Virginia Military Institute’s cadet-athletes have to juggle cadet life, heavy academic course loads, and their NCAA Division I sport. Committed to both academic and athletic pursuits, balancing their rigorous schedule in both sports and school requires a certain level of commitment and discipline. Behind the Balance is a series that focuses on those cadet-athletes and how they handle the hurdles of the day-to-day.    

LEXINGTON, Va. March 5, 2024 — Leadership and regiment have been ingrained into Kyle Webster ’24 since beginning his time at Virginia Military Institute. Choosing a military college wasn’t his first choice, but with an offer to play lacrosse and a best friend from home also attending, those were big incentives.  

He’s been playing lacrosse since he was 7 years old. 

“I fell in love with it,” he said. “It’s a fast pace. People say it's the fastest game on a field. The physicality and the thrill of scoring a goal or picking up a big ground ball is just awesome.” 

Going to high school in Alexandria, Virginia, he played in one of the top three high school conferences in the country. The sport was incredibly popular in his area, but he was the first in his family to play it.  

For his 1st Class year at VMI, Webster was voted as one of the team captains, alongside A.J. Stamos ’24 and Diego Markie ’25.  

“I'm anywhere from motivation of the team to just checking in on guys,” he said about his role as captain. “I try to make sure that I have a great relationship and a friendship with every single person on the team. I can be that guy that anyone can come to for their problems or just want to talk. I’m trying to lead on the field, by example, and play the right way.” 

Webster and Stamos grew up and have played lacrosse together since they were kids. Webster said it’s been a big motivation, having a friend like that on the team. 

“It was kind of cool to have that full circle moment, since we’ve both played lacrosse together since we were seven. Then we come to college and we’re both captains,” he said.  

In his last semester, he perfected the balance of academics and athletics. Although, he admits it was challenging. 

Cadet-athletes at VMI not only have their responsibilities with their selected sport but cadet duties on top of that. Cadets are also required to take physical fitness classes twice a week, participate in ROTC all four years, prepare for room and uniform inspections, practice for parade, guard duty, and more. 

For him, time management is what helps him. He’s also doing schoolwork between classes, which helps. 

"I just make time for the important things,” he said. “This is a school, most importantly, so you must find time to do academics. When I was younger, I was taking more credits. I struggled at times.” 

Now that he’s about to graduate, managing his time has become easier. Plus, he’s not taking a heavy load — he's currently enrolled in 15 credits, compared to his average of 18 credits. 

Days are regimented, as to be expected. He gets up at 6:45 a.m., eats, and heads to one morning class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After class and until lunch, he’ll do schoolwork. Then after lunch he has three classes back-to-back, which brings him right to practice at 3:30 p.m. Practice is over at 6 p.m., so he’s off to dinner then back to his room for studying and then bed. He aims to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. every night.  

“Sleep is very important,” he said.  

Tuesdays and Thursdays he has one class in the morning and the rest of the day is spent working out, doing schoolwork, or hanging out before he needs to head to practice. Practice is six days a week, he said. 

The economics and business major doesn’t plan on commissioning after graduation. Instead, he recently accepted a job with a government contracting firm out of the D.C. area called SteerBridge Strategies where he will be a project analyst.

He said his time at VMI has been a humbling experience, especially coming in thinking you’re the best. He says the first day, you find out you’re not, but instead you experience unity between your brother rats. 

“I think that one of the best aspects of VMI is that everyone gets humbled, and you're part of something bigger than yourself,” he said. “I feel like I've grown in that aspect, to see that it's bigger than what the eye sees.” 

Webster also found that accountability is a big factor, along with structure.  

"Having a routine and structure in your life is very important. I feel like this place gets you ready for the real world ... you have to be productive and efficient. That's the main thing that you learn here at VMI,” he said.  

Laura Peters Shapiro
Communications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE