In 2017, Sociology major Rose Lavelle graduated from UW-Madison. Fast forward to today, and Rose has added another achievement to her impressive resume: she was named the 2025 Female Player of the Year by U.S. Soccer!
Rose’s accomplishments include a FIFA Women’s World Championship in 2019 and an Olympic gold medal in 2024. She’s a star midfielder on Gotham FC, and she’s been on the U.S. Women’s National Team for the past decade. Even though she started the 2025 season recovering from ankle surgery, Rose went on to score game-winning goals.
We believe a background in sociology may have contributed to Rose’s success on the field. Perhaps sociology classes helped her to think in terms of systems and structures, contributing to her strategic analysis. Or possibly concepts like conflict theory and social cohesion might have helped her think about soccer differently and act accordingly. She obviously has extraordinary talent, for which we can’t take all of the credit, but we can’t help but think that Rose’s background in sociology has helped her get to where she is now: one of the most talented soccer players in the country!