Early on during my freshman year, I was approached by a sophomore named Rachel in one of my intro classes. She told me that she thought I looked athletic and invited me to join the Rice Women’s Club Soccer team since they needed a goalie for the upcoming season. At first I laughed and told her I had never played soccer before. But then my roommate talked me into it over the weekend, I showed up to tryouts on the next Tuesday, and the rest is history.
Over the past three years, our amazing coach has challenged me to be more confident in each play and my teammates have become one of the most important groups to me on campus. My favorite memories with the team include trying beignets in New Orleans after playing Tulane, eating dinner at the most eclectic restaurants after tournaments in Austin, and laughing over “Telestrations” late at night in hotel rooms. Club soccer gives me an avenue to develop new skills, build relationships with students across grade levels and residential colleges, and find an outlet outside of classes. Now Rachel and I lead the soccer team as vice president and president, and I look forward to each game and practice knowing that our hard work pays off!
But club sports aren’t the only way to get involved with athletics at Rice! Wiess intramural sports, especially Powderpuff, or women’s flag football, has fostered a similar sense of community for me. Unlike club sports, intramural sports are competitions between residential colleges and are open to anyone, no tryouts necessary. My favorite memory from my freshman year was when Wiess won the intramural Powderpuff championship. I’ll never forget the final flag pull… everyone was jumping up and down, a speaker started playing “All I Do Is Win,” and “Team Wiess” chants could be heard across campus.
Since then, I have really enjoyed competing with Wiess — from traditions such as our spontaneous 6 a.m. practice and team breakfast to weekly practices and pregame meetings (complete with orange slices and Gatorade!) — the work hard, play hard club and intramural sports atmosphere at Rice is one that I truly cherish!
-Caitlin, Weiss ‘26 (Published on 02/21/2025)
