Addressing Drinking, Hazing, and LGBTQ Culture in a Mission to Restore Women's Sports

<p>Drinking, partying, and pressure to explore homosexuality are common within <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/08/theres-no-xy-female-sports/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">women’s sports</a>, but this does not need to be the norm, according to former college athlete Samantha Kelley.&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><p>While the <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/tag/transgender/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"transgender" issue</a> is a new challenge in women's sports, it has long been "statistically proven that college athletes party more [and] drink more than the normal student population," says Kelley, the founder and president of <a href="https://fierceathlete.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FIERCE Athlete</a>. Athletes are "under so much pressure and under so much scrutiny, and even more so today with social media," she added.</p><br><p><br></p><p>An athlete herself, including playing Division I soccer at the University of Connecticut, Kelley founded FIERCE Athlete seven years ago after growing frustrated with the culture of <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/06/female-athletes-ask-circuit-court-to-keep-biological-males-out-of-womens-sports/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">women’s sports</a> and realizing that her experience in college was not unique.</p><br><p><br></p><p>"We were hazed," Kelley said of her freshman year of playing college soccer. "A third of our team was 'lesbian' and would try to convince you that you were, too."</p><br><p><br></p><p>FIERCE Athlete serves as a resource to female athletes at all levels, providing them with training, mentorship, and resources to navigate the challenges of sport and grow in an understanding of femininity.&nbsp;FIERCE stands for <strong>F</strong>emininity,&nbsp;<strong>I</strong>dentity,&nbsp;<strong>E</strong>mbodiment,&nbsp;<strong>R</strong>eceptivity,&nbsp;<strong>C</strong>atholicism, and&nbsp;<strong>E</strong>ncounter—the core pillars of the organization.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Because