Cat's Corner

October 10, 2007

Hey everyone

I know it’s been a long time since I wrote. I am really going to work at getting better about keeping y'all updated.

So much has gone on since I last wrote. USA Olympic Team tryouts were held in September. Our whole team from the summer was there, along with a few of my Rockford Thunder teammates. It was nice to catch up with Mackenzie (Vandergeest) and Z (Kristen Zaleski) again. We all picked up and moved as soon as season was over. There were no real goodbyes or one last get together. I know I made my move as quickly as possible so my commute to DePaul was shorter!

I have officially become a homeowner. I plan on getting my masters at DePaul, so knowing that (and hoping they want to keep me around), I invested and bought a condo not far from my office. It's a cute little place. I am having fun trying to move in and decorate, but I've learned how hard that can be on your own. It’s ok though. It’s nice to learn the ropes and be out on my own. Everyone has to grow up sometime, right?

I was named to the 2008 National Team roster a couple of weeks ago, which will eventually be the Olympic roster of 15 with three alternates. The list is full of familiar faces, so we’re all pretty comfortable starting our journey to Beijing.

This being the last Olympics for softball for a while poses an interesting task for us. The USA has won all three Gold Medals, and while the talent level in the US is enough to make two or three teams that could easily compete in the Games, this team is the best team in the world. We want to not only go out and show the world the amazing talents of this team, but we also want to showcase our sport on a global level. There are so many girls who play this sport, and want to be in our shoes one day. We know it’s partly up to us to try and give these younger players an avenue to Olympic Gold again.

The Olympic Team will travel to Japan in November, Australia in February (I’m looking forward to this trip!!), and then will begin our nationwide tour when we get back from Australia. It’s going to be a fun year of traveling, training and playing!

In between USA commitments, I have been working some too! I am really enjoying being an assistant coach. I have a great group of pitchers who are eager to get better, and they communicate well with me. I think if there’s one thing I learned from my time as a player, having open lines of communication with your coach is key. I know Coach Looper (my pitching coach at The University of Texas) and I often discussed terminology or what I felt versus what she saw in order to be on the same page. I loved this aspect of our player/coach relationship, and I try to emulate that with my players as well. When I am on the road I check in with all three of my pitchers to see how workouts or fall ball games went. (Our fall games were very successful. We beat Northwestern twice, and my pitchers improved with each game!)

The office part of coaching is different, but I am learning to enjoy it. Recruiting letters can be fun to put together sometimes. I had put to a letter together that tells recruits all about Chicago, so I learned all about what you can do in our city!

I think I have written enough for today! I promise to get better at writing :) so I will check in soon, and I will answer some questions I have received next time too!

Go USA and Blue Demons!

Cat #8