Game changers: The world-class female athletes and sports leaders thriving in Madison

“We always knew it could happen, it just hadn’t happened yet.”

Tamara Flarup said that in a 1995 recorded interview along with Kit Saunders-Nordeen about a nearly sold-out women’s sports event at the university: a 1990 volleyball match between Wisconsin and Illinois in the first round of that year’s NCAA tournament. The late Saunders-Nordeen was an advocate for women’s athletic opportunities and, in 1974, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first athletic director for women’s sports. Flarup, a Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame member, was the school’s first full-time women’s sports information director.

Seeing the Fieldhouse full of fans — something that brought tears to the eyes of Saunders-Nordeen and Flarup in 1990 — is now almost a given for UW–Madison's powerhouse volleyball team, which holds the record for the highest-attended women’s sporting event in state history.

Across the country, people are turning up for — and tuning in to ­— women’s sports like never before. The 2023 Women’s College World Series drew 12,000 softball fans each day (and averaged 2 million TV viewers per game). Last August, a Nebraska-Omaha volleyball game brought more than 92,000 fans into Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium — an all-time attendance record for women’s sports. The very first game of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League had an average audience of 879,000 viewers.

This March, women’s college basketball averaged 35,000 more viewers on Fox than men’s basketball — even with less than half the number of games on the broadcast schedule.

That momentum has found its way to Madison. The UW Women’s Hockey team may not have won the national title game in March, but five of its players were chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in April. Now a month into its inaugural season, the Madison Night Mares softball program is creating new opportunities for collegiate softball athletes while expanding the game’s audience. And in November, League One Volleyball will launch six new professional women’s teams — one of them right here in Madison.

“I’m just going to go ahead and claim it: Madison is now going to be the center of the universe for women’s sports,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at the Madison Night Mares launch event in January.

In some ways, it already is. UW–Madison’s women’s volleyball and hockey teams are consistent contenders for national titles, and many alumnae have gone on to compete in world championships and the Olympics. It’s not just a town for female athletes, but female sports leaders as well: Just look at the front office for the Madison Mallards (and now, the Madison Night Mares, too).

These athletes and leaders always knew it could happen — and they knew it could happen here, in Madison. It just hadn’t happened yet.

Volleyball: A Madison Homecoming

In Aurora, Illinois, a “Dream Big” sign hangs in Lauren Carlini’s childhood bedroom. It’s a fitting backdrop for a Zoom meeting with Carlini: At the age of 12, she drew a picture of herself wearing a No. 7 U.S. National Team jersey, a dream that came true later in her life. As a middle schooler, she decided she wanted to be an Olympian — a goal she’ll achieve in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

But becoming a “founding athlete” for a new professional women’s volleyball team in Madison? Carlini didn’t see that one coming.

In late 2022, Carlini started to hear rumblings about League One Volleyball (LOVB)’s soon-to-be women’s pro league based in the U.S. When the club volleyball organization approached her about becoming a founding athlete — serving as the ambassador and a player for one of the new pro teams — she jumped at the chance.

“I was pretty on board from the beginning,” says Carlini. “And knowing that Madison was a possibility, as a city, that alone was like — OK, where’s the dotted line?”

Since 2020, LOVB has built a network of over 1,200 club teams across the country. Now they’re preparing for their first pro season, which will start this November with six teams, including Madison’s.

In the United States, volleyball is the most-played team sport among high school girls and college women. When ABC broadcast the 2023 NCAA championship, 1.7 million viewers tuned in — even with an NFL game airing simultaneously. Despite volleyball’s popularity, opportunities for professional play have historically existed only overseas (Major League Volleyball attempted to establish a U.S. pro league in 1987 but folded for financial reasons in 1989). Carlini herself played seven seasons abroad in Italy, Russia and Turkey. “We’ve seen viewership and interest rise over the years,” says Carlini. “It’s clear that there is this demand, now, for high-level volleyball in the States.”

Two other leagues are already moving to meet that demand: Athletes Unlimited (AU) launched a volleyball league (featuring 44 athletes rotating among four teams) in 2021, and the Professional Volleyball Federation (PVF) made its debut in January 2024 with seven teams — and three more teams are planned for the 2025 season.

But it’s not about which league establishes itself first. Carlini trusts that ​​League One Volleyball’s community-first structure will make it both successful and sustainable. Madison is also home to two LOVB club teams — the Madtown Juniors and Madison Inferno, which will act as a natural fanbase and talent feeders, as is intended within the league’s European league-based model.

Even though the league is brand-new, its star-studded rosters have set it up for success. Four of LOVB’s six founding athletes played in Tokyo on Team USA’s gold medal-winning squad. LOVB has even attracted elite international players, like Brazil’s two-time gold medalist Fabiana Claudino and French national team captain Christina Bauer. In Madison, Carlini will play alongside Annie Drews, a right-side hitter with a gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics, and other decorated players from the U.S. National Team and elsewhere.

Volleyball is coming back to the U.S., and Carlini — who played for UW–Madison from 2013 to 2017 — is coming back to Madison.

“Getting to be a Badger is something I’m very proud of, and I’m just so grateful to be back now, on home soil,” Carlini says.

Lauren Carlini: Setting the Standard

She’s the best setter in Badger history — and the first Wisconsin volleyball player to be a four-time All-America and All-Big Ten selection. In 2016, Carlini became the first volleyball player to win the AAU Sullivan Award, which recognizes the best amateur athlete in the country. (She beat out six finalists with gold medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics.)

The accolades haven’t gone to her head — which is a key part of her continued success. The setter — part quarterback, part orchestra conductor — is responsible for running the team’s offense and controlling the pace of play.

“As a setter, you cannot have the biggest ego,” says Carlini. “It’s about knowing what the team needs in the moment.”

In her new role with LOVB, Carlini will become a mentor and role model to young players, as well as an athlete representative in the league’s leadership council. With years of practice leading on the court, there’s no doubt she’s up for the challenge.

“It’s a lot of responsibility, but it doesn’t feel heavy. It feels natural,” says Carlini. “For me, it’s easy to be this person for Madison, for LOVB, because I believe in it.”

Softball: Madison’s Next Big Thing

That first satisfying crack of ball against bat — it’s a sound that means summer to many Madison sports fans. But the home opener at Warner Park on June 16 isn’t the start of just another Mallards season: It’s the debut of Madison’s new summer collegiate softball team, and, just maybe, the dawn of a new era for the sport.

Somewhere in the ballpark, Savanna Rainey, the Madison Night Mares’ marketing and operations manager, is watching months of work — and years of passion — come to life in her hometown.

“I’m finally able to give back to the sport, and I’m giving back in a different way that’s going to make the sport expand,” she says.

Summer leagues allow scouts to observe collegiate athletes in the offseason as they develop skills. For baseball players, there are more than 80 summer leagues across the U.S. — some geared toward scouting and others that are more about giving fans a hyped-up game day experience.

Comparatively, softball summer games tend to be a staid affair: “Girls are playing on high school fields and travel ball fields, and [those leagues] are mostly just for girls who are looking to go into the transfer portal,” says Rainey. “This is the first league with this kind of flair to it.”

A national spotlight is on the Madison Night Mares’ first year, when a 16-player team takes the field in a 42-game season with the Northwoods League’s three other softball teams. A successful season might pave the way for more softball teams next season, both in the Northwoods League and beyond.

Already, there’s been a surge of support for the fledgling team. Since the Northwoods League announced its softball teams, more than 80 athletes from across the country have completed the Northwoods League’s application form. In a social media polling campaign to name Madison’s team, over 8,500 people voted.

There’s interest — at the very least, curiosity — and that’s where Rainey comes in.

“My job is to convince the nonbelievers,” says Rainey. “They just need a little bit more reassurance that it’ll be as big and successful as the Mallards.”

Rainey runs the team’s social media, but she knows that the best promotion is the players themselves. The Night Mares’ season includes ​​three doubleheaders with the Mallards, which Rainey thinks will be key to converting softball skeptics.

“I think all it takes is seeing these girls warming up on the field,” says Rainey.

Savanna Rainey: From the Field to the Front Office

Rainey earned impressive accolades as a catcher and third base player at Verona Area High School before going on to play Division I softball at UW–Madison and Howard University. The same skills that made her an asset on the field make her a powerhouse in the front office.

“As a catcher, I’ve always had to be someone that’s the general on the field,” she says. “I’ve always had a voice.” Whether it’s giving feedback on branding or bouncing around recruiting ideas, Rainey isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

The front office’s culture of empowerment contributes to Rainey’s confidence. From GM Samantha Rubin to the seven women on the leadership team that oversees the Mallards and the Night Mares, she’s surrounded by women in sports leadership.

The Night Mares’ front office tells a new story about who can effect change in sports leadership — and in softball.

“As a Black girl, there [were] never a lot of [Black women leaders in sports] for me to look up to,” says Rainey. “I’m hoping, in the role that I’m in now, that I can inspire girls just like me.”

On the Leadership Team: Women are Calling the Shots

The 27-year-old general manager of the Madison Mallards — and now also general manager of the Madison Night Mares — signs her emails “Sam.”

“My signature says Samantha, but not everyone reads it,” Samantha Rubin says. So she’s not surprised when she’s met with double takes at meetings with sponsors and partners. Odds are, they assumed she’d be a man.

“I used to be bothered by that, but now I own it,” she says. “It’s like, yup, it’s me. What do you need? How can I help? What can I do?”

In other words: Get over it, and let’s get to work.

Of the Northwoods League’s 26 baseball teams, four are led by female GMs. At the professional level, the front office gender gap yawns wider still. Only once in Major League Baseball history has a woman held the GM role. Currently, only three teams in the Triple-A minor league class (the highest level for the minors) have a female GM.

“To me, this is just what I do,” Rubin says.

For most people, the GM title brings to mind someone whose job revolves around on-base percentages and player contracts (like Billy Beane from “Moneyball”). That may be true in the major leagues, but at the summer collegiate level, the GM is a jack-of-all-trades.

“The role as a GM in a minor league or summer collegiate level is less [about] data and players and on-field performance,” says Rubin. “It’s more of the overall business: How can we get in more fans? How can we have enough staff to work our concessions stand? What should we put on the menu this summer?”

It’s a little human resources, a little marketing, a little sales and a lot of hustle. From working with the food and beverage team to creating a season-long sales promotion, Rubin aims to improve the Mallards experience every summer.

That’s a tall order. The Mallards have been the gold standard for summer collegiate baseball since before Rubin stepped into the GM role in 2022. Warner Park regularly fills its 6,750-person capacity: In 2023, the Mallards averaged 6,353 fans per game, outpacing 160-plus other summer collegiate teams in the nation (as they have every year — except 2021, when they faced capacity restrictions due to the pandemic — since at least 2010).

Rubin’s not resting on those laurels.

“We never want to be the team that’s like ‘Well, we sold out a bunch of our games. Sounds good, let’s do it again next year,’ ” says Rubin. “We never want to plateau, we never want to settle.”

Juggling her many responsibilities can make it hard to relax, but Rubin relishes the challenge — “I like having a hand in everything,” she admits — and finds moments to slow down.

“I literally have it in my calendar on opening day at 9 a.m. to walk around the stadium and enjoy it,” she says. “There’s pressure, there’s goals, there’s stress, there’s budgets … but it’s [important] to put it all into perspective and remember that this is fun.”

Samantha Rubin: Doing the Heavy Lifting

Rubin jumped at the chance to be the GM of the new Madison Night Mares in addition to her existing role as GM of the Madison Mallards. And getting the new team off the ground should be no problem, since she can deadlift 350 pounds.

In addition to leading the team at Warner Park, Rubin is a Level 1 CrossFit Trainer at CrossFit Recursive. Just like in her role with the Mallards and the Night Mares, building community is her priority.

“If they leave my class saying, ‘What a great workout’ or, ‘That was so fun,’ then I’ve done my job right,” she says.

For Rubin — a lifelong athlete and former collegiate rower at the University of Florida — the gym is an escape from stress and anxiety.

“There’s a lot of things that I’ll sacrifice, but working out is not one of them,” she says. “To be able to do my job well and live my life well, I need to have that time to reset.”

Hockey: Filling Arenas

The current Badgers Women’s Hockey team is continuing the legacy of what might be Wisconsin’s best sports dynasty — ever.

The banners in LaBahn Arena (home of the women’s team, adjacent to the Kohl Center) make a case for it, listing seven national titles — the most of any women’s hockey program — and 14 appearances in the Frozen Four. It’ll be 15 when they include this year’s championship run. Fourteen alumnae have become Olympians. In fact, from 2006 to 2018, every Winter Olympics U.S. women’s hockey team included at least five former Badgers.

But the program’s most impressive statistics have nothing to do with hardware. Of the 44 schools that offered NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey this past season, only three averaged more than 1,000 fans per game, and the majority saw less than 20% of their seats filled.

At UW–Madison, the average attendance for a women’s hockey game was 2,269, just four seats shy of LaBahn Arena’s maximum capacity.

Wisconsin doesn’t just hold the NCAA’s all-time single game attendance record with 15,359 fans (when they played at the Kohl Center for a “Fill the Bowl” night) — they also own the top six spots on the list for game attendance.

“One of the things that’s been consistent is our crowds,” says Laila Edwards, a sophomore forward. “Even when we travel, they never make us feel like we’re playing an away game.”

Madison isn’t the only place where arenas are filling up for women's hockey games. The sport’s profile is on the rise: The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which launched in January, has already made waves in the sports world by setting (or resetting) the world record for attendance at a women’s hockey game six times. There’s no shortage of women's hockey fans — in fact, it seems like there might be a shortage of seats.

Laila Edwards: Breaking Records

UW Women’s Hockey’s Laila Edwards is known for her outstanding “hockey IQ” (or her ability to “see” and execute plays) on the ice. Whether the 6-foot-1 forward is lunging to knock a puck away from an opponent or racing toward the goal, her skating is noticeably poised and confident.

But Edwards is more humble about explaining her game. “I’ve been told I’m a good passer, and I set people up to score. People say I have a heavy shot, too,” she says. This season, she totaled 21 goals and 35 assists for the Badgers — but her biggest contribution to the game didn’t happen while she was wearing crimson and white.

Last November, Edwards became the first Black woman to p​​lay on the U.S. Senior National Team. This April, she made history again (and again, and again), when she became the first Black woman to represent the U.S. at a world championship and the first Black woman to score for the U.S. women’s team. She was named to the 25-player roster for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championship, and became the youngest non-goalie to receive the MVP award at the IIHF Women’s World Championship. In her second game against Czechia, Edwards scored twice. Over the course of the tournament’s seven games, Edwards scored six times, which earned her the MVP award.

“I broke the barrier of being the first Black woman to play, which is obviously great,” says Edwards. “But I think it’s even more important to see [that] I made it here, and that I’m also able to succeed here.”

Right now, Edwards is focused on bringing home another NCAA championship in her two remaining years as a Badger. Come 2026, she has her sights set on the Olympics.

The 20-year-old is not done making history yet.

Anna Kottakis is digital editor at Madison Magazine. IG: @annakottakis

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