Currently, I am sitting in my hotel room in Las Vegas. This weekend is our season opener, starting with a tournament. Unfortunately, Las Vegas is currently in a state of “winter storm advisory.” We had two games last night, and won both after coming back from being behind. After a great start to the weekend, we woke up this morning to a down pour of rain.

Our team came up with an idea a few weeks before our first tournament. We wanted to do a digital detox. The idea derived from a social media blackout. A few players wanted to see if they could go a weekend without using social media….and from here, the ideas kept flowing.

Our final guidelines for the weekend include: no social media, no text/phone calls from cell phones, and minimal screen time. By doing so, we are encouraging our players to get to know one another in the hotel rooms and on the flight.

Let me tell you….day 1 was rough. We left WOU at 3:30 am Thursday. This resulted in a group of tired, irritable, and frustrated people…who had know phones use! After being awake for 18 hours, we all made it through day 1.

Now, here we are on day 3….and with a day of games cancelled, there is a lot of downtime! I mean, you can only do so much homework!

Participating in the detox myself I have realized how much time I spend scrolling through social media, or on the internet, mindlessly. The disconnecting has been a really good refresh for me!

For the team….I think they have slowly realized the benefit of unplugging. Social media has a great impact on student-athletes both negatively and positively. However, I personally feel the negative outweighs the positive. The Campus Ledger Online has a great blog called, “The impact of social media on student athletes.” I highly encourage you to read this blog to see the insight.

That’s all I have for now! We’re heading down to a movie to kill some time.

‘Tis the season for softball prospect camps. Our program at WOU just hosted our third of the year. I also worked two hosted by other colleges, at the end of last year at University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

Camp season has the highs….and the lows. There are many hours spent planning, preparing, and working behind the scenes. However, no matter how much preparation leads up to the event, I’ve learned it’s best to just “go with the flow,” and be prepared to think on the fly.

I’m in my third year as a coach planning camps, and my seventh (?) year working camps. With this experience, I can say one thing for sure… I would like to thank my parents.

We recently finished the weekend hosting our “Elite Winter Clinic.” This clinic is offered to softball players grades 8-12. We establish it as an “elite” clinic, with the intention it is more of a recruiting camp. Our plan is to focus less on teaching new skills, and more on viewing how players can implement their already known skills.

This year, we had a new plan. We asked parents/guardians of the campers, to wait in the lobby area of the facility, rather than following their child around and watching them during the camp hours. Why? Over past years it became prevalent that many student-athletes perform better without the added pressure of a parent/guardian watching them. Imagine attending a collegiate recruiting camp, wouldn’t you be nervous enough without the added pressure of your parent watching your every move?

This leads me to my conclusion…I would like to thank my parents for allowing me to grow as an athlete and as a person during my high school years. They had boundaries established, and knew how to separate sports from our every day lives. They trusted me and my ability as an athlete, and didn’t feel the need to stand behind the backstop and coach me. They let me play the game I love, and left the coaching to those who were in the dugout.

What have I been doing? Where have I been the last two years? What are my plans after college? All the typical questions for the recent college grad…

In spring term 2016, I finished up my final year of collegiate softball. It was the end of a chapter that had lasted 10+ years. Because I transferred in to WOU my junior year, I was a term behind for graduation. I planned on finishing my undergraduate degree in the fall of 2016 and staying around to be a volunteer assistant for softball as well. Due to so unforeseen events taking place in the summer of 2016, I was presented with the opportunity to be a part-time assistant coach while finishing my degree. I then continued to coach the remainder of the season and school year. 

In the fall of 2017, I was offered with the chance to continue my education. I was lucky enough to pursue my graduate degree, while also partaking as a Graduate Assistant coach at Western Oregon University.  The past year and a half, I have been working part time as an assistant coach, while also being a full-time student. 

I am now proud to say, come the end of the 2019 winter term, I will finish my program and receive my Master of Science in Education for Information Technology. My initial question (and the question of many of my friends and family members) was, what will this degree do for me and my career of coaching. I also questioned if it was relative to my undergraduate of business. To answer both questions, after 5 terms of the program I know can confidently say it is extremely beneficial to coaching and….no, it is not relevant to business one bit. 

There are many different routes I can take with my degree in the future, a few options include:

1. I can be an Instructional Designer
2. I can use the skills learned in the program and incorporate technology into my coaching style and philosophy
3. I can showcase my skills, knowledge and abilities digitally, to my future employers

As of now, my plan is to finish the program this term. I will stay on the staff for WOU softball throughout the season and walk at graduation in June. 

Thanks!

Aly

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining me here. I have created this blog as an outlet for my creativity. I have always enjoyed writing, but never really provided myself with the chance to do so outside of school.

My plan is to use this blog as a source for my friends and family. I will give updates periodically on my life, as well as write about topics of my interest.

I can’t wait to get started!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton