Eight-year-old Austen Craig roamed the aisles of City Club Raleigh with an oversized, team-signed North Carolina Courage jersey draped down to her shins Wednesday night. An athlete herself, the young sports enthusiast won the prized jersey in a raffle while perfectly encapsulating the ethos of the Courage’s Women in Sports Panel: A Conversation with Olympians, presented by Lenovo and Adobe.
“My favorite part was listening to their stories and how they became an athlete in their sport. It’s pretty cool to see someone who is in a higher level and that’s really good. We got to see the medals from the Olympics, so I hope I will be like them one day.” Craig said while proudly wearing her new jersey after the panel.
While hearing from the Olympians was a great experience, winning the signed jersey was, for the record, “super awesome” according to Craig.
Craig was one of nearly 100 people of all ages, ranging from current college students studying sports management at N.C. State to local business people, who came out to hear from the keynote speaker: two-time Canadian Olympian Maddy Price, and a trio of panelists including the Courage’s own German bronze medalist Feli Rauch, N.C. State graduate – and American Olympic swimmer – Katharine Berkoff, and three-time Paralympian Hannah Aspden.
Topics ranged from favorite Olympic memories and important lessons learned through sports, to heavier subjects, like balancing mental wellbeing while competing at the highest level of sport.
“Unfortunately, people within my generation and even a bit younger, we suffer from a lot of imposter syndrome, whether that is coming from celebrities, athletes or influences, but to be able to hear how highly they speak about mental health and how they have navigated it, I feel like that is the first step in being able to spread awareness to younger athletes,” said Carrington Matias, a former collegiate athlete who attended the event.
For Rauch, the panel was an opportunity to meet the challenge of speaking in English in front of a crowd head on, while speaking about those experiences was equally important.
“I like how transparent things are these days. People are starting to open up and it’s okay to talk about challenges and mental issues because I feel like everyone faces challenges. The only way to deal with them is to be open and communicate them. I feel like we have a very good space to be open and talk about the challenges we face,” Rauch said.
Rauch hopes that attendees left the panel that athletes face many of the same things they do.
“Even athletes who win things, like Olympic medals, struggle and face challenges. But challenges are a big part of being human being and our daily life. It’s all about overcoming those challenges,” Rauch said.
The Conversation with Olympians was the Courage’s second Women in Sports Panel of 2024, the second year of the program’s existence. The program has evolved to offer opportunities to unify the different sporting organizations in the Triangle area, including both professional and college.
“These panels are a great opportunity to show career pathways, as an athlete or through administration within sports. Sometimes that pathway is unclear for students or young professionals. It is often a bit of a convoluted path, but to hear from some of the sports administrators and athletes through these panels has been really valuable for young people,” NC Courage Director of Partnership Marketing Hana Williamson said.
Williamson, an Australian native now living in the Triangle as a member of Courage leadership, understands from personal experience.
“I always refer to my career as a bit of a jungle gym, I have jumped around different roles within sports and now have really found my footing in the one role that feels right for me,” she says
The Conversation with Olympians panel specifically was a chance to celebrate the Olympians with ties to the Triangle and see how the lessons they have learned from their time at the Olympics can be applied to people in a different career path.
From Olympic medalists to an eight-year-old with a dream, these types of seminars foster the belief that women can achieve the highest level of success in sports.
