WORCESTER, Mass. - Rachael Romain is a senior captain and defender on the Clark University field hockey team. Romain is from Seekonk, Massachusetts, where she attended Lincoln School. At Clark, Romain is studying for a bachelor's degree in sociology. 

Clark Athletics is celebrating Black History Month by featuring Clark athletes who self-identify. This week, Romain reflects on her experience attending the Future Leaders of the Game: Multiracial Students Leadership Academy.  

Future Leaders of the Game: Multiracial Students Leadership Academy is a leadership program facilitated by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, IWLCA (Intercollegiate Women s Lacrosse Coaches Association), and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, NFHCA (National Field Hockey Coaches Association), where self-identified BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) women's field hockey and women's lacrosse student-athletes and coaches meet virtually to "empower and encourage participants to recognize their own power and develop into strong leaders and role models on their teams, campuses, and in their communities" (IWLCA). Over 12 days, there are several presentations and group discussions that emphasize personal development, leadership skills, and community building. The NFHCA selected seven women's field hockey student-athletes from a list of applicants to attend the program. 

Clark University field hockey head coach Laura-Anne Lane eagerly approached Romain about this opportunity, "Which meant a lot that she really wanted me to be a part of this," said Romain. "I think growing up in predominantly white institutions and even being at Clark too, it's hard to come across opportunities like this where you are able to talk with different coaches across all divisions all across the United States, which was really awesome, and just talking about their experience coaching, assisting, and also being a person of color on an athletic team, so just having to talk about those shared experiences was really awesome." 

"It was a lot of back-and-forth discussion; we read a book that was provided, too, with chapters about leadership and being a person of color in a leadership role. There are some panel speakers as well, one worked for USA Lacrosse." 

"In my small group, I was the only field hockey player, so I was with four or five other lacrosse players. They happened to all be DI, which was awesome to hear about their experience and just how different it is from DIII, and  also the commonalities of what it is like to be a person of color on an athletic team, especially because there are only a few or they might be the only ones." 

"One of the things that I took away from that meeting was the fact that a lot of individuals or people in my group, including myself, as a person of color you, feel the need to always be the one who speaks about an issue that has to do with race because you are the only person on the team who has the first-hand experience. I also think that having these discussions with other people and you are not going to be the only one that everyone turns to that is like 'why don't you talk about this,' so promoting that everyone can contribute, and everyone can have a conversation. Obviously, if you have a first-hand experience, it's very different, but having these conversations come from everyone and not one person of color always, I think, is really, really helpful too, and that just goes not only for that but just in general too, just having multiple leaders on a team and having people look up to you, and relying on other people too." 

"Within the small group discussions that we did, I think one of the things that were really helpful was talking to the other student-athletes and what they have done to best facilitate conversations about race within their teams, not only that but how have they made a better team dynamic and trying to build up on that." 

Romain describes her experience navigating a coaching transition while taking on a new leadership role, stating, "it was a little difficult to adjust going into this leadership role right away under a new coaching staff, but LA has just been super present and is always forwarding us opportunities or always telling us to do this or do that, which is really helpful and I think it promotes a lot of leadership skills throughout our team and also builds this camaraderie with all of us too. We do these leadership meetings now through the spring season, and taking what we learned from what she gives us and just emphasizing that and sharing that as a team, I think that's helped a lot." 

Coach Lane added, "when I received notification of the Leadership Academy for Multiracial Student-Athletes from the NFHCA I knew that Rachael would be the perfect person to take part in the academy. She is a phenomenal leader for our team, she leads in all the ways a team and a coach need.  Having the opportunity to create connections with other multiracial female athletes across divisions was something I knew she would enjoy and would thrive. We have talked about ways that she will bring what she learned and experienced from this to our team and here at Clark." 

Romain plans to return to the field for her fifth year and is gearing up for the fall field hockey season as the team focuses on fitness and lifting during their off-season. The team is smaller than others, Romain emphasizes the importance of fitness, especially for non-dual-sport athletes, as the team has many students who also play lacrosse. 

Romain will earn her Sociology degree, with a Law and Society Concentration in May.  She will begin her Master's in Public Administration degree in August. In the meantime, she is looking towards the future as she applies to summer internships.  

Find out more about the academy below: 

The Future Leaders of the Game: Field Hockey 

The Future Leaders of the Game: Lacrosse