GOOOOOOOOAL!

Helping student athletes score on and off the field

Andra Mohler’s schedule is packed. Her days are filled with classes, an internship at Meadowlark Hills retirement community, strength training, studying, soccer practice, and meeting with academic and career advisors.

There’s barely time for anything else, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice that comes with being a student athlete, but it’s worth it,” said Mohler, who plays forward on K-State’s soccer team. “After I graduate, I’m sure I’ll look back and be really glad I played at K-State because it taught me so many skills.”

For Mohler, a junior in kinesiology from Tulsa, Oklahoma, part of what makes her time at K-State so special is having access to the 360-degree support provided by generous donors. Nearly every aspect of her K-State experience — and that of all student athletes — is elevated by philanthropy.

Behind every battle for the ball, donors provide the winning edge.

Field of dreams

“Playing at Buser Family Park is amazing! It’s actually one of the best soccer facilities in the country. We have all of the amenities — our own training room, fueling station, lounge area, film room, and of course coaches’ offices and our locker room.

One cool thing about our field is that it’s managed by students in K-State’s turf management program. They keep it super nice. It’s the perfect condition to play on.”

Building up performance

“Not a lot of programs have this nice of a training room for one team. We come in to stretch and warm up before practice or strength training, and after practice for recovery purposes. We even have our own hot and cold tubs. It’s nice to not have to share those with other teams. And of course, we have all the equipment needed for post workout, injury recovery and physical therapy.”

Fueling champions

“Our fueling station has pretty much anything we’d need, like protein shakes, fruit, sandwiches, yogurt, cheese … all the good snacks and stuff. And there’s the coffee pot, which the coaches mostly use. Our little fueling station gets utilized a lot!”

Winning Mindset

“Upstairs is where our mental health services are. It’s really awesome to have access to clinicians, because being a student athlete is not easy. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that, and it can be overwhelming.”

Bigger, better, stronger

“The Olympic Training Center is a big, awesome space that a lot of teams use. We each get our personalized strength and conditioning plan. We do a lot of strength training in the spring since it’s our off season. Everyone on our team has gotten faster, stronger and more fit this spring.”

Food for thought

“The fact that we have meals provided for us is a game changer because it’s one less thing we have to think about. We get breakfast and dinner on weekdays and dinner on Sunday nights. Each team has a nutritionist who educates us on what we should be eating. It’s our responsibility to fuel our bodies properly.”

Learning for life

“Having academic and career advising, a place to study and access to tutoring is amazing. We also get financial literacy training. They have career fairs for student athletes, and they can help connect us with internships. Employers like to hire student athletes because we gain a lot of skills that are relevant for work. For me, I’ve learned some serious time-management skills from being a student athlete!”

POWERED BY PHILANTHROPY