Without Obligation

His first touchdown would be more important than he ever could have imagined. An 11-yard reception to open the scoring for the Aggies en route to their upset victory over No.4 ranked Florida. The stats alone show that Texas A&M wide receiver Chase Lane is a leader on the field, but the field isn’t the only place where he goes to work.

In our world, people from all walks of life turn to their role models for inspiration. For Chase, that is exactly where his love for women’s athletics came from. Throughout his life, Chase has constantly looked toward his mother and two grandmothers for guidance. 

“I learned a lot of things from my mom,” Chase said. “How to treat a woman, compassion and just being in tune with my feminine side. Having the relationship that I have with my mom taught me how to have an appreciation for women.”

This appreciation and respect that Chase learned to show women would only grow. Eventually, Chase came across Allyson Felix, a U.S. Olympic track & field gold medalist, who would become his ‘athletic female role model’. Aside from being one of the most decorated track stars in U.S. history, Felix has also taken on another challenge: motherhood. Allyson Felix welcomed her first child back in late 2018. Watching Felix compete inspired Chase both on and off the track, especially after she became the most decorated track & field athlete in U.S. history this summer, collecting her 11th Olympic medal in Tokyo. 

“Mainly it’s their perseverance,” Chase said on what inspires him about his female counterparts. “Knowing what they are doing and knowing what they are getting themselves into when they compete. Knowing that they’re not going to get the same recognition as male athletes. It’s just the determination, the skill and the commitment every day to go to work and perfect their craft, like we perfect our craft every day.”

Chase has been leading the charge as one of the ambassadors for women’s athletics at Texas A&M, as he has taken to social media over the past year to show his support, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. With Twitter being his primary method of encouragement, many of his tweets have attracted hundreds of interactions.

Many female student-athletes at Texas A&M have been vocal in sharing their opinions on what Chase has done. One of them is Karlina Sample, who with Chase is a co-founder of an organization called “The B.L.U.E.print” and also leads as its President. 

The B.L.U.E. in B.L.U.E.print stands for: Black Leaders who Undertake Excellence. Sample wanted to create a space where Black student-athletes could feel comfortable, make friendships, and discuss experiences and concerns. Karlina’s leadership and creation of this organization helped show Chase how someone in his shoes could make a difference. Chase was motivated by Karlina’s dedication to overcome social injustice and was very passionate about getting involved.

As Chase and Karlina’s friendship progressed, he discovered yet another place where she inspired: the soccer field. Karlina is an outstanding member of the soccer team, logging starts in every game of the 2020 campaign, along with All-SEC First Team and SEC co-Defender of the Year honors. From The B.L.U.E.print to her many soccer accolades, Chase realized that there is nothing Karlina can’t do.

“Chase is very much a leader on and off the field,” Karlina said. “He’s not afraid to speak up in support of women’s sports, even though he knows that a lot of people don’t do it.”

During the 2020-21 season, the Aggie soccer team went 12-4-1 overall, and boasted an undefeated record at home (7-0). At the end of their dominant season, the team finished at No. 6 overall, and were just one of two Southeastern Conference teams to finish in the top 20, while also claiming an SEC Regular Season title. Chase praised the Aggie women on Twitter for their performance in the NCAA Tournament, 

Throughout the year it was evident that Chase had developed an undeniable love and appreciation for women’s basketball.

The Texas A&M women’s basketball team was a force to be reckoned with during the 2020-21 season. The team finished the year ranked No. 4 overall, and like the soccer team, went undefeated at home with a 13-0 record. In support of the basketball team, Chase tweeted,

While Chase has been known to support women’s sports in general, he hasn’t stopped there. He has also been extremely persistent in supporting individual athletes, such as Jordan Nixon. Jordan is a guard for the women’s basketball team, and through her incredible performance in the NCAA Tournament, has garnered recognition from LeBron, Gabrielle Union, Good Morning America and Sports Center. After hitting her buzzer beater to secure an overtime victory against Iowa State, ESPN caught up with her for an emotional and inspirational post-game interview. 

Through tears, Jordan said, “Today was for him”. The day before the game marked the one-year anniversary of the death of her high school coach and Aggie, Dave Edwards. Rather than boasting about the spectacular play that she had just made to win the game, or the fact that she finished with 35 points and seven assists, Jordan praised her team instead.

“It really just goes back to trust. They trust me.” No matter what would have happened in the game, Jordan knew that her teammates would have her back. Having that support and relationship with them made moments like those that followed the win “that much more special.” Being able to perform on a stage as large as that one while dealing with pressure and coping with feelings just shows how much of a competitor Jordan is. 

The show-stopping shot against Iowa State completed a trifecta of game winners for Jordan in just her first season in Aggieland. The other two came earlier in the year against Arkansas during the regular season. Through her postgame speeches and leadership both on and off the floor, Jordan has inspired Aggie Nation and the rest of the world alike. Nixon is undoubtedly prepared to harness the spirit of the 12th Man yet again as she rallies her troops and heads into year two.

After listening to Jordan at the 2021 12th Man Foundation Summer Meetings, Chase took to Twitter again,

“We don’t get enough recognition for anything,” Jordan said. “So for someone like Chase who supports without obligation, and does it because he truly wants to, and because he’s truly interested- It speaks volumes.”

Ever since it was founded in 1996, the WNBA has been fighting tooth and nail to be seen. The average in-person attendance for NBA games is 3x higher than that of the WNBA. In 2019 the NBA Finals averaged north of 20 million viewers per game, while the WNBA averaged just 400,000. This discrepancy in viewership also holds true within the NCAA. 

“Put the women on TV,” Jordan said. “It is so difficult to access certain women’s sports- like it is incredibly difficult. We can start by making it easier to access streams and broadcasts. It needs to be simplified.”

Many people misunderstand women’s athletics because in many cases, they don’t even give it a chance. When asked about the competition level that women’s sports boast, Chase was adamant. “The competition level is the exact same for both males and females. I think that if you just gave it a chance you would be able to see what it has to offer.” 

This year in the softball world, people did give it a chance. The Women’s College World Series totaled more viewers than the baseball College World Series, and everyone had their eyes on one player, Odicci Alexander. 

Odicci captivated the world with her pitching as she led her team to a victory over No.1 ranked Oklahoma to kick things off with an iconic play at the plate that demanded the entire country’s attention. The following day, JMU went on to beat No. 5 Oklahoma State, and the D1 Softball’s Woman of the Year officially achieved legend status. In her fourth and final game of the WCWS, despite being outlasted by Oklahoma, she received a standing ovation and deservingly gained the respect of coaches, players, and fans alike. The WCWS averaged 1.2 million viewers per game, while the CWS averaged 755,000.

Texas A&M is home to many talented athletes, both male and female. Lately though, it seems as if the Aggie women have been stealing the show. The entirety of women’s athletics have proved that they are capable of dominating both at the SEC and national level. Texas A&M’s soccer team won the SEC regular season title and finished in the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Women’s basketball also won the SEC regular season crown and finished its run in the Sweet 16. Women’s tennis made a run to the Sweet 16, women’s swimming & diving was named CSCAA Scholar All-America Team and women’s track & field finished second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while Tyra Gittens and Athing Mu both are finalists for the Bowerman. 

“I want to play in the NFL and I want to get into sports broadcasting, but my end goal is to become an athletics director,” Chase said. “Just being able to see how [Ross Bjork] engages with his athletes, how he knows every athlete’s name, it really goes a long way.” 

Chase will be sure to carry on the lessons that he has learned from Ross into his future career. By doing so, he will be able to create an environment that is safe, collaborative and beneficial for all of his athletes. An environment where athletes will inspire, learn from and constantly support one another. There is no doubt that Chase’s future staff and athletes are going to willingly work together to solve problems and find solutions to anything that they might face.

Chase has taken advantage of being able to see how Bjork does things behind the scenes and has made sure to “replicate that in his day-to-day life.” Seeing how much of a presence that Bjork has on social media is something that really inspired Chase to do the same. 

Chase’s passion for women’s sports has never been in question. When asked about what his favorite women’s sport moment from this year was, that passion continued to shine through. 

Chase’s demeanor immediately changed as his mind raced to choose a moment. His eyes lit up as he exclaimed “I got a couple.” Chase then excitedly listed off, “Laney Caroll’s game winner against Oklahoma State, Jordan Nixon’s game winner against Iowa State, us winning the regular season SEC Championship against South Carolina in Reed, Athing Mu going sub-50 on the 400 at regionals and then her going on to win nationals. Those are my highlights from women’s sports.”

Jordan at the buzzer, Athing making history or Odicci at the plate. Moments like these are iconic, etched into our minds forever. These happened on the biggest stages. Just imagine if they received the same attention and adoration as their male counterparts. How much bigger would these moments have been? How many more would they have inspired? People like Chase are leading the charge to make sure these athletes are seen. And so can you.

“I encourage everybody, with us being back to 100% capacity, to really take this as an opportunity to cheer on your women’s sports at A&M,” Chase said. “Basketball, tennis, swimming & diving, soccer, softball, volleyball, everything. Take the opportunity to embrace that and to be a part of the family.”