As both teams lined up on the third-base line and the crowd rose to its feet for the playing of the national anthem before Iowa’s double-header with St. Thomas on Wednesday, a few Iowa softball players stayed behind.
Four players — Jaylee Ojo, Sofia Elliott, Soo-Jin Berry, and Mya Clark — dropped down to one knee ahead of the match.
Today’s National Anthem at Pearl Field. pic.twitter.com/iv8oxFB02k
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) March 12, 2025
Iowa softball has been scrutinized closely in the last week, as interim head coach Brian Levin was let go following comments he made to his team after a game in which a few of his players decided to kneel for the national anthem.
While kneeling for the national anthem has been a practice athletes have done in protest for many years, the action remains extremely controversial and troubling for some, especially Levin, who is a 16-year Green Beret.
Following Levin’s departure, assistant coach Karl Gollan was called to step into the acting head coach role.
While the players’ decision to kneel has seemed to overshadow the team’s identity, Gollan hasn’t made it a point of emphasis for the athletes or coaches.
“No, not at all,” Gollan said when asked if he addresses kneeling to his team. “We have conversations about softball. My job and my knowledge base is understanding how to try to help the girls win ball games. We give the freedom for everybody to be themselves in here, and we focus on softball. Those are the things that connect us and make us common, so we focus on those things.”
One Hawkeye player who kneeled not only before Levin’s departure but again on Wednesday before the Hawkeyes double-header against St. Thomas was second-year starting shortstop Soo-Jin Berry. Berry credits her teammates for having her back through her decision and this time of uncertainty within the softball program.
“It’s been tough,” Berry said. “But knowing that my teammates have my back is nice, and it makes it a lot easier to play the game and just focus on the game.”
Berry also explained her decision to kneel for the anthem and how her teammates have supported her through it.
“I do kneel for personal reasons,” Berry said. “My teammates have always stressed that they’re always going to support me no matter what. I kneeled last weekend in Alabama, and [Brianna Johnson] gave me a hug right after, so I think they don’t necessarily have a problem with it and they’re always going to be supportive of me no matter what.”
Before his departure, Levin sent an audio file to The Daily Iowan expressing concern with the softball program’s team culture. Berry, along with teammate Tatianna Roman, explained that the culture has always been great among the players.
“I think the culture is great,” Berry said. “I don’t have any comment about the person who made those type of comments, but our culture is great. We all love each other with our whole hearts and we love softball.”
“We’re all really positive and loving girls that have each other’s backs,” Roman said. “People can have their opinions on what they want, but we know within our hearts who we are. We’re just using that moving forward, and we’ve got each other’s backs so we’re good.”