“You envision the moment your whole career, and it’s pretty surreal.”
That’s how Sarah Warren, a former University of Illinois-Champaign women’s soccer player, described earning her spot on Team USA’s speedskating team for the Winter Olympics in Italy. As crazy as it sounds to go from college soccer to speedskating, Sarah’s Olympic journey is unique but not uncommon. Hundreds of Team USA athletes are finally realizing their Olympic dreams after decades of training, with a handful developing world-class athletic abilities by competing collegiately in a sport different from the one they play today.
Sarah is not alone. Fellow speedskater Brittany Bowe played basketball at Florida Atlantic University; ski mountaineering athlete Anna Gibson competed in track and field and cross-country at the University of Washington; and bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was a softball student-athlete for George Washington University.
Of course, athletes like those on the men’s and women’s hockey teams who played collegiately shouldn’t be forgotten as part of this group either.
For many, competing in college sports serves as a launchpad to the global stage. The same can be said for Team USA’s most recent Summer Olympians at the 2024 games in Paris, 65 percent of whom played NCAA varsity sports. Without a doubt, America’s Olympic prominence wouldn’t be possible without college sports’ role as a pipeline for talent development.
Sadly, the longstanding relationship between college athletics and Team USA is threatened by expanded name, image and likeness (NIL) rights. NIL rights for student-athletes were long overdue, but they were introduced to the college sports ecosystem without rules. A patchwork of varying state laws followed, creating unfair advantages based on state politics and leading to a consolidation of talent at schools with the most money and resources. Some athletic departments are struggling to keep their programs competitive amid all the NIL chaos.
As long as NIL operates without national rules, academic and athletic opportunities created by Olympic sports — the same programs that Team USA relies upon for athletic development — face a heightened risk of disappearing. Even for those whose athletic careers end with graduation, college sports were their pathway to a degree that will help them advance in their professional careers.
College sports in America are a unique system that cannot be found anywhere else, which speaks volumes to our exceptionalism.
We need our elected officials in Congress to act before we lose college sports programs that set us apart as a nation and help us remain a fixture on the medal podium.
Fortunately, a solution called the SCORE Act is pending on the House floor, awaiting a vote. It is the only legislation that will protect the very college sports programs where student-athletes thrive and develop into Team USA Olympians.
If signed into law, it will establish a uniform standard for NIL rights and eliminate the competitive disadvantages that have persisted under failing state laws. Simultaneously, the SCORE Act strengthens student-athletes’ control over their NIL rights and requires robust investments in resources to improve their health, academic and financial outcomes. And, most important for Olympic college sports, this bill establishes that athletic departments with revenue exceeding $20 million must maintain at least 16 varsity programs.
Success stories of competitors like Sarah Warren, who became elite athletes through collegiate sports before achieving Olympic dreams, are in danger of becoming another tale of “the way things used to be.” Through the SCORE Act, Congress can ensure Sarah’s story remains part of the future of athletics in America while protecting opportunities in college sports for the next generation of Americans. Now is the time to act to preserve the positive impact of college sports on American society and their role in developing Team USA Olympians for years to come.