Introducing Sydney Moore: powerhouse athlete, Cornell University student, and a true game changer. Moore’s a dominant force on the volleyball court, a middle blocker in the NCAA Division 1, and a psychology major with a focus on behavioral and evolutionary neuroscience, set to graduate in 2024.
Moore’s journey into collegiate volleyball was a curveball. Despite early success in basketball, she made a bold pivot to volleyball, leaving behind a path that had seemed preordained. The new road was rocky, marked by self-doubt, but she embraced the challenge. Her secret to success? It’s all about balance. She excels both on the court and in the classroom by wielding color-coded calendars, planning with precision, and making a conscious effort to avoid the trap of perfectionism.
But Moore’s leadership doesn’t end with her team. She’s a vocal advocate for gender equality in sports, working passionately with Voice in Sport to drive change. Her efforts have earned her accolades at the ESPYs and a platform to inspire future generations. Looking beyond college, she envisions a future in health care technology, following a master’s degree and a stint playing professional volleyball in Europe or South America. When she’s not on the grind, she’s chasing waves in San Diego or exploring the hidden gems of Ithaca.
In conversation with Emmy-winning actor and past Glamour College Women of the Year Sheryl Lee Ralph, Moore talks balancing her love of volleyball with the rigors of being a Cornell student, her tireless advocacy, and how she unwinds off the court.
Sheryl Lee Ralph: So, Sydney Moore of Cornell University, why volleyball?
Sydney Moore: I actually started off playing basketball. I grew up in a very athletic family. My mom played pro basketball internationally. I wanted to be just like her. But around my eighth grade to freshman year of high school, I started getting burnt out. I was playing for top programs, traveling all around the country at a very young age. It became something I didn’t want to do anymore. And I was invited to come to volleyball tryouts at a gym by a friend that I played basketball with, and I loved it. I am a very analytical person. And while basketball definitely has that, with volleyball, it’s built in. Every single move you make is kind of a chess match. There are few better feelings in the world than getting a big block or a kill.
So here you are at Cornell. How does one who is a star athlete come to terms with balancing athletics and academics?
It definitely doesn’t come easy. I had to come to terms with the fact I was going to feel FOMO sometimes. I describe it as athlete guilt, or career guilt, because everyone at Cornell is operating at a very high level. I have that expectation that I’m going to be top in the classroom; I’m also going to be top on the court.
But sometimes things are going to fall off. So maybe I won’t get the sixth hour of studying this week. Maybe I’m only going to get five and a half, but I’m going to get that extra 30 minutes to sleep and that’s going to put me at a better level of success for my game. Maybe I won’t be able to hang out with my friends and go get ice cream, or go to the party or whatever it is. I’ve been lucky to be really supported with that at Cornell, and have parents that really drilled that into me that you can have it all but not necessarily every single thing.
I love that. Or you can have it all, but probably not all of it at the same time.
Exactly.
I’m happy that you don’t look at it as a sacrifice. Being a young woman of balance, how does that help you become a great leader, not just on the court but in life?
This has definitely been something I’ve been thinking about over the last couple of months, going into my senior year. I’m one of the captains on my team now. I lead a group of advocates, high school and college girls, at the Voice in Sport Foundation. So leadership is definitely a role that I’m constantly in and I’m expected to be in. One thing I’m learning right now is you’re not always going to be “on,” so part of being a leader is finding other people who can help you. Yesterday we had a speaker at Cornell who said, “Leadership isn’t “What do people do when you’re around—because you told them to do it?” But “When you’re not around, what does your team do?”
Oh, I like that.
Isn’t that amazing? And it fits so well for athletics, because I’m only at Cornell for four years. Next year I’m gone. So it doesn’t matter how good of a captain I was right now, right? My true legacy is the girls who are freshmen right now, when they’re seniors, are they going to look back and say, “You know what? Sydney Moore gave me this piece of advice,” or “Sydney Moore recommended that we do this warmup and that’s why we’re so good at this X, Y, and Z.” If we never win an Ivy League championship at Cornell while I am here, but we win one next year, I’m still part of that.
Girl.
That helps me a lot as well, because I have extremely high expectations of myself. So I have to set that understanding: Maybe it’s not a failure; it’s just not yet. No one can do a project all by yourself.
It’s so true what you’re saying. I remember going to high school, Uniondale High School, and in my lifetime they would not let the girls train. They wouldn’t give us a track team because no one was going to coach the girls’ track team. And I just felt that was so unfair. Why shouldn’t we have a coach when we had so many girls that could really run. And having a West Indian background; we had a lot of Jamaican girls ready to hit the track. And I remember writing a letter to the board of regents saying, “We want to train.”
And the coach said, “Well, I’m not your coach, but you can train next to us.” So we had to listen to what their coach was telling the boys. And do you know that from that time until now, Uniondale High School has an award-winning track team. So like you said, we paved a road that so many others are still running on and winning the awards that we didn’t, but we made a difference. So when you say, “What did Sydney Moore do? What information did she share with me that I’m still using?” You are so right on target, because in every win of that Uniondale Track team, I share in every medal that they win.
You took the opportunity that you did have. That’s a big part of advocacy for girls now. Yes, we’re going to do the work to change the rules, and we’re going to get that law changed. But in the meantime, how can we prepare you? So when the law does get changed and you have a track team, are you guys prepared to win that race?
In talking with you, Sydney, I think I can see exactly why you deserve to be a Glamour College Woman of the Year. But tell me exactly why do you think that you are a Glamour College Woman of the Year?
I would say, one, I am relentless in my commitment to improving the experience of women athletes, and of Black athletes specifically. If there’s an opportunity, or an event, or a group, or something that I can help with, I almost always do it unless I’m busy somewhere else.
At Cornell I’m the president of Women of Color Athletics. I joined as a freshman the year that they first started it, became a copresident as a junior, have worked with our athletic department to improve funding, to expand our alumni network to athletes who were women of color at Cornell before WOCA even started. That’s something I’m extremely proud of.
And then, when it comes to outside of Cornell, I helped start Voice in Sport in 2020, a digital platform for girls and women in sports, trying to find mentorship, information about body image and mental health. So that’s a lasting impact that’s national and international.
Sydney Moore, I’m very impressed by you. There’s an old African saying: When people greet, they say, “How are your children?” So I know when they ask your parents, “How is your child?,” oh, they’ve got some wonderful things to say, which means that life is good. We’ve had some wonderful conversation here. But I have a very important question for you. What does Sydney do for fun?
When I’m at home, I’m at the beach a lot. Even winter break, it’s 60 degrees, it’s cloudy, I’m out there on my surfboard or I’m out there at the beach trying to get out in the water. I haven’t learned my lesson yet. And then in Ithaca, the trend is going to the gorges, going to the waterfalls. And then when it’s cold, and I’m not going to go out, I love television.
What do you like to watch?
My favorite show of all time is Scandal. I could watch that over, back to back, forever. I love Scandal, which I think it’s funny now working in DC so often. I would say my next favorite show is probably Gossip Girl. And Black Mirror as a psych major. I’m always watching that one. And you get to call it studying, right?
Well, trust me, television can be quite a study in social matters. But you just said something about working in Washington, DC, a lot. What are you doing there?
The last couple of years, I’ve been going down to DC or Zooming with staff in DC on Capitol Hill for the bill that the Voice in Sport Foundation has been working on. The Fair Play for Women Act and the Title IX reform bill focused on tightening the three components of Title IX and making sure that schools and athletic associations, like the NCAA, are accountable for Title IX. There’s activity in place to make sure that Title IX is being enforced in school.
I wish Title IX was around when I was going to school. I’m very proud of you and what you have achieved. But before we go, what would be something that you would want people to know about Sydney and your thoughts about entering this world as a graduating senior next year?
You’re asking the tough questions! I think the first one is, I still am a college student, and maybe not everyone’s going to do it the exact way that I do it, and everyone might not be in a Glamour interview. But there are things that you can do. It doesn’t have to be you being that leader or the thought provider. You can post on social media and help, and you can talk to people about it. You can ask your school when the last time they did a Title IX evaluation was. You can have an inclusive conversation with your teammates, or your friends, and be an advocate. It doesn’t have to be this big thing that you put in your Instagram bio. You can just be an advocate every day.
I also understand that there are probably some Black girls reading this interview, and I hope that they can see a little bit of themselves in my story and see that their voices are also powerful and that their dreams are achievable.
