Being a professional athlete may fulfill the dreams of many players across different sports, but something else was missing for Sarah Levy and Stephanie Rovetti. 

In the midst of the tackling and running, the U.S. women’s rugby duo realized they had a second passion away from the sport. 

Levy and Rovetti had to hit the books to achieve this goal of earning their degrees in physical therapy and occupational therapy, respectively. 

For 28-year-old Levy, she felt like she always had a connection toward physical therapy, but had to focus on pursuing a career in rugby. When the chance arose for her to finally get back in the classroom and get her degree in this field, she did not hesitate. 

“I loved the aspect of using movement to help build muscle in ways that I can transpose onto the field,” she said. “The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences was the only program I found that you only have to do the classes every other weekend. This helped me and also people who have families or full-time jobs to be able to have their normal lives and study on the side.”

Rovetti also attended and earned her degree from the same university to complete a years-long dream. 

“I started playing on the national team at 27, and throughout the years there were moments to really think about what I wanted to do,” the 32-year-old San Diego, California native said. “I started to think what impacted my life and what I’m passionate about besides rugby, and occupational therapy is something I’ve wanted to explore.”

Playing the sport made it easy for the two athletes to decide their educational goals, but there were other factors as well. 

Getting involved in the medical field always lingered in the back of Levy’s mind, but she was more sure of her decision when she realized she enjoyed strengthening her muscles and also caring for others if their body was feeling unwell.  

Levy said she is now putting her degree to good use by helping out her teammates on the pitch or at practice. For example, if a teammate suffers an injury or is experiencing muscle pain, Levy is quick to provide assistance and determine where and what exactly is the type of injury. 

“Some of my teammates will ask me questions if they don’t want to overload the athletic trainer,” Levy said. “It makes me feel really good because I put so much work into this physical therapy degree. I don’t know when I’ll start using it but for right now, it’s nice getting some acknowledgment of the hard work I have put in. It’s cool to see that my teammates see that as well.”

Rovetti’s decision to pursue occupational therapy was more on the family side of things. Her younger brother has Down syndrome and she saw the inspiring, positive impact occupational therapists had on him.

“Growing up, my little brother had occupational therapists that I got to see and help with throughout his life,” she said. “It really changed his life and got him to where he is today, which is so awesome. Alongside that, I learned so much from going to his occupational therapy sessions and seeing the impact not only on my brother but also on our family and his friends. That was something I was passionate about and I wanted to be able to give back.”

Rovetti added she was impressed with how occupational therapy also reaches into the sports realm when players suffer certain injuries.

At times for Rovetti, she would get too invested in the sport in a negative way. Knowing there was another outlet to relieve some of the pressure she put on herself from the sport was also key in deciding to pursue a degree. 

“My whole life was about rugby and performing at the highest level, but it was a little bit counter-intuitively,” she said. “I put all my identity in being a rugby player and nothing else outside of it mattered. I was always focused on working hard, but then when I'd have a bad practice or didn't play well, I felt this mental drought on a different level that wasn’t healthy for me. Now that I’m really developing my identity outside of my sport and following my passions, it’s allowing me to have an avenue to escape and feel like a more whole person.”

Levy and Rovetti are proud of their academic accomplishments, but the road to earning their degree while competing for a spot on the Olympic team was no easy task. 

Rugby is a physical sport that requires a lot of strength training, film study and tactical planning to be successful on the pitch. Although Levy and Rovetti said the university helped out with their schedule, there still was a challenge in balancing their personal aspirations and Olympic dreams. 

“As rugby and in-person classes picked up it was hard to split my mental capacity,” Levy said. “Physically, I could get to practices and do well in school, but mentally, it spread me a little bit thin and it kind of fell over into my rugby performance. I wasn't performing as well as I had used to.”

It took some time for the 28-year-old to find a good routine to manage both lives. Eventually, she enrolled in half-course semesters and that helped her out in pushing to make the Olympic roster. This new balance also provided her a sense of ease knowing she could go home after practice or a game without worrying about school. 

The feeling is mutual for Rovetti.

“My heart was pulled in two directions where I wanted to give my all to rugby, but I’m also passionate about this other thing outside of rugby that I wanted to give my all to,” Rovetti said. “But I only have so much to give. Learning to be present in playing rugby and not think about school, but also being present in school and not think about rugby was really challenging for me.”

Rovetti credits her professors, classmates and Levy for being understanding of her dreams and making it less stressful to earn her degree. This support system allowed Rovetti to find the balance between her two passions. 

Now that Levy and Rovetti are on their path to earning degrees, they can look forward to another exciting milestone in their lives – the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Both athletes will make their Olympic debuts this summer in what each player described as an unbelievable thing to say out loud. 

For Levy, though, it still hasn’t quite hit her that she’s an Olympian.

“It’s a surreal feeling, but I just don’t know how to feel yet,” she said. “It is really cool, though. The Olympics is basically another tournament, but this time we've got the whole world watching. Especially getting support from our country who might not have paid attention to rugby on a daily basis, but now they’ll watch because the Olympics is such a pinnacle event.”

Levy will have another thing to make the Olympics feel more real to her – bunking with her teammate Ilona Maher at the village.

Maher is not only an Olympian, but she also is a TikTok sensation and has 1.1 million followers on the social media app. 

Levy said she is not TikTok savvy herself, but knows she’ll have the responsibility of shooting videos for Maher and maybe even starring in some. 

“Ilona always opens up TikTok ideas to the group and whoever wants to be in them can be in them,” Levy said. “I’m not usually the one to volunteer, but I’ll do it every so often. I’ll find out soon if I either pulled the short straw or the best straw being her roommate at the village.”

Rovetti added to Levy's words about Maher saying she's happy with all the eyes her teammate has brought to the sport and also being a big proponent in women’s sports and body positivity. 

Rovetti said making her Olympic debut this summer is even more special to her knowing the amount of support the team is receiving ahead of the Games. 

“We have five values that we live by as a team, and one of those values is love,” she said. “The support we've gotten from back home feels like we have an army behind us. That love and support is a cool feeling.”

Levy and Rovetti know it’s going to take every player on the team to have a chance of winning a medal in Paris. The U.S. was drawn into Pool C along with Brazil, Japan and host nation France. It’s a group that the U.S. should make it out of to move on to the knockout rounds of the tournament, but from there is where they will be tested. Especially if the U.S. comes up against Oceania powerhouses New Zealand and Australia. 

“Australia and New Zealand have so much experience being in the finals at different tournaments,” Levy said. “We've had a little bit of experience this past year of being up there with them. But I think it's about being able to handle the pressure in those high-stakes games, execute the game plan we have set from the start and see how the other team plays to that. Some teams have experience being in high-pressure situations. We have to maintain our focus in those high-pressure moments.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Rovetti said the tournament will also be successful if the U.S. can make an impact that transforms the sport into becoming more popular back home. 

“Rugby entered the Olympics in 2016 and it's a very new sport,” she said. “One of the things that we really want to do is create our own brand of USA Rugby and leave a legacy. We have this opportunity to kind of create that path and move the journey forward. The Olympics will be a powerful opportunity to do that and we have so much gratitude for that.”