Thanks.

No particular rhyme or reason behind my blog this time just have some time to kill as I sit here and watch my little sister at her indoor practice facility in downtown San Jose as she was just added to the roster for the 16U Lady Sharks and watching is making me reminisce on all the time I've spent doing the exact same thing.

It's so funny and mind boggling to me that amount of time that I myself and my parents and family have invested in my softball career over the last sixteen years.  The never ending carpools to and from practices, the weekend tournaments that occurred every single weekend of every single season, and all the money that was poured into tournament fees, uniforms, gear, travel, etc.  What sticks out most to me out of all of the sacrifices made on my behalf because I simply loved to play and could not get enough is all the time and effort.  I used to roll my eyes and mutter things under my breath when my parents and siblings would hold it over my head how each summer was devoted to me and the tournaments but now I'm not even mad, go ahead because I am so damn thankful that we did all of that because had we not the likelihood that I would be in my final year of softball having damn near reached the finish line of what is ultimately the highest level at which a female softball player can compete at.  I am so grateful.

I can't help but laugh to myself as I write this because theres so many times where I have seen my sister drag her feet about not wanting to trek downtown in the middle of the week after school, homework and other extracurriculars just for a couple hours of hitting.  Mind you, I am sure that I was guilty of something similar when I was younger.  Really though, myself, my sister, all of my teammates and those that we compete against are so lucky to have had these opportunities and the support behind us to achieve great things.  There's no framed picture of me in my uniform or team hoodie that I can give to my parents and my family as a token of thanks and appreciation for all that they have done in supporting me reach the ultimate level of competition.  I am hoping that I can show a bit of that thanks this season by doing some things I have yet to accomplish in my career at Sonoma, my family, friends, and supporters can all look forward to an entertaining season filled with thick competition.

Like I said, not really sure where all of this came from but I figure there is never really a bad time to say thanks...so "thanks". Happy Holidays everyone!

YES.

A new post from me is extremely overdue, I am thinking that my lack of writing may be due to the madness that has come from applying for graduation, transferring units, appealing classes, trying to relocate for my job after graduation along with team related things like dealing with the loss of two players, readjusting to the smaller team, getting everyone on the same page, creating team goals, and assessing what actions need to take place this Christmas break to ensure success when we return in January.

We have come a long way since fall and our team is definitely making strides as far as strength and conditioning is concerned. The natural and raw talent that each girl on this team possesses is incredible and every single person is holding themselves accountable and putting in the extra work. This may be taking us a little longer than most teams or more time than we had anticipated coming in this past August but I feel that our primary concern and focus as a team right now is coming together and getting everyone on the same page. In our last sports psychology meeting we really discussed in depth how each person was feeling about the team, the program, and what is to come. We did an exercise where we were able to gauge each persons comfortablity with certain topics and it opened up everyone's eyes and laid out on the table what we need to work on as a team and what areas we are excelling in.

My personal goals for this team is to increase the competitiveness with one another, between each position player, from infield to outfield, pitchers and catchers, middles to corners, and even between the team and our coaching staff. The playing field is very even and we worked alot this fall on getting better, improving our skills, and being the best but now I would just like to see who exactly feels they are the best and deserves that starting spot. I feel that this will pull out the competitive edge that I might not have seen just yet in every single one of us and it inevitably brings out the best in each individual. We have recognized that we are not playing for ourselves but for the team and the program and we're no longer going to hold back because we know it could hinder our possible success.

This last weekend we had a team bonding event at coaches house where we ate lots, laughed even more, did some activities that had us open up even more with one another, and what seemed to be the most difficult for me was when we did our secret Santa gift exchange. The person giving the gift had to state something that they were proud of themselves for doing and then explain something that they were proud of their teammate for whom they were giving the gift to. We all kind of laughed it off and poked fun at the idea most likely because if felt awkward and uncomfortable but coach quickly assured us that this was a skill set we needed to acquire and be comfortable with. There is a great deal of things that I am proud of myself for but have never put it into words and shared it with a large number of people even if they are my teammates and close friends. I explained not very eloquently and rather emotionally that I am simply proud for still being here and doing what I am doing. With both athletics and academics when there were quite a few who doubted me and simply told me no and that I was not cut out for this caliber of play or when I endured what very well could have been a season ending injury, I am proud for sticking with this and fighting through it. I have never once regretted doing any of that because it has all been so worth it for me and I am so looking forward for whats to come from this team for my final season. I came across this quote and found that it was rather fitting and pretty inspiring, so enjoy and I'll catch all of you up on life over intersession....

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the No's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." -Nike




Happy Holidays :)

Fall semester dwindles down

Brand new baby blue sweatshirts from coach? Yayyy, that marks almost the end of the fall season as a gift from Coach.  She clearly knows how much we love free stuff J Now it’s back to individuals where we get some more personalized time with the coaching staff as we are broken down into small hitting groups, groups based on our positions, and then of course the always exciting team conditioning and weights.  I am really proud of where my team has came from considering we had the most difficult start this fall, out of all my seasons played here at Sonoma.  Our fitness has improved tremendously and we are pushing ourselves every day in the weight room, Coach Mack really has us focusing on pushing the limits and reaching our full potential because we won’t know what that is if we don’t test our strength by pushing boundaries.  On the field I am hoping to really see the competition between position players to increase because we have a great deal of depth to this squad with some hard working, and very experienced players along with some committed and very eager underclassmen.  Unfortunately our fall game schedule was somewhat short lived but we make up for that with lots of practices where we get to see live pitching from our staff and off of Coach Bridges.  I am incredibly eager to see how much more we will improve over Christmas break and let everyone know how ready we are for the traditional spring season to be here. 

In SAAC things have finally settled down just a little bit and I’m not mad one bit.  We are currently working on supporting all of our teams that are making to the post season.  In the coming weeks our game of the month to attend is going to be Women’s Volleyball vs. Cal State LA on November 11^th at 7:00pm in the Wolves Den. We’re also working on brainstorming some of our community events for next semester so we can start our partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma County.  We just had our bi-yearly SAAC Conference where legislative grids were reviewed and input was given on all things regarding the conference from apparel that’s sold to mandated time off during Christmas breaks.

Reality still has not set in for me that I am going to be graduating next Spring but it will after I meet with my advisor tomorrow to get my graduation application signed off and I add up all my units completed thus far and determine what my next steps will be as my final semester approaches.  I am enjoying writing for the sports section for the school paper more than I thought I could and I am holding A’s in all my classes and plan on doing so for the duration of the semester. 

The NBA season could not have come at a better time since the Yankees choked in the post season.  I am really looking forward to the addition of all the newbees on the Lakeshow roster, Blake and Barnes especially.  Oh and can’t forget to give credit to the 49er win in London last weekend, hopeful for a strong finish.

Until next time, farewell J

Committed.

I'm not really even sure if there are people out there reading this other than my mom and Auntie but I'll apologize to the world wide web for my lack of posts lately. My life these last two weeks has been incredibly hectic due in large part to the planning of Midnight Madness in a record breaking 8 days with an immense amount of help from several other organizations on campus and as always SAAC.  Midnight Madness is the traditional kick off of Basketball season for both our men and women's teams.  We filled the night with team introductions under the spotlight, performances from our dance and cheer team, give aways, live DJ, 2ball competition, dunk contest and the biggest crowd pleaser was the dance off to close the night.  It was something I was unsure I was even going to be able to pull it off but in my four years here we had the largest number of people in attendance and from what I have been told everyone had a great time and it was appreciated by all of the athletes who got some well deserved recognition from our peers.  It was definitely well worth the stress and the lack of sleep and it got me real excited for this upcoming basketball season.

In SAAC we have one of our projects underway which is gathering people to joining the "SSU BLUE CREW", which is our attempt at creating a rally crew if you will filled with spirited people in support of athletics.  We have made shirts and are asking for an $8 donation to Breast Cancer Awareness, Make A Wish Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma County in exchange along with specialized seating at all sporting events.  We are hoping this promotes more support school wide for athletics and we get more people out and attending these games.

As far as softball is concerned, things have not stopped or slowed down in the slightest bit.  We started getting into goal setting which is a big focus for our team and individually so we can really track our growth and focus on achieving something attainable.  You focus on a long term goal, then your short term goal pertains to how you will achieve that goal, and then your operational goal is each step you will take in order to conduct your short term goal.  My goals consist of one defensive which I have made in order to improve my blocking, offensively my focus is staying linear to the ball, and my last goal is managing my stress of classes, softball, SAAC, graduating, life after graduating etc.  This weekend we play William Jessup in a double header this Saturday which will be nice to get some live competition in and really enjoy the few games we get to squeeze in this fall.  

School is going, with two successful Psychology and Media Law midterms under my belt it's time to prepare for the next one this upcoming Tuesday.  The PR/Ad team I was apart of in a trial run this semester is not working out as anyone had planned so I guess I'll begin writing for the Sports section in the schools paper from here on out.  I have no experience in writing for a publication but I'm sure I'll find a way to get myself adjusted to this new avenue of writing.  Lastly my goals for this week are to file for graduation which is still unreal to me and meet with my advisor to choose my final classes of my college career here at Sonoma. 

In case any of you were wondering I am 100% frustrated with the performance of my boys, the New York Yankees in this post season right now.  If the offense doesn't improve and our bullpen can give up less bombs we'll make it out of this series by the skin of our teeth but till that time we're gonna have a hell of a time competing with the Rangers who seem to be everyone's favorite team now that the post season has arrived, them and the Giants....sheeesh. I'm still hopeful so now it's time to cease the typing and let the biting my finger nails continue in hopes of a Yankee win at home tonight.  Go Yanks!

Fall Ball is hereeee!

Sorry for the delay on posting, this post will make up for the last two weeks which were pretty eventful.  Two weeks ago marked the beginning of our traditional fall season and also the conclusion of self conducted morning conditioning because as a team we have reached a point where we can practice more efficiently because our fitness is up and we are now holding ourselves more personally accountable.  I love the traditional fall season because it means more time on the field, more freedom to work outside of practice because there are less restrictions, inter squad scrimmages on  Saturdays, and this upcoming weekend we face Solano JC and San Francisco State in doubleheaders to start our preseason play.  Although very new still our defense looks pretty strong we've got a roster full of just raw talent and we literally don't take a day off from improving that with lots of repitition, live defense drills, and "game time".  Offensively we are still getting into the swing of things (no pun intended) with hitting circuits and trying to get as much live hitting as possible.  It's nice to have four pitchers who are really making us earn it but it's hard to handle that with only two catchers and a somewhat short handed coaching staff but we're making the most out of what we have.  This year I think it is really going to be a goal of ours to prove that we are capable of using short game to our advantage.  Last year we were known for our big bats, power hitting, and record breaking stats in home runs but this year we want to use all the speed that we have and attack the defense with changing things up by perfecting our short game and mixing that in with our powerful offense. I look forward to what the rest of this fall season brings and am excited for the preseason play starting this week with Solano.

SAAC has been super busy in preparing for Sonoma State's second annual Homecoming Week.  It is really in efforts to create more school spirit and gain some more support of athletics.  We have collected money and are sending it off to the American Cancer Society in order to help fund the Breast Cancer Walk in San Francisco next month while also brainstorming some ideas of how we can aide in the disaster relief in San Bruno.  We are really excited about hosting the first ever home meet for our Cross Country girls this week in Santa Rosa and are going to show that via a breakfast tailgate this Saturday and representing Sonoma State proudly by wearing our "SSU BLUE CREW" shirts.  We're hoping these shorts will spread and students, families, and fans can wear them to all of our schools sporting events.

School is really underway with a midterm approaching and deadlines coming out of nowhere, at least that's how I feel.  I have a media law midterm this week where I have to memorize a million cases about the first amendment, libel, privacy law etc.  So it looks like the library is where my next few evenings will be spent while trying to sell some ads to local businesses for the schools newspaper which hasn't been that successful this far but hopefully things will turn around for me in that avenue.

In other unrelated news I'm so disappointed in the 49ers and their performance lately, after that great showing against the Saints I was hopeful but I had to change the channel yesterday because I couldn't take it much longer.  On the brighter side of sports the Yankees pulled it off and clinched their spot for playoffs, ARod coming super clutch with the two run jack and the reserves coming in and stepping up to the plate with runners on base is exactly what I like to see.

Byeeee :)

Keep on, Keepin' on.

This week was really focused around personal improvement because we are almost certain that this fourth  week we will be tested once again on the 12 gassers and we have to make them within the allowed time frame or the coaches will take our improving fitness into their own hands and this is something we as a team we feel we can handle on our own.  We are still going out there twice a week at 7 am doing our own self conducted conditioning along with optional conditioning on Sunday's where those who need it attend.  Practices are becoming a lot more engaging and instead of spending a great deal of time on actual skills we handle that during our individual sessions with the coaches where we are split into groups based on positions; corners, middles, outfield, pitchers/catchers.  This allows us to spend our time wisely and efficiently on the field and we've been able to work on things like cuts, run downs, pick offs, live defense, and "game time".  Game time is basically a game like situation where Coach Bridges is the pitcher and Coach Mack gives signs and rotates players in and out of defense and offense.  This allows for everyone to get time on the field whether it be offensively and defensively.  It is definitely one of the more fun components of our practices.  Things are looking up and I am confident that this Friday we will get the job done and satisfy the coaches.

School is in full swing right now and for one of my Communications classes I work as a Public Relations specialist for the school newspaper and sell ad space.  It's a really cool opportunity to take on real life responsibilities in a somewhat controlled setting.  My goal is to sell 4 ads each week so I'm definitely going to need to network myself throughout Rohnert Park and Cotati if I plan to meet that quota each week.  My media law class is pretty tedious and four hours of late night class after hitting, weights, and conditioning isn't the most lively of times but I'm hopeful the agenda will start to have some variety and I'll dread that class less.

I'm really excited about what we have planned for SAAC, we are currently working with the American Cancer Society and contributing to their annual Breast Cancer Walk because with all of the teams conflicting schedules with games and practices we cannot physically attend but we are gathering funds to donate. We are also planning on partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma County this semester and seeing how we can contribute to their cause.  Also, with the recent disaster in San Bruno we would like to see how we can donate their and help with those relief efforts.

Wish me and the team luck this week!

1 week down, 7341535 more to go... . . . .. . .

Gosh, never thought week one was going to end.  Unfortunately the team didn't come back in the best of shape and everyone noticed and the coaches clearly not pleased.  The first day of conditioning we were to run 12 "gassers" which consists of 12, 100 yard sprints; fast people finish in under 17 seconds, medium speed people finish in under 18 and slower people finish in under 20.  Sadly, we didn't even get that far because in the middle of the 90+ degree weather people were dry heaving, dropping, pulling muscles, and puking.  Needless to say we have our work cut out for us this fall and are going to have to work twice as hard to get back into shape so we don't waste our valuable time on the field.  Myself along with my fellow seniors came up with a plan where we now condition twice a week on the days we don't already condition and lift with the coaches, we head to the track at 6:45 am and create and conduct our own conditioning for an hour.  We also do optional but "recommended" conditioning on Sunday evenings.  Since we set this in place, gassers are less of a struggle for the team as a whole and hope to complete all in the allowed time in the coming weeks.  Though its a minor set back Im hoping that some good will come of this and we will come together as a team sooner than anticipated and some leadership roles will emerge in the process.  Conditioning and weight lifting aside, we have a talented group of girls out there and there is going to be thick competition at just about every position.  I am flip flopping from catching to outfield and enjoy both but my arm isn't enjoying the double time because the strain it puts on my arm is tremendous.  But nothing lots of hours rehabbing and strengthening in the training room can't help. Ice baths have become a common thread among my teammates and I to help ease the hurt of this strenuous fall season.

As far as SAAC is concerned we were very pleased with the turnout of our first event of the year and earned a good chunk of money that will help dig us out the financial hole that we are currently in.  After doing that our next plan is to join the American Cancer Society in their Breast Cancer Walk in Golden Gate Park toward the end of October.  Another side project that we are attempting to embark on is to create shirts that we can sell to the school and the community that read "Blue Crew" and it essentially will be a shirt you can wear in support of athletics at any of the games, races, matches, tournaments, etc.  While that is currently a work in progress our current focus is raising the money for Breast Cancer and getting all of our teams out there to support the fall sports which are currently in season.

Senior year is not exactly what I expected it to be or maybe I was unsure of what to expect from the get go.  I am taking four classes this semester; Media Law, Life Span Development (Psychology), Public Relations Team for The Star, and Senior Internship.  This only leaves one more upper division GE, Senior Seminar, and taking the WEPT for second semester and then I'll graduate?  Well, seems like I need to narrow my focus and just live in the moment and with that said my current goal academically is to get a 4.0 this semester.  For SAAC I want to earn $300 for the Breast Cancer Walk among the student athletes and for softball I want to attack the outside pitch and learn to love it as much as I do the up and in pitch.  With week one being done and now apart of my past, I'm hopeful for the future. Buh Bye :)

The beginning of the end...

After 3 days of living life as an "average student" since school started all of that ends starting this Monday when we break out into softball class, individual sessions, weight lifting, and conditioning.  We have almost 30 girls working out in the fall consisting of 5 returning seniors, 1 returning junior, and bunch of returning underclassmen, 4 committed incoming freshman, and a handful of walk on's that will be trying out.  I am anticipating a lot of circuit type work outs, pushing weight, and increasing out endurance as a team to set ourselves up for success this Spring.  I also have a couple personal goals in mind where my main focus will be to get 100% healthy by the time Spring rolls around as I continue to recover from a severe strain to my Ulnar Collateral Ligament in my throwing arm.  In addition I will be trying out some other positions on the field to determine where  I will become the biggest asset to my team.  I came into this program as a left handed catcher, played some outfield, tried out the role as a designated hitter and I have come to realize that I will be willing to play wherever is best for my team, personal feelings aside.  Academically, much to my surprise I will be graduating on time in only 4 years this spring.  Looks like the 20+ units these last few semesters is going to pay off and now I need to apply for graduation and sooner rather than later determine what my next step is.  As SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) President we are beginning to determine what organizations we would like to work with this year while preparing to kick off the fall sports seasons with homecoming week and other festivities.  Until next week, peace!