Inspiration on the Pitch and Online
The World Cup feels a lot like an education journey.
This Sunday, billions of people around the world will watch the FIFA World Cup final match and see the winning team’s captain lift soccer's most coveted trophy. For the past month, the tournament has united nations, families, coworkers and strangers in celebration of extraordinary athletic skill. We've marveled at the artistry of elite players like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland as well as the rise of smaller nations’ teams, such as Cabo Verde. Beyond the goals and celebrations, the World Cup has reminded us that excellence, perseverance, teamwork and hope are aspirations we all understand.
As I watched the tournament unfold, I was reminded that the world's greatest soccer players and today's most successful online students have far more in common than we might guess. Neither succeeds because of talent alone. They succeed because they develop many qualities, including three that define excellence in any field: vision, discipline and resilience.
Photo credit: Jeff Allred, 2001.
My connection to soccer is deeply personal. I was a collegiate All-American goalkeeper and team captain, and the game shaped me well beyond my years on the pitch. It remains one of my greatest passions. This summer for the games, I wore my favorite team's jersey on World Cup match days, joined watch parties, and traveled to Seattle for the U.S.-Belgium match, where I experienced firsthand what sports fans know as the "agony of defeat."
Vision: Seeing the Goal
The best soccer players rarely focus only on the ball. They constantly scan the field, anticipating what comes next and positioning themselves before opportunities appear.
The same is true of successful online students. They look beyond the next assignment or assessment to the future they are creating. Every competency mastered, every course completed, and every obstacle overcome brings them one step closer to a better career, greater financial security and expanded opportunities for their families.
Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha embodies that kind of vision. Before becoming a professional footballer, he worked as an electrician and didn’t sign his first professional contract until his mid-20s. At age 40, he became one of the breakout stars of this World Cup. His journey reminds us that there is no single path to excellence. Some of the most remarkable accomplishments come from people whose journeys begin later, take unexpected turns or require extraordinary persistence.
Like athletes, students arrive on their education journeys with different experiences, timelines and definitions of success. What matters is that they can see the goal and keep moving toward it.
Discipline: Do the Work. Mastery Comes Long Before Game Day
World Cup victories are earned through thousands of hours of preparation, practice and deliberate improvement. Online competency-based education requires the same discipline.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, more than 5.2 million students are enrolled exclusively online at degree-granting colleges and universities. Nearly 200,000 of them attend WGU while balancing careers, military service, caregiving responsibilities and family life. They study before sunrise, after children go to bed, during lunch breaks and on weekends. Their progress isn't driven by a semester calendar. It is driven by commitment.
Soccer is governed by a 90-minute regulation period unless the game goes to extra time or even penalty kicks. Education, however, should not be defined by the clock. At WGU, mastery, not seat time, is what matters. We don't ask how many hours students spend in class. We ask whether they can demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to succeed. Like the world's best footballers, they advance because they have mastered the fundamentals, not because the clock says it's time to move on.
Resilience: Always Play the Next Ball
Even the greatest players lose possession, miss penalty kicks or concede goals. Champions distinguish themselves by how they respond under pressure and when things aren’t going their way. They learn, adjust, and prepare for the next play.
Students face similar moments: difficult assessments, unexpected life events or competing demands from work and family. Success belongs not to those who avoid setbacks but to those who keep moving forward.
Soccer legend Pelé captured that idea well: “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and, most of all, love of what you are doing.”
Mia Hamm, widely regarded as one of the greatest women’s soccer players in history, learned a similar lesson during her time at the University of North Carolina. Legendary coach Anson Dorrance asked what she wanted from soccer. After pressing past the expected answers, Mia finally admitted she wanted to be the best.
Dorrance quietly switched off the lights, let the room go dark and silent, then turned them back on.
“Being the best,” he told her, “is a decision. You make it every day.”
That lesson transformed Mia’s mindset. She went on to win two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals and inspire generations of players, including me.
Like Mia Hamm, our successful WGU students have the winning, resilient mindset needed to excel in both their studies and their professional careers.
Champions Keep Learning
Every four years, the World Cup reminds us that championships are not won in a final matchup. They are earned through thousands of small decisions made long before the opening whistle — decisions to prepare, persevere and keep improving.
Every day, WGU students make the same decisions. They log in after work, after putting children to bed, before sunrise, and between life’s countless responsibilities. They choose to keep learning because they believe a better future is possible. They know education is the surest path.
At WGU, we have the privilege of helping students make that choice. Like Coach Dorrance, we can help them flip the switch — to see themselves not simply as people hoping to earn a degree, but as people capable of achieving it.
Because every championship — and every degree — begins with a decision. Then it is earned one day, one project, one assessment and one act of perseverance at a time.
