AU women's soccer head coach Marsha Harper speaks during a conversation about sports and civic life on February 25. Photo by Jeff Watts. 

American University president Jon Alger—an avid sports fan—knows that what happens between the lines of Bender Arena, Jacobs Recreation Complex, and Reeves Field is deeper than the pursuit of Patriot League championships alone.

Sports also offers important lessons in navigating civic life.

“Athletics is one of those places where people do come together,” Alger said on February 25 during the latest event in the Perspectives on the Civic Life Presidential Speaker Series. “It’s one of those places where—whether you’re a D or an R or something in between—you can cheer for the Eagles and everybody can come together.

“When you think about what student-athletes have to do, what their coaches do, [there are] rules of engagement. You have to respect your opponents. You have to learn how to get along with people on a team who may be different from you,” continued Alger, who serves on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “It really is a metaphor for what has to happen in a democratic society.”

Panelists included Athletic Director JM Caparro, AU wrestling head coach Jason Borrelli, women’s soccer head coach Marsha Harper, and cross country and track and field head coach Sean Graham. Civic Life Student Fellows Samuel Gilio, CAS-SPA/BA ’27 and England Meadows, SPA/BA ’27, moderated the discussion about how competition can sharpen teamwork, resilience, leadership, and other life skills.

Teamwork

In a sport where athletes must step onto the mat alone, Borrelli said accountability is among the wrestling program’s core values.

“It’s a family where you show up for one another,” he said. “You’re there to support one another, despite maybe having differences of opinion and different views.”

As with civic life, that interdependence means that each person contributes to the team’s success as a whole.

“We are constantly trying to show and remind our athletes the different ways they can bring value to our program,” Borrelli said. “It’s even simple things, like our mats have to be mopped and somebody has to take ownership over that, over laundry. There are injuries and we often have to have guys ready to wrestle up a weight class and you can help our team in that way.”

Resilience

Last fall, Graham saw that his cross-country team had the talent to reach the Patriot League championship podium for the first time in two decades. Instead, the squad finished seventh.

In running and in life, Graham said that failure can spawn growth. Two weeks after falling short, the team responded with its best finish in 10 years at the NCAA Regional Championships.

“Running is hard. The entirety of what we do is just uncomfortable the whole time, but it translates to real life so quickly. It’s grit, it’s resilience, it’s time management,” Graham said.

“The real world stinks sometimes,” Caparro said. “You might not get that job, you might not get that promotion. Something bad will happen. It’s about how you come back from it.”

Leadership

As coach of the women’s soccer team, Harper has learned that leadership doesn’t involve telling other people what to do. Rather, it depends on “listening to understand and not listening to respond.”

“When it’s necessary, I try and lead from the front, but I love trying to lead from the back,” Harper said. “I try to tell the women in our program, ‘Hey, you’re capable of this. This is what I foresee as the path ahead,’ and then let them go, let them fail. If they fall off the path, then maybe I run up to the front to raise my voice a little and do what I feel like they need.”