Watch: Leesburg resident produces viral ‘Save Tribe Swim Rap’ video

The College of William & Mary announced Sept. 3 that it will no longer sponsor seven varsity sports programs — men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field and women’s volleyball — following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 academic year due to monetary concerns.

The decision will potentially impact 118 student-athletes and 13 coaches.

Missy Cundiff, a Leesburg resident who competes for the Tribe’s swim team, said she and other athletes learned sports were being cut through a brief Zoom meeting that did not allow for any discussion after Director of Athletics Samantha K. Huge read a statement.

“I was thinking to myself, what can we do as athletes that other programs in our positions have not done? At this time, the coaches and parents just said [for us] to focus on academics. This is difficult, just focus on what you can control,” said Cundiff, an Honorable Mention Scholar All-American with a double major in accounting and psychology.

“But being somewhat of a type A person, that wasn’t really an option for me,” she continued. “I wanted to do what I could to help save the program.”

A few days after the announcement, Cundiff developed the idea of producing a music video and spent the next couple of days coordinating film times with her teammates.

Read Loudoun Times-Mirror and visit savetribeswimming.com