Howdy Wildcat Fans!
With college softball headed into week three of matchups, our season so far has been nothing short of fun, exciting, and challenging. If I am going to be honest, these past few weeks have been a display of our hard work in the fall and in January. Many do not get to see all of the hard work, dedication, and perseverance that goes into being a college athlete training year round when coming off of an injury.
Training and therapy can be monotonous and a true testing of one’s faith. Take it from me, your fifth year senior! At the beginning of this season, the most frequent question that was asked of me upon my return back to the field was, “what was it like taking the year off due to your injury?” Or, “what have you learned from your experience being faced with an injury?”
WIth this injury, it had to have been one of the greatest opportunities I have received in my college career of playing softball as a young scholar athlete. I know it sounds crazy, as injuries are not fun and something one would not want to experience, but truly being offered the opportunity to support shaping the Caitlin Lowe era here at Arizona has been nothing
short of amazing. I found that this time away from the game helped me realize how special this team is, the culture of Arizona, and the people that influence and push us to be the best version of ourselves daily.
Before I faced my injury, I came off of my junior year wanting to avenge the opportunity we lost when we did not make it to the postseason in 2023. I took that lost opportunity personally and went into my senior year with the goal of not only wanting to make it back to the postseason, but determined to make it back to the Women’s College World Series. Ultimately, I was going to do everything in my power to get my team back on that stage. I was determined and willing to do whatever it took. I would do the extra rep in the weightroom, I would do the extra rep in practice, and overall I would show everyone and prove to them why our team should have been selected for postseason play. OH! Was I mistaken. Though I was more determined than ever, this mentality is what truly humbled me and prepared me for my fifth year as a returning senior.
To say the least, I was devastated when I had to make the unexpected decision to redshirt this late in my college career. Everything I had worked so hard to accomplish seemed as if it was taken away from me in the blink of an eye. Injuries are a part of the game, but to me, it felt as if everything I worked so hard for that was in reach was now a million miles away. I worked my tail off in the fall to get back in January to be prepared for the 2024 season, but my body was not ready nor was it healed. I was heartbroken to announce to my team in January that I would have to sit out the 2024 season.
It would be a new role and something that I had to make a new normal for a short while. I knew that watching from the sidelines would be difficult, yet deep down there was still more to learn about the game and my story here at Arizona wasn’t over. That story was waiting to be continued.
This ‘to be continued’ moment led me to the greatest lesson I could have learned as a teammate, friend, daughter, sister, and a person. I learned perspective. Perspective brought me to a different mentality as a teammate behind the scenes during my injury. I learned the value of listening and being observant. As one of the players that was behind the scenes, I learned that I served a purpose in encouraging my teammates and being a voice of reason to them in times where they needed someone who has been in their shoes. My role quickly went from being an everyday player like everyone else, to a credible voice of reason others needed to talk about the mental game or just life outside of softball. These moments taught me that when I was quiet yet confident, I found that people were more inclined to talk and find comfort in another player in ways that I never knew they needed as a teammate. The role I had in being a red shirt led me to understand the needs of others, to support and empathize with players of their own
outcomes of certain plays, and how to be relatable and truly support my team in a world full of people who are all different. Perspective gives you the ability to understand and see how to support others for who they are and how they respond to life and everything else in between.
In my true senior year, I was a bull in a china shop ready to take anything or anyone down that stood in the way of my goals. Now in my fifth year, I have taken a step back and realized that my goals aren’t attainable if I try and do it all on my own. I learned through this new found perspective that I am only as strong as my team and my team is only as strong as me. More specifically, this perspective I have today and seeing the game for what it is has taught me the importance of body language, adaptability, persistence, and observance. These qualities were something that I had to learn in my time away from the game. This perspective gave me the opportunity to see the game and the world around me in a different light and rise to the occasion of being a leader that team 51 needs going into the 2025 season.
Overall, whatever challenges come your way today, welcome the opportunity to grow and become a better version of yourself. This comes by supporting the people around you by listening more to become a better leader from the perspective of the people that will impact you in the game of life.
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