Lynchburg Women’s Soccer Coaches Lean into Give Day Challenges
By: Evan Gates | Guest Contributor
Coach Todd Olsen, Laney Richmond and Ella Fulmer prepare for the “Chubby Bunny” contest to see how many marshmallows they can successfully fit in their mouth. Photo by Natalie Beazley.
Despite completing his 32nd season as head coach of the Lynchburg women’s soccer team, Dr. Todd Olsen continues to complete innovative social media challenges to promote Give Day investments for his program.
The donation-based incentives allow student-athletes, alumni and other donors to not only give money to the program, but also unlock new activities for the coaches to complete. As a yearly participant, Coach Olsen believes the challenges are a testament to the program’s connected culture.
“If they see a coach that is invested, they know that we’re going to be true to whatever support they give,” Olsen said. “It’s going to be something that makes a better experience for our student-athletes.”
While many challenges remain the same each year, such as the marshmallow-eating Chubby Bunny challenge, others are decided by the current team roster. To cap this year’s festivities, Coach Olsen took on the challenge of “skiing” down the Bell Tower hill, despite no snow covering the ground.
“The more outlandish, probably the better,” Olsen said. “They’ll look up some weird and fun things that they can humiliate someone with. As long as it’s not hurting anyone, it’s heartfelt.”
The tradition ranges across many generations of Lynchburg women’s soccer players. Several alumni, such as Associate Head Coach Natalie Beazley, have contributed to previous challenges and use the opportunity to bring former players together.
“I’m going to give a lot of credit to Natalie [Beazley] and a lot of my previous assistants; they just did an amazing job of always trying to stay engaged and connected,” Olsen said. “Natalie had such a good experience with her class, and she thinks those connections are so important.”
A Connection for All Classes
Coach Olsen prepares to ski down the “Green Monster” hill at the front of campus for the team’s largest challenge of the year. | Natalie Beazley.
Throughout the evolution of Coach Olsen’s Give Day celebrations, the majority of class-wide challenges were chosen by the athletes. For senior goalkeeper Kate Shepherd, the humorous videos served as a way to connect with family members at home.
“Family members are able to see their kids or their extended family do the challenges,” Shepherd said. “Every grade gets something, so I always tell my mom to look and see what we’re doing this year. Sometimes, even alumni will reach out and give Nat challenges.”
While the videos target viewers at home, they also provide an opportunity for team bonding. Senior defender Devon Rountree believes preserving the tradition will set the precedent for future classes.
“We’re showcasing to those below us that as a senior class, you lead by the way you’re connected with each other,” Rountree said. “You’re creating that fun culture that has been a legacy, but also pushing for connectedness.”
The team celebrations aren’t restricted to Give Day, however, as the team’s annual celebrations begin in the fall. The Halloween dress-up practice serves as another way to unite the team and involve coaches.
“When you have a coaching staff dress up in a theme,” Coach Olsen said, “it throws crazy energy at them and gets them excited to be creative.”
The infectious energy and costumes carry beyond the normally scheduled team events. Throughout the year, the athletes consistently strive to gather as a team in a competitive setting.
“We’re a big scavenger hunt team, and we’ll do lots of crafts,” Rountree said. “They’ll give us a small thing like a talent show, something that doesn’t necessarily require costumes, but we’ll wear them.”
Regardless of the activities, Coach Olsen aims to find increasingly challenging and difficult endeavors each year. With strong support from the athletes, the activities won’t go away any time soon.
“My freshman year, we had gotten the last challenge, and Coach had to run the ‘yoyo’ [workout],” Shepherd said. “I knew he was fit, but I thought there was no way he could pass. All the seniors came with a bowl of popcorn and a lawn chair.”
The Lynchburg coaching staff dresses up in Halloween costumes for their 2023 Halloween practice. Photo by Caroline Gerke.
Fostering the Future
Behind the excitement, the Lynchburg coaching staff continues to find innovative ways to support the athletes. The high number of athletes on the roster often inspires Coach Olsen to prioritize recovery and injury prevention.
“I love technology and anything that we can find for improving performance or recovery,” Olsen said. “If we can find some kind of edge or something that helps us, I’ll take it.”
Olsen cites his father’s large variety of devices as a foundation for his approach.
“My dad was like that; we had so many weird gadgets in our house,” Olsen said. “This was before any of this stuff came out, but he would be first on the block to get it.”
As seasons come and go, the staff’s connectivity with the athletes continually reminds family members and alumni of the team’s rich experiences, hence improving Give Day funding.
“Families seeing the interactions that he [Olsen] has with the players and that connection he’s built is a very pushing factor to donate,” Rountree said.
Whether newly graduated or newly recruited, everyone’s involvement in the program involves similar traditions. For Coach Olsen, the blueprint has remained rooted in community.
“You’re playing the game you love with the people you love, and we can keep that mantra to connect people,” Olsen said. “They all have a similar language. When I talk about the Green Monster, no one didn’t know what that was. And our language has been going on for 30 years.”
For more information about the Lynchburg women’s soccer team, click here.