To honor Women’s History Month, University of Detroit Mercy’s Office of Marketing & Communications spoke to Titan student-athletes and coaches about their experiences in sports, which Title IX made possible. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the landmark legislation.
Here’s what women’s lacrosse student-athlete Kaileigh Nuessgen had to say:
Kaileigh Nuessgen
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Beavercreek, Ohio
Major/Minor: Criminal Justice (accelerated 5-year)/Leadership and Literature
Expected graduation year: 2025
Sport: Women’s lacrosse
Why did you choose Detroit Mercy?
The academic and athletic opportunities that were available here, and then the environment. It was something I wanted to be a part of, a growing city.
How did you get involved in sports? How old were you? What sports did you play?
My older brother was always in sports and my family was just really big into sports. As soon as I could walk, I was doing something. It started with soccer and then I started wrestling in first grade and picked up lacrosse my freshman year of high school.
What has your experience as a student-athlete at Detroit Mercy been like?
I’d say very positive. Obviously last year with COVID and coming in as a freshman, it was definitely an adjustment to be made. But we did the best we could with what we had and what we could do. There’s obviously a lot of growing to be done everywhere, but I definitely enjoy the environment of college athletics.
How has participating in sports shaped your life experiences?
I think it taught me a lot about discipline and hard work. Especially with wrestling, I definitely faced a lot of difficulty being a female in a male-dominated sport. There were a lot of times where I was younger, people wouldn’t want to wrestle me because I was a girl. Just learning to work through that and continue to be underestimated in every match you step out on. It taught me a lot about pushing through that.
There weren’t a lot of girls to wrestle my freshman, sophomore or junior year, I didn’t really run into many. But my senior year, Ohio actually started the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association state tournament for women’s wrestling, so I was able to, my senior year, compete in that against other females. I did a lot of girls tournaments when I was younger, but in high school, there weren’t a lot. It was co-ed. I was the only girl on my team, but I wrestled against guys all four years.
Who is a role model that you’ve had in sports?
That’s a good question. I can’t really think of a specific athlete because I kind of switch it up, but all the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team players were pretty big growing up, because I was really big into soccer when I was younger. So just seeing them fight through a lot of adversity and stuff like that, that’s very inspiring. And there’s a couple female wrestlers that are cool to watch and cheer on in the Olympics.
Check out our other profiles on our women student-athletes and coaches: Women’s soccer student-athlete Hannah Alexis.