Less than a year after helping Nebraska reach another national semifinal, former Husker Lexi Rodriguez is as busy as ever.

Besides gearing up for her second professional season with LOVB Nebraska and Major League Volleyball, Rodriguez has launched a pair of ventures that aim to both inspire and support young girls. I sat down with Rodriguez to learn about these new projects and why she is so passionate about them.

“Part of my why is to impact authentically,” Rodriguez said. “I am very true to that. I want to continue to do that for wherever and however long I play. I don’t want to stop, and I want to be able to continue to inspire and motivate the next generation, or just people in general, of all ages.

“We obviously at SheSports want to continue to grow it and hopefully get this app kind of nationwide and be able to provide these resources to kids around the country.”

SheSports is a new app designed to build confidence and community among girls ages 8–18 by connecting them with female collegiate athletes. Rodriguez co-founded the project and is working with a number of the top athletes from Nebraska, Omaha, and Creighton, including Maisie Boesiger, Gena Jorgenson, Britt Prince, Reese Snowden, Kayla Starr, Jasmyn Brown, Sarah Galligan, Cora Olsen, Ava Martin, and Kendal Radke.

In this new age of college athletics, those athletes are being compensated for their contributions through name, image, likeness (NIL).

“They just have to provide content to these young women, young girls who are kind of on the other side of it,” Rodriguez said. “And in exchange, we pay them, we give them money that they are so well deserving of. All they have to do is go on the platform, and they have the free range to create what they want, providing whatever kind of content they want. It’s their space.

“That’s the unique part about it; they have this safe space to be vulnerable and talk about things that maybe they want to talk about anywhere else.”

The app gives a space away from traditional social media for girls to ask college athletes questions about confidence, performance pressure, training, academics, and personal growth. Athletes respond with honest insight through video and written posts. The platform also includes a compliments section and guidance from mental-health and sports-psychology experts at Embark Counseling and Focus Therapy & Sports Performance Coaching.

“I think that social media, and I’m at fault of this too, but I think it’s one of the biggest contributors to self-doubt and negative thoughts and all of this,” Rodriguez said. “Which is part of the reason why we wanted to create a safe and positive empowering platform where it’s not about comparison or anything like that.”

Rodriguez and SheSports are tackling the growing issue of mental health among young girls. A big part of those growing issues comes from traditional social media.

“It’s really sad because social media and TikTok and Instagram, they can be great. They can be fun. They can provide connectivity, but it is also just a place that has a lot of hate and comparison and negativity,” Rodriguez said. “I think that’s kind of the biggest motivator for us is how can we provide a space where these girls can go to feel confident and we can help uplift them.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 53% of high school students reported mental-health impacts. That’s something Rodriguez dealt with at Nebraska, even with all of the resources afforded to Husker athletes.

“Even at the highest programs, you can have all these resources, and it’s still hard to get some of those answers to these questions of what do I do? Why is this happening? For me, the only people I could really go to was my family, just because they knew me from the inside to the out. They knew, and they had been along with me every step of the journey, so they knew exactly what I was going through and what I was feeling,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is hopeful to bring that same feeling of security to SheSports, where others can have that same support system with relatable college athletes.

“What I hope we are able to provide is that people can actually come here and get honest and open feedback, and they can relate to it and actually find it is useful,” Rodriguez said. “Because there’s so many social media platforms that provide things, and it’s like, yeah, that’s fun. You get to see their personality, and maybe you won’t get that side of things here, but I feel like you’re going to get a lot more that’s kind of worth more.”

Back to the why for Rodriguez. She’s been searching for that with her professional volleyball team, but also examining that since her time at Nebraska ended and she had to figure out who she was more away from the court after being a college athlete and all that comes with that.

“You have the volleyball side, but then you also have, okay, what do I do outside of life? So that way, you don’t get fully consumed by just being a volleyball player,” Rodriguez said. “I think that’s part of it. This is a great opportunity. It’s something I’m passionate about, and it gives me something to take my mind off a bad serve-receive day.

“But then also, I think part of it is, after I left Nebraska, I kind of felt this, a little bit of this, like, emptiness of, well, what do I do now? What is my purpose?”

That purpose is being funneled to more than just supporting young girls. Just like her time at Nebraska and filling Memorial Stadium inspired a generation, her other venture is a new book, titled “The Big Little Dream”.

“I want people to know that no matter where you come from, the possibilities aren’t unfathomable,” Rodriguez said. ” I think a lot of people know me from my time at Nebraska, but I was just a young girl with a big dream who kind of had to start from scratch. I really want people to go for their dreams and believe in themselves.”

Her book has already sold out of its pre-order. As for the app, SheSports is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

More From Nebraska On SI

LINCOLN—Nebraska women’s basketball is still undefeated.

The Huskers ran away from the Bradley Braves Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena, 92-53. NU is now 8-0 while BU falls to 4-4.

Nebraska took a beat to control the game. The Huskers shot 58.8% in the opening period but tallied four turnovers, helping the Braves keep the game in single digits.

In the second quarter, the Big Red broke the game wide open. An 11-0 run pushed the difference to 17 points. NU would push the difference to 20 points by halftime, 30 points in the third quarter, and finish just shy of 40 points by the end of the game.

Nebraska coach Amy Williams was proud of the assists-to-made baskets and rebounding margin in the game. The Huskers made 37 shots on 26 assists and outrebounded the Braves 48-25.

“Thrilled we were able to take care of those two things and come out with a good win,” Williams said after the game.

Bradley was without starter Claire McDougall for most of the game. Averaging 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, McDougall chased a ball out of bounds and collided with a photographer. She would leave the game with a leg injury and not return.

The Braves also briefly had another starter out of the game. Ellie McDermid rolled her ankle midway through the first quarter. She would also go to the locker room but returned a couple of minutes later, eventually playing 24 minutes.

There weren’t any new injuries for Nebraska, who is still waiting on the return of Natalie Potts.

Logan Nissley is still working her way back from missing time earlier in the season, but she put up 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench. She also had seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals.

“I thought Logan’s stat line was amazing,” Williams said. “She’s still working into everything. But for her to come out there and to have a—10 points, seven assists, no turnovers, and five rebounds. Just all areas that you can kind of impact the game.”

Britt Prince led all scorers with 17 points. The sophomore added five assists and four rebounds. Jessica Petrie had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Callin Hake pitched in a well-rounded seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Nebraska shot 56.1% for the game, making just 6-of-21 three pointers. Bradley made 32.8% of their shots, including 7-of-31 from deep.

This is just the second time in program history that Nebraska has scored at least 80 in eight straight games. The 987-88 Big Eight Champion Huskers had a similar stretch, going 7-1. This year’s group is 8-0.

This is the first time ever that both Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball teams have started the same season 8-0. The last time both teams began the same season 7-0 was in 1992-93.

The Husker women will look to stay unblemished with a Big Ten Conference opponent this weekend. The league opener is at Penn State on Saturday. Tip from State College is slated for noon CST. The game will be streamed on B1G+.

Box score

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.