Cox is excited about the resources this gift will bring to Puget Sound.
Before the gift, Puget Sound had already implemented innovative tools to address mental health support for its athletes, such as the use of a stress-ranking app, allowing coaches to better understand and address player concerns. But with this funding, more robust and consistent support will soon be available.
“I'm excited about this gift and the opportunities it's going to provide for us as coaches and also for them as players to support the whole person that comprises our Logger student-athletes,” Cox said.
While mental and physical health support is vital, the Elevate program will also foster leadership development, something Hackett has identified as an area of need.
“The stability of this endowment allows us to develop long-term programs rather than one-off initiatives," Hackett said.
This creates a sustainable system that equips women athletes with the skills and confidence to succeed. While at the university, Offutt played for the Logger Women’s Soccer team and is part of a three-way tie for the school record for most soccer goals in a game. Today, she serves as the Chair of R.D. Offutt Company, a family-owned international business, with a range of entities including agricultural equipment, farming operations, and food production.
“Playing soccer taught me a lot about leadership and how to develop it, in ways that were very different from what I learned in the classroom,” Offutt says. “As a team captain, I gained valuable insights into what being a leader means and what effective leadership looks like. In hindsight, that was a pivotal moment for me that influenced the rest of my college journey and my subsequent career. There are many opportunities to learn leadership skills, but for me, nothing compared to playing a team sport. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to support the Elevate program.”
The Offutt Family's gift allows Puget Sound to invest in the future of women's athletics, a testament to the university’s commitment to fostering not just winning athletes, but well-rounded, confident individuals who are prepared to excel in life.
“In the short term, the Elevate program provides resources to support women athletes’ health — mental and physical — which will help them perform on the field and in the classroom,” Offutt said. “In the long term, those benefits will give women athletes the life skills that will serve them well in whatever path they choose to take after college.”
