? She hit the home run of a lifetime.
??I knew I had worked hard and I knew I had done a good job in tryouts; I just felt so proud,? says Becca Garfinkel who walked onto the University of Michigan?s Division One Softball Team with a full academic scholarship.? ?This is the most exciting thing. This is my dream.?
? After three years of coaching this varsity catcher, Andover Softball Coach Mike Voytal echoes her sentiments.
??As a coach I?m always proud and I?m more proud for Becca because all I do is try to teach [my athletes] what I know and pass it down to them, but all the effort and hard work goes to the player,? he says. ?Only one percent of kids from high school go on to play college sports and for her to make it, especially at the Division One level, is huge.?
?According to Becca?s mother, Lori the thought of playing college softball entered her
eighteen-year-old daughter?s mind at age? eleven.
??When I started playing catcher I really loved it,? says Becca. ?I latched onto it reallyfast and one day my coach looked at me and said, ?I?m going to see you one day on TV playing softball, I just know it, I just know that you?re going to be that good? so ever since he said that I?ve had an idea of it and maybe that could be me playing on TV.?
?In the eyes of Voytal, Becca has a unique advantage.
??Becca is different because she is absolutely one of the most well-rounded players I?ve ever had,? tells Voytal.? ?The one thing I always found encouraging about her was, other than being on the pitching mound, I could put her anywhere on the field and I knew that she?d do well.? The sky is the limit for Becca, if she puts her mind to anything she can do it.?
?Lori believes that this feat did not come without Becca?s hard work and devotion.
??She has trained herself, watched other players, and attended batting clinics,? says Lori.? ?She also studies the motion of the other players as well as the mental edge the other players have then develops that skill specifically in herself.? She would come home from every home game and ask ?what can I do better??? It was constantly about improving, growing, and building her skills.?
? ?Becca was probably the hardest worker on
[Andover?s] team and never gave up,? shares four-year teammate Emily Schottenfels, a freshman at the University of Michigan.? ?She was always looking for what she couldimprove on and helped the rest of her team too.? She was an inspiration to the team and always cheered us on.?
?According to Lori, catching curveballs and hitting home runs aren?t the only lessons that will come out of this experience.
??I think she will learn to juggle more things and learning to choose between the things that are truly important to her and letting go of the things that she truly has to let go,? tells Lori.? ?It really is just juggling and choosing.?
??In high school I got pretty good at juggling pretty tough academics with a varsity schedule and I?ve gotten pretty good at managing my time,? says Garfinkel.? ?Michigan is really great about helping their student athletes and has an academic center available to us so I definitely plan on taking advantage of that.?
?Garfinkel concludes, ?being a part of this Michigan tradition already pushes me to be better and to hold myself to higher standards, especially in catching.? It pushes me to be a better teammate and a better student athlete, a lesson that is really valuable, especially in college when I have so much to learn.?
Source: http://andovershield.com/2011/10/walking-onto-the-u-of-m-softball-squad/
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