A Person, a Student, Then an Athlete': Inside Division III Soccer at Agnes Scott

At Agnes Scott, there's no scholarships, no sponsorships, and no pretending soccer comes before everything else. Co-captain Ashlee Parkey explains why that's exactly what makes Division III soccer great.

Nestled in the heart of Decatur lies Gellerstedt Field, home to the Agnes Scott soccer team, one of the most passionate and devoted teams in collegiate sports. Agnes Scott College is a Division III school, which I currently attend. During my time at Agnes, I've witnessed a deep passion for DIII sports, specifically soccer, and it has been captivating. I have seen a deep commitment to athletics from my classmates who deal with a rigorous schedule of practices and games on top of the already intense academic responsibilities that college demands. They wake up at 5 am for practice, spend hours working out, and sacrifice their weekends for games that sometimes take them states away. I take the same course loads as these classmates and barely have enough time to sleep, let alone take on a competitive sport.

The passion and drive for soccer that these Scotties (the affectionate nickname for Agnes Scott students) have make them a severely undervalued component of collegiate soccer. Unfortunately, DIII soccer is often underestimated and overlooked because of the lack of athletic scholarships, no opportunities for sponsorships, and very few DIII players successfully make it in the nation's top professional league. But I have to say, those not paying attention to Division III sports are missing out on an aspect of the game that is alive with passion, love, community, and intense rivalries. DIII players are special because they are on the field out of sheer dedication to their sport, full stop.

One of the most passionate players I've encountered at Agnes is Ashlee Parkey, the co-captain of the soccer team, and after speaking with her about her experience, I was ready to strap on some cleats and hit the field. Ashlee spoke about the team environment with extreme passion; more than once, she expressed how much her teammates and coaches felt like a community, a support system she could always rely on. We discussed how DIII athletes do not receive any sort of scholarship or financial benefit from playing their sport, and Ashlee emphasized how this made it so that everyone is there strictly out of dedication to the sport and the team, which has ultimately created a tight-knit community. Over and over again, Ashlee expressed how her drive and passion came, in part, from how much she loved soccer, but also hugely from how much she loved and appreciated her team. Ashlee described how the DIII environment helps students not compete with each other, and instead has them work solely as a unit, both on and off the field. I'd always guessed that being a part of Agnes' soccer team was a fun-filled experience, simply from attending the games, but everything that Ashlee said solidified this guess more and more.

When I asked Ashlee what she thought made DIII soccer special compared to other divisions, she immediately told me that unlike at DI and DII, where a student has to be an athlete above all else, sacrificing study time as well as social experience, at a DIII school she is able to be "a person, a student, then an athlete," a structure that prioritizes the student's well-being above all else, curbing both academic and athletic burnout. In an elevator pitch-style rundown as to why someone should join DIII soccer, Ashlee told me that a person should join if they "want to have this beautiful, amazing college experience, while also having this beautiful, amazing athletic experience, and those being able to coexist." DIII players can get the best of both worlds, allowing students to experience, either again or for the first time, an amazing sport and a supportive environment. Just the fact that Ashlee had a huge smile on her face every time she spoke about her team was enough to have me looking forward to Agnes' next home game.

Near the end of our conversation, Ashlee and I discussed the community connection that playing for a Division III school offers. Ashlee described how she felt the team had a link to the greater Decatur area due to the fact that Agnes often rents out their field to neighborhood organizations and has local restaurants do pop-ups during games. I myself have experienced a community connection from the stands. When attending games, I have seen Decatur residents dot the bleachers of Gellerstedt Field. I especially love getting to see local kids act as ball kids during the matches. For those young soccer-loving kids, it doesn't matter what division these students play in; they are players getting to live their college athlete dreams.

While Division I soccer has recently accumulated a powerful following not only within Georgia but also across the entire US, receiving higher rates of spectators than ever before, Division III is still greatly lacking in supporters. The University of Georgia's women's soccer team shattered NCAA records by drawing in a crowd of over 25,000 to watch their shutout win over James Madison University, while Agnes Scott struggles to fill up their bleachers. Yes, it is exhilarating to watch collegiate soccer, especially the women's teams, gain the support that it so duly deserves. But it is hard to watch DIII still lack the support that it so dearly deserves. Honestly, it is a sector of the women's game that deserves recognition the most.

The popularity of Division III soccer among collegiate athletes is highlighted by the fact that it is the largest NCAA division, with almost 900 teams spanning higher education institutions across the United States. DIII soccer has the beautiful quality of being composed of players who have both been recruited during high school, as well as those who walked on to the team during their time in college. These walk-on players have sometimes never played soccer, but train with the same level of intensity and determination as athletes who have been playing since childhood. Athletes might not all be at the same skill level, but they all share the same passion and dedication that keeps so many players and staff members involved in Division III. DIII players are driven by the sole desire to play the sport they so deeply love, and they are willing to sacrifice for it.

I personally recommend making your way to Gellerstedt Field to watch Agnes Scott, co-captained by Ashlee in her final season as a Scottie. And if one of your reservations about DIII soccer is that there are no intense rivalries between teams, don't worry; the rivalry between Agnes Scott College and Wesleyan College runs just as deep as the one between Duke and UNC.