By Cal Lutheran News
Title Winners Visit White House
On July 22, 2024, members of Cal Lutheran’s national champion women’s soccer and men’s volleyball teams witnessed history. Visiting the White House for a celebration of the 2023-2024 NCAA champions, the 23 student-athletes and five coaches had a front-row seat to Vice President Kamala Harris’ first public comments since President Joe Biden bowed out of the election the day before.
“To be invited to the White House along with 1,000 other athletes who were the best in their sport this year … I mean, that’s a big deal,” said men’s volleyball coach Kevin Judd.
More than 90 college teams were represented at College Athlete Day, which brought together NCAA champions from all three divisions. Harris, who addressed the athletes instead of Biden because the president was recovering from COVID, said in part: “Each of you has faced challenges and obstacles, and you have endured. … By doing so, you demonstrated that true greatness requires more than skill. It requires grit and determination. You all know what it means to commit and to persevere. And you know what it means to count on teammates.”
Women’s flag football coming to Cal Lutheran
Women’s flag football is a new sport at California Lutheran University.
Recognizing the game’s growing popularity in high schools across the state ― including those in Ventura County ― the university will debut flag football as a club sport this spring, intending to develop it into an NCAA Division III-sanctioned program by the 2026-27 school year.
Athletic Director Howard Davis called the decision a “no-brainer.”
“The demand in our area and throughout the state is unmistakable given its growth and success. Very quickly flag football will be ubiquitous throughout the college athletics landscape,” Davis said. “I’m proud that Cal Lutheran is an early adopter and excited to add what I believe will be another elite athletic program for us.”
Almost unheard of a decade ago, flag football is now a sanctioned girls’ varsity high school sport in 11 states. At the collegiate level, 25 NAIA schools and several NCAA Division III institutions offer flag football. The sport will debut as an Olympic event at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
According to USA Football, there were over 230,000 girls ages 6 to 17 playing flag football in the United States in 2023, up 44% since 2014. The sport is played in 100 different countries.
The sport’s growth has been fueled by the NFL, which sees the game as a way to expand football’s popularity around the globe. Because it requires very little equipment ― just a football and flags ― and only seven players to field a team, it’s considered much more accessible than traditional tackle football.
Cal Lutheran is the second Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member school to announce its intent to add women’s flag football. The University of Redlands did so recently, and additional SCIAC institutions are expected to follow suit.
“We’re very confident that we’ll be able to build a schedule come spring and, in the coming years, recruit some of the best student-athletes around,” Davis said.
Until then, the university hopes to field a team from the current student body. Team activities will begin in January.
Davis said Cal Lutheran is in the process of selecting a head coach and will make an announcement once the decision is made. The future team will practice on Memorial Field in the center of campus and play games at William Rolland Stadium, mirroring the Kingsmen football team. Student-athletes interested in competing in women’s flag football can find more information and an interest form at CLUsports.com.
Cal Lutheran relaunches Victory Club
The essence of six decades of athletics at California Lutheran University — teamwork, determination, achievement — was on full display at a special event held Oct. 17 in Lundring Events Center. Part tribute, part celebration, part sales pitch, Road to Victory served as the official relaunch of the Victory Club, Cal Lutheran’s long-running sports booster organization.
Matt Ward, vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Success, told the 220 people in attendance that student-athletes represent “the best of who we are as an institution.”
The evening’s highlight was an eight-minute video narrated by longtime Cal Lutheran supporter Karsten Lundring ’65, the namesake of Lundring Events Center. The video took viewers on a captivating journey through the history of the university’s sports success.
Seated next to his players, women’s soccer coach Frank Marino shed tears watching a replay of his team’s stunning come-from-behind victory over defending champion Christopher Newport University in the semifinals.
“Every one of our players ― all 37 of them ― got to go to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA (provides funding) for 29 people to go. So, all that extra money had to come from somewhere, and it was the Victory Club support that got us there and got those kids to experience probably the greatest moment of their entire lives that they’ll remember forever,” Marino said.
In the newly reimagined Victory Club, members can expect more opportunities to interact with the student-athletes they support. These include exclusive experiences like “coach for a day” and the chance to attend practices and pre-game socials. To make membership in the Victory Club more accessible, the university has added the option of paying dues monthly. Membership levels start for as little as $10 a month.
