COLUMN BY KAILEE SMITH
Adding the year 2015 to the scoreboard of the Drake University softball field is something special in the softball world. The number was added in honor of our first conference championship since 1993, and the feeling I have as a result is almost inexplicable.
Maybe you can describe it as feeling like you’re on top of the world, or maybe it’s like you just aced the biggest test you’ve ever taken, but you can’t fully understand it unless you accomplish it.
It’s difficult to explain the way it feels, but it’s simple to explain how it’s done and who helped us achieve that goal.
It starts with our coach, Rich Calvert. The knowledge he has for the game is more than most people know about themselves. He shares that knowledge and we have countless opportunities to apply it to the game. Through every success and failure, he leads us along a path he believes will provide us with the best outcome.
Our strength trainers are also a huge part of how the team performs. Waking up at 5:55 a.m. while staying to practice until 8 p.m. is not always the easiest thing in the world, but with the strength and conditioning we receive it becomes so much easier to make it through the day.
Since we can play up to three games in a day, they provide us with the stamina we need for every game day.
We also utilize our athletic trainers to the greatest amount. If you’ve seen softball players walking around campus, then you’ve noticed that somebody is almost always nursing an injury.
Injuries put a player in a mindset that is difficult to handle. Our athletic trainers do all that they can to heal the team as fast as they possibly can. With just 13 players, all of us need to stay healthy at all times and our athletic trainers work miracles to make that happen.
Though these people have a major impact on our game, we as individuals have a tremendous responsibility for one another.
We must give it our all on our worst days. We must practice our hearts out so we can get what we give. We must help one another play to the best that we can that day. We must pick one another up when we are down. We must have one another’s backs. We must leave everything on the field. We, as individuals, contribute to make the entire team succeed. Together we make the greatest achievements in the game.
Trust is another huge part of the game. If we feel like our coaches, teammates and fans believe in you and they trust you in every situation, it can affect the entire outcome of the game. Personally, I don’t think you can find better support and trust than what the Drake softball team has and provides for one another.
As we left our final off weekend of the season in the dust and enter our remaining preseason games, we look to begin conference play strong and add a new year to our scoreboard once again.
Drake Softball is ready for success again.
