RE: Becky's Story

Wood__24 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:02:15 GMT

Becky,

Some of what happened to you happened to me, except I never really had a college in mind from the start. I moved away from CA when I was almost 13, it was where I grew up and dreamed of playing softball for some of the top colleges in the United States. But, as I traveled to the complete opposite side of the US - to Georgia - I realized it would be very hard to be recruited to go back. So I spent time focusing on my career goals and deciding on the major I wanted. And a school happened to find me! Once I talked with the coach I was interested to see the school, and I did. In a small small small town in WV, I found myself in a VERY old school with not the greatest facilities but the team seemed very welcoming and the coach was pumped and ready to make a difference for softball at this small D-2 college, it was going to be his fourth year. After one year of what I considered to be a decent year, everyone had high hopes for next year. But those were cut a little short when our coach had to move away with his wife for family reasons. He got a job coaching at a different school, but they did not have my major. It wasn't a very hard choice to make but I still had to choose to stay or to go. I picked to stay and finish the degree I wanted and find out who the new coach would be. The new coach ended up being the assistant coach and I was interested to see what would happen. The staff was joined by another lady that has been coaching for a long long time and I was very excited. She was going to be the motivator we needed. The year was a roller coaster year with many "events" that stirred the team. The season ended on a very bitter note for me despite making First Team All-Conference Honors. The next season again a new coach was to come in, one that had never coached much softball and defiantly not on a college level. The Coach and I did not see eye to eye and I again had to make a decision, except this one I felt would be life changing. I chose not to play softball and to seek more medical advice on my growing pain in my back and shoulders. I took the year as a red shirt but not because I had to, but because this coach and team had pushed me away from the sport I loved. I just couldn't enjoy what I loved doing with people that didn't seem to care or know what they were doing. This is my senior year and the coaches have changed yet again. And again I feel that the coach and I might not be seeing eye to eye. I want to play more than anything but I don't want to sell myself short and not feel that I am accepted with the team or that the other members of the team and coaching staff don’t have the same passion and desire I have for the game. I hope I make the right decision, but I guess only time will tell. I looked into other schools and trying to transfer, I got a few offers from other coaches in the conference, one of which offered a full ride, but I kept resting on finishing my degree. No one else had the same degree and I’d have to add another year of college, which would be okay because I have two years to play, but sigh, my career is important to me and I really want my degree! And maybe that means sacrificing the rest of my playing career in college, but I’m not going to make it the last of my softball career. It’s just been an emotional career in college filled with highs and lows and has made me wonder if I made the right choice on my recruiting path out of high school. If I tried hard enough to find the best school for me. Part of me says yes because I have excelled in the classroom and in the working world. But part of me still longs to belong to a team that loves the sport as much as I do and to play with a group of women who are like family. Life is like being a batter, you have to make choices in the box and decide how you’re going to react to each type of pitch thrown and if you’re going to let some of them pass you by, or if you’re going to swing as hard as you can and go after something aggressively. But you only have a split second to decide what it’s going to be. Don’t let life pass you by without you knowing.

RE: Kate's Story

DCtoPgh — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:22:36 GMT

Go Terps! Proud class of 2005

From the Trenches

RE: Becky's Story

RE: Kate's Story