Time is of the essence in college, and when you are a Division I athlete like Quinnipiac rugby’s Kat Storey, it can be challenging to find time for extracurriculars. The junior standout has worn many hats during her time in Hamden in a way that no other athlete may have done before.

Athlete and student are two titles generally used to describe Storey, but it would be remiss not to mention a couple more. To properly detail Storey’s life off the field, titles like entrepreneur and advocate more accurately describe her. Parallel to her career on the field, Storey has built a brand off the field in the form of her own t-shirt business.

Love Someone Today was an idea that came to Storey in high school and has since taken on a life of its own. With her own startup company, she aims to use her t-shirts to advocate for college athletes’ mental health awareness. Her shirts give simple, yet important advice to all those who read them: love someone today.

“That’s something that I struggled with and something a lot of people around me struggle with,” Storey said.

One of Storey’s most impressive qualities is arguably her time management skills. Competing in any sport at the Division I level is not easy. Doing it at a high level is even harder. Running your own business on top of all that? Next to impossible. But Storey does it swiftly and with grace.

“Sometimes it’s difficult,” she said. “There are so many things happening at once, but it’s all about prioritizing what is most important for you at that very moment.”

On the field, Storey has found immense success. The former Pennsylvania Woman’s High School Rugby Player of the Year provides Quinnipiac with an impact at the fullback position that most other schools can only dream of having.

She has an ability to react quickly or stop on a dime, only to break away with blazing speed, headlining a unique skill set that allows Storey to have so much success. In just her last four games for the Bobcats, Storey has recorded seven tries, including three in one game against Sacred Heart on Oct. 15.

“You can literally watch and see the crowd react when (the ball) gets into her hands,” head coach Becky Carlson said.

To captivate a crowd merely by taking possession of the ball is a trait any player longs for, but only few are able to have. And Storey has it.

Not only can Storey impress the fans, but her teammates as well. Sophomore forward Lily Cartwright marveled at Sto- rey’s skills on the pitch and her ability to take control of a game at any given moment.

“She is so shifty,” Cartwright said. “She knows how to see the game from anywhere on the field, guiding everybody on defense and offense.”

And yet, there was a point in Storey’s life when rugby was not always in the cards. The fullback didn’t even pick up a rugby ball until her freshman year of high school. Storey played a multitude of sports throughout her youth and into middle school, including track, lacrosse and basketball.

“But I never found something that I stuck with,” Storey said. “Everything felt too cliquey to me and I wasn’t making friends in the sports that I was playing.”

It was her babysitter who originally introduced Storey to the sport of rugby in high school. Ever since then, Storey has been able to use the sport to make a life for herself.

“I fell in love with the people that I was playing with,” Storey said. “The community that it built around me was something that I had never felt before.”

Community is a word that Storey values greatly, and she found it at Quinnipiac with a little help from her friends back home.

“I ended up coming here with two of my best friends from high school,” Storey said. “So I was able to still keep a community close.”

As Storey transitions into the latter half of her college career, she continues to preach a team-first approach, one that she says has been the secret to the success she’s already had in her first two seasons. Each week is a new battle for the team which got off to a rocky 1-3 start in 2022 but has since surged back to even things up at 3-3.

“I just want to build us up as a team,” Storey said. “We are meshing so well together this season … I’m really excited to see where it goes not only this year but next year as well.”

Her future in the world of entrepreneurship is equally as bright. What was once just a 20-page proposal that Storey wrote her junior year of high school has now become a legitimate business. Storey looks forward to taking the next step with Love Someone Today, revealing she’s possibly taking her business in some new directions.

“I’m still ironing out the details,” Storey said. “But I hopefully want to move into some non-profit work and working with athletes and their mental health.”

As for Storey as an individual, she has made the most of her time at Quinnipiac. She is a devoted student and an incredible competitor. She is an advocate for the mental health of college athletes, and her own boss of an inspiring business that she created all on her own. Above all, she is a leader, both on and off the field.

If that isn’t a Storey worth sharing (pun intended), I don’t know what is.