General | 2/3/2021 9:00:00 AM

RIT is celebrating the 35^th anniversary of National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) this week by highlighting five former student-athletes that used sports to springboard themselves to success. Every day this week, a Q&A from each individual will be added, highlighting their insights and successes in their own words. Be sure to check back each day to read their stories.

Pinckney Templeton
Women's Lacrosse
2006 - Graphic Design
Freelance Designer

Pinckney Templeton played lacrosse at RIT from 2003-06, graduating as the program's all-time leader with 133 goals, 154 points and 147 ground balls -- marks that still rank fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, today. She also capped her time in a Tiger uniform by setting single-season records with 58 goals and 65 points and still ranks in the top-10 in both categories. A two-time Empire 8 All-Conference selection, the graphic design major also stood out in the classroom with a 3.98 grade point average while landing Empire 8 Presidents' Academic List three times as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition as a senior. The 2006 RIT Senior Female Athlete of the Year, she became the first women's lacrosse player inducted into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. 

Connect with Pinckney:
LinkedIn: pinckney-templeton
www.pinckneytempleton.com

How has your involvement with sports shaped who you are today?
On the surface, being an athlete is about physical performance, but the values you learn by being an athlete are so much deeper than your abilities on the field. My involvement with sports has been both on the field as a player and on the sidelines as a coach. I learned that winning games is rewarding, and an ultimate reward for all the hard efforts we put in, but that losing games is where I learned the most. Being involved in collegiate sports shaped so much of how I have approached the world since college. I learned discipline, time management, delegation, leadership, teamwork, commitment and it built my confidence. All of these lessons strengthened my abilities in the workplace and in how I approached the world since college.  When I started playing at RIT in 2002, we had lost our coach and were on the brink of not having a program my sophomore year. The women's lacrosse program was in a tough place, and it took coming together with teammates to keep the program alive so that later it could thrive. Passion, dedication and determination to do something that we loved is what got us through that very trying time and to this day reminds me that if you have passion and determination, you cannot just keep something alive, you open the doors to thrive.
 
Tell us about your current professional position or career: 
I am a freelance creative director - working on growing brands. I spent most of my career in the tech industry in San Francisco. I just moved back to the east coast after 14 years and am freelancing from home.    
 
Has being an athlete opened doors for you professionally? How so? 
Being an athlete lead me to my first design job out of school, as it was a connection through coaching lacrosse that I was introduced to the company that I ultimately ended up working for almost six years. Beyond that direct introduction, the lessons in confidence, teamwork, drive and performance that I learned playing lacrosse made me a very valuable employee.          
 
It was just 50 years ago that Title IX removed barriers to allow girls and women to participate in sports. What are your hopes and dreams for girls and women in sports for the future? 
It's unbelievable to think that this happened only 30 years before I played lacrosse at RIT. It's amazing how far women's sports and equality in sports has come, and we must keep focus on supporting women in sports moving forward. My hopes and dreams are for women's sports to continue to rise to the same level as men's and for women to not feel like they have a separate obstacle to success than men do.  
 
What advice do you have for young female athletes today? 
My biggest advice is to enjoy every second of being a student-athlete, as it is a special and unique experience. Nurture the relationships you have with fellow teammates, as they will be there to support you, and you them during and years beyond your bond on the field. Being a student-athlete can be extremely demanding on your body, mind and spirit. But that drive to succeed and push through is so rewarding and will impact your life for decades to come in ways you can't imagine. Be kind to yourself and your body and play your game.
 
What would most people be surprised to learn about you? 
In 2017, I opened a ceramics studio for the San Francisco community to take classes and use the space to create art. I just sold it to move back east because I married my husband who I met at RIT 17 years ago, but only reconnected with this past year. Also, I once won the ring toss on my first try.
 
When you're not working, you can be found... 
Playing with my Bernese mountain dog, Peppercorn, and exploring different ways to be creative - painting, cooking, ceramics, I'm always looking to expand my creative knowledge.