Most athletes wait until their careers are over to go on-air, but she isn’t done playing. Virden jump-started her broadcasting career as well, providing commentary for the UWLX’s coverage team for one regular-season game, the semifinal game she didn’t play in and the championship game. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which Duke participates in, was 91 percent white as of the 2016-17 season, according to the NCAA.Īs physically demanding a sport as lacrosse is, Virden sees an open road in front of her. Virden doesn’t want to lay the blame on the sport she plays, which has had a litany of racially charged incidents in the recent past: a simple “lacrosse racism” search will fill a page with stories from high school and college players using slurs, to three primarily Native American lacrosse teams being banned for reporting slurs made against them. She grew up in a majority white town, educated at a majority white school. “I think that was probably the biggest mistake I’d ever made in my entire life, and I’ve definitely made a lot of mistakes,” Virden said. Coach Kerstin Kimel instead released a statement. Virden said she, at the time, was not allowed to say a word. The backlash was immediate, online and in the media.
#Bumpy road salve full#
I take full responsibility for my actions.” And that’s the issue itself, that I was unaware. “I think that was a tough time for me because I was completely unaware of what I was doing. “But that was pure ignorance, and I’m pretty ashamed that even happened,” Virden said. Virden’s name tagged with her painted face made it to Deadspin, and beyond. Posing as Buckwheat, Virden painted her whole face black.Ī photo of the juniors’ entry was featured on a Duke blog post about the contest but quickly sparked controversy. Lacrosse had often been a refuge for Virden when her life veered out of her control.Įver the competitor, Virden and the other juniors on the Duke women’s lacrosse team dressed up as members of “The Little Rascals” for Halloween in 2012, to defend their title in the team’s Halloween costume competition. When it was gone, Virden tried to shape it back together, leading clinics for children and assistant-coaching at Elon, to keep the sport in her life. “So often they tell youth lacrosse players who go on college visits, ‘When you go on these college visits, you have to look at everything because lacrosse is only the next four years of your life.
#Bumpy road salve professional#
“Had I started my whole college career knowing there was a professional league to go into, I don’t think I would have tried harder - I think I tried as hard as I could to be the best player in college - but it just would have been awesome to know my sport continues,” Virden said. For women, there was nothing like it - and wouldn’t be until 2016, two years after Virden’s senior year. If she had been a 300-pound male football defensive lineman, she would have likely been selected in the first round of the NFL draft.Įven Major League Lacrosse has existed for 18 seasons, laying a path for male players to extend their careers beyond college. Virden was only the 26th player in Duke history to surpass 100 ground balls in her career (121) and the first Blue Devil to earn two straight first-team All-America honors since 2009.Įven before then, with the McDonogh girls lacrosse team, Virden oversaw back-to-back Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference titles and the birth of the Eagles’ 198-game winning streak in 2009.
She stood out, and not just because of the thick eye black cutting her cheekbones and jaw the two-time Tewaaraton Award nominee finished second in program history in draw controls (184) and ninth in caused turnovers (77). Virden left everlasting marks on the Duke lacrosse program’s defense, anchoring the Blue Devils to four straight NCAA tournament appearances, including a semifinal berth in 2011.
“Your mental state revolves around the sport so heavily for four years, and then it just doesn’t anymore.”
“My last year of college we didn’t have this as an opportunity, and it’s really hard to transition into normal life without being so on a routine, on a four-hour-a-day schedule where you’re dedicating your life ,” she said.
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