How CMC and CMS shaped Claire and Scott Smith into athletes, parents, and community leaders in Claremont

In Claremont, the distance between a college field and a youth baseball diamond can feel shorter than it seems.

At Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, scholar-leader-athletes compete at a high level while fully immersed in rigorous academic and campus life. Athletics is not separate from that experience, but integrated into it, shaping how students learn, lead, and engage with their communities.

Years later, many of those same individuals find themselves still connected to the game in new ways, coaching, mentoring, or watching their children compete on the same fields that once shaped them.
For Claire (Irvin) Smith and Scott Smith, that connection is not symbolic. It is lived.

Claire's path to CMS began with a recruiting letter from the CMS diving coach.

"I hadn't heard of the Claremont Colleges prior to that point but was intrigued by the idea of a smaller liberal arts school, combined with the wider opportunities that the 5Cs offered," she said. "I was interested in eventually going into the healthcare field but wanted a well-rounded education."

A visit to campus confirmed what the letter had suggested. "I went to visit CMC and felt immediately at home," she said.

At CMS, she found a balance that shaped her college experience: rigorous academics, Division III athletics, and hands-on work in the athletic training room.

"My favorite thing about being a student-athlete at CMS was the balance it offered," she said. "I was able to prioritize academics, including all those 4 hour labs that a biology degree requires, while also growing and competing as a diver."

Diving, she said, demanded both physical discipline and mental resilience. "Diving can be a very mental sport, having to throw yourself headfirst off (and sometimes at) a tiny board over and over again," she said. "There's a lot of trial and error and the need to receive feedback and make changes."

Some of her most formative learning, however, came outside the pool. "The athletic training room was one of my absolute favorite places during my time at CMC," she said. "During my freshman year I begged a friend to introduce me to Steve Graves so I could inquire about a job. Within 5 minutes of walking in, I had an ultrasound wand in my hand and had found my new home."

That early experience set her professional direction. "It solidified my desire to go into physical therapy, and I entered graduate school confident and excited about my career path," she said.

Scott Smith's introduction to Claremont McKenna came through its academic environment and sense of scale.

"Claremont McKenna really felt like the right fit for me from the start because of its size and sense of community," he said. "I was looking for a place where I could truly know my professors, build meaningful relationships, and not just be another face in a lecture hall."

Baseball at CMS became the other half of that equation. "At CMC, academics always came first, and that was clear from day one," he said. "But having baseball alongside it gave me a really important outlet."

He describes Division III athletics not as a compromise, but as a defining feature of the experience. "What makes the Division III experience at CMS so impactful is the purity of it," he said. "You have student-athletes who are there because they genuinely love their sport and want to challenge themselves."

Some of his strongest memories remain tied to Arce Field. "What I probably look back on most fondly are game day afternoons at Arce Field," he said. "Back then, players ran the announcing and music out of the 'skybox,' which was really just a simple platform on top of the dugout."

Even a single at-bat has stayed with him. "As a pitcher, I got one at bat my senior year against Caltech, and I got a hit. So I finished my collegiate career batting 1.000, which I like to remind people of whenever I can."

His walk-up song reflected the role he played late in games. "'Holding Out For a Hero' by Bonnie Tyler (seemed appropriate for a relief pitcher coming in to get us out of a jam!)," he said.

It is often in those small, almost ordinary details where both Claire and Scott say something deeper began to form. Not leadership as a title, but leadership as a habit. Showing up. Paying attention. Learning how to be part of something bigger than yourself.

"CMC and CMS really shaped my leadership style by emphasizing that leadership starts with actions, not words," Scott said. "It was about showing up consistently, working hard, and setting an example for the people around you."

Claire describes that same growth as something discovered over time. "I didn't consider myself a leader when I entered CMC," she said. "However, CMC and CMS both provided such a fantastic environment for learning and growing."

Today, both remain deeply connected to Claremont. "My kids know that any blister or sprain will be much better once they visit Steve in the Athletic Training Room," Claire said. "They love getting to cheer on the Stags and Athenas at Roberts Pavilion."

For Scott, that connection has grown into a leadership role in the community as president of Claremont Little League, where his focus is not only on operations, but on shaping the experience kids have in youth sports.

"It really started with watching my own kids out on the field," he said. "At some point, it hits you that all of it exists because people before you stepped up and gave their time."

That sense of responsibility has also shaped how Claremont Little League has evolved its approach to coaching and culture. Alongside CMS Baseball's on-field mentorship clinics, Claremont Little League has also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance to build a shared framework for how coaches, parents, and volunteers approach youth sports. The clinics and the coaching philosophy serve different purposes, one focused on direct player mentorship, the other on shaping the environment around the game, but together they reinforce a unified message about development, support, and long-term growth. 

For Scott, the philosophy feels deeply familiar. "It aligns perfectly with how we already saw sports," he said. "It's about teaching life lessons through competition, not just focusing on results."

Claire sees the same continuity between her CMS experience and the environment her children now grow up in. "It puts language to what we experienced at CMS," she said.

Taken together, the CMS mentorship on the field and the Positive Coaching Alliance framework around it reflect a shared foundation: that sport is not only about what happens between the lines, but about how people are shaped by it, and how they carry those lessons forward into the communities they return to.

Their daughter Addie has grown up inside that ecosystem, playing baseball as the only girl on her team and in her division for several years.

"We started Addie in Little League when she was 5," Claire said. "As she continued, the other girls became few and far between and for the last 3 years she's been the only girl on her team and in her entire division."

What has mattered most is not distinction, but belonging. "We've tried to help her keep her focus on playing the sport she loves and have encouraged her to ignore any expectations, good or bad, that she feels because she's the only girl," she said.

For both Claire and Scott, moments like these have a way of circling back to how they think about sport more broadly, not just as participants or parents, but as people shaped by their own experiences in it.
That perspective is something they carry with them into how they now engage with CMS and with the next generation of athletes.

When asked what they would say to current CMS student-athletes, both return to a shared theme.

"Give it everything you have, but also take the time to appreciate the moments," Scott said. "The friendships you build during that time are what last the longest."

Claire added, "Stand tall and be confident in exactly who you are. Not only do you have every right to be here, but your drive and voice are needed."

Looking back, neither describes CMS as something left behind, but something still unfolding. "Living in Claremont has naturally kept me close to CMS and CMC," Scott said. "But the real connection runs much deeper than geography."

For both, the experience continues to shape how they see leadership, sport, and responsibility to community. "It doesn't feel like something that ended at graduation," Scott said. "The continued connection and support from the college, the coaches, and the people involved make it clear that it really is a lifelong community."

For Claire and Scott, those moments bring everything full circle: the Division III experience that allowed them to compete as scholar-leader-athletes while fully engaged in campus life, the lessons in leadership built through showing up and contributing to something larger than themselves, and the lasting sense that sport is never just about competition alone.

And long after the games end, it is that sense of belonging, forged through Division III sport, leadership, and community, that quietly stays with you, shaping how you show up for others in every chapter that follows.