When Rylie Spaulding left the NCAA national office after attending the inaugural Native Student-Athlete Summit in June, one quote continued to stick with her.
"Never before in the history of the NCAA has there been this many Natives in this building," said Robert Doore, president and CEO of Chief Mountain Sports and Consulting and a speaker at the summit.
"It just really stuck with me that there is a future in indigenizing sports, and that future is happening now," said Spaulding, a former golf student-athlete at Division II Oklahoma Baptist who graduated in May. "It's an amazing thing, and I was very grateful to be part of that advancement."
In addition to being a place for Spaulding to connect with other Native student-athletes and administrators in attendance, the summit also served as a reminder of how far she has come in her own personal journey of discovering her identity while navigating the life of a student-athlete.
Spaulding, a tribal member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, began that journey in her hometown of Wagoner, a small town in northeastern Oklahoma.
Knowing she didn't want to move far from home for college, Oklahoma Baptist stood out, partly because of its location but mostly because of the culture that head coach Mike Manlapig established for the women's golf program.
"I feel like I saw myself having a space where I could actually grow with him as my coach and with the teammates. … And it turns out, I did," Spaulding said. "It was a great experience. I was able to focus on golf, but also he emphasized that your academics come first and your advancement for your future comes first."
Manlapig saw something in Spaulding early on, as well. During the recruitment process, he could tell she had the potential to succeed beyond her sport.
"From the very beginning, it was clear that she had not only the golf talent but also the character and work ethic we value in our program," Manlapig said. "She asked thoughtful questions, was intentional in getting to know what we're about at (Oklahoma Baptist) and made it clear that she wanted to be part of something bigger than just golf."
For Spaulding, her academics were the priority. Coming into college as the valedictorian of her high school and with an associate's degree she earned taking concurrent college courses while in high school, her work ethic carried over to her studies as a biology major. She chose biology because of her aspirations to become a doctor in the future — one who focuses on tribal health for her Native communities in Oklahoma.Â
"I really like helping others," Spaulding said. "Especially in tribal health, there is a huge lack of (Native) physicians … so that's another way that I can give back to my community."Â
Rylie Spaulding studied biology at Oklahoma Baptist, with aspirations of becoming a physician for Native communities in Oklahoma. (Photos courtesy of Rylie Spaulding)
When Spaulding had things going well in the classroom, her play on the golf course benefited, too. The parallels between the two were something Manlapig emphasized to his team, and Spaulding thinks taking academics seriously played a major role in her ability to keep up with a busy schedule.
"Whenever you're flourishing in your academics, then that'll allow you to flourish in your athletics," Spaulding said. "I feel like that really helped me kind of take a little bit of pressure off myself golfwise."
When Spaulding wasn't putting in time on the golf course or the classroom, she was spending time becoming more involved in the communities on and around campus. She partnered with local schools through Bison Buddies, a mentoring program for student-athletes.
"It was just really rewarding because I feel like sometimes you get caught up in being a college athlete and being a college student, and it gets hard to kind of see things outside of this tunnel vision," Spaulding said. "Whenever you're going into the community and you're seeing these kids who are looking up to you, and they're like, 'Oh, I didn't know that girls could play sports like that, or girls could play golf,' that's so cool. It's really eye-opening, because it's like, 'OK, I am playing for a purpose bigger than myself, and I'm representing something bigger than myself.'"
The Native students on Oklahoma Baptist's campus were another community Spaulding embraced.
"Growing up in Oklahoma, I never really sought out to learn about my culture until I got into college and I saw there's diversity groups and there's a Native American Student Association. … Seeing the diversity made me feel like, 'OK, I know I have this heritage. I feel like I really need to learn more about it and learn where I came from,'" Spaulding said.
Spaulding is continuing to embrace her Native heritage today, combining her interest with her career in medicine. After graduating, she was selected to participate in Mayo Clinic's Native American Pathway Program, a five-week course that prepares undergraduate and postgraduate students with skills and tools they need before matriculating to medical school.Â
Spaulding attended the American Indian Science and Engineering Society's national conference in Minneapolis. The group focuses on Indigenous excellence in STEM.Â
At the end of program, she attended the American Indian Science and Engineering Society national conference in Minneapolis, where thousands of physicians and students from across the nation came to network and share their research and experiences. After attending, Spaulding was reassured that she was ready to take the next step in her medical career.
As she continues her path after athletics, Spaulding will continue to take the lessons she learned as a student-athlete with her. One lesson that will stay top of mind: being proud to represent where she came from and the Native communities that she strives to impact.
