1. “If your homework isn’t done you will sit here and miss practice until it is!” This threat came on a weekly, and sometimes daily basis throughout my young life. It took ONE time for my homework to not be done and my butt sat at the kitchen table all night and finished it while my sister got to go to practice. It never happened again in my 17 years of playing softball. My homework was done, period.
 
2. “I’m not the one getting recruited, why would I respond to your emails from college coaches?” At 15, I wanted to go to the football games and out with my friends, responding to a bunch of emails sounded like a drag compared to 15-year-old things. Interacting with college coaches myself helped me create an opinion of them and their schools that were completely my own and were less influenced by my parents.
 
3. Every Friday, without fail, I packed my own bag before we left for a tournament. If I forgot something, it was MY fault. You better bet a lot of money that I checked and rechecked that bag every weekend for my uniforms and any other essentials. Now when I travel, packing is a breeze with all the practice I had growing up!
 
4. Curfews. GASP. They were constant, and always earlier on game nights. Weekends that my teammates were up at all hours of the night running the halls of the hotel? My butt was in bed watching TV with an early bed time. I always appreciated it when I was pitching game #3 the following day.  
 
5. Whenever I was traveling with my team in college I was always expected to send a text when we left and arrived safely. I thought it was so lame and overbearing that my parents wanted to “constantly know where I was and what I was doing.” It’s because they cared, and still do care. (because we still all do it!) My boyfriend now jokes that now I expect him do it when he travels too.
 
6. They harped on physical therapy CONSTANTLY, and made extra appointments for me throughout the week to work with my physical therapists during season. It made for faster recoveries and allowed me to push myself harder during season through pain when I needed to.
 
7. I had a problem? I was the one who had to address it with my coach. I was bitter, but it forced me to learn how to communicate and talk about my problems with my superiors. I also learned how to pick my battles and decide what was really important enough to talk about or if I could change something I was doing to solve the problem.
 
8. They told me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted to hear. (Like that I was never going to pitch at Alabama!) They were hard on me - no one was harder on me than they were. It taught me how to have crazy high expectations for myself.
 
9. When I was rehabbing I was at every single practice and game, even though I couldn’t participate on the field. I learned more about the game from the sidelines than I ever thought I would. I learned how to be a better teammate, how to call pitches, how to teach and mentor, how to steal signs, how to read a defense, the list goes on and on. (Shout out to former coach Dani Schenone on this one for mentoring me!)
 
10. Optional practices were not optional. The word optional did not exist in our household growing up. When we signed up for a team, whether it was softball or any other sport, we were at every single practice. This made the adjustment to college ball much more simple as the commitment level increased.
 

​​I’ve been trying to write this blog for about a week now, and here it is Friday night before graduation and I’m still struggling to put into words how I feel. In the 2.5 years I’ve spent in Shippensburg it has not only become a place that I can call home with ease, but also the place where I (finally) figured out what I’m supposed to do with my life. When I first got to Shippensburg I was struggling with who I was, and what I wanted. I choose Shippensburg University not only for the softball team, but for the education department. I wanted a school where I would learn how to be the best in my field. Little did I know, that my field was going to quickly change. I made a list of all the things I learned here through my interaction with pitchers and the softball community, but I couldn’t find the words to put it into a letter so instead here is my list.
 
1. Everything happens for a reason. I never imagined that another shoulder injury would be one of the best things that has ever happened to me. By not being able to play the game, it allowed me to share it in a whole new way.
 
2. My definition of success quickly changed. It went from my own big game wins and stats to correct snaps and innings without walks. I would give up so many of my own championships and big games to see my pitchers succeed, which is something I wasn’t sure I would ever feel.
 
3. I learned how to be a role model, and support girls who were going through things that I remember going through oh so well. There were some pitching lessons that we really only focused on pitching for a small part of them. Between trouble with teachers, bullies, boys, family, and too many other situations to list how can we really focus on just pitching? I learned how to let lessons become an outlet for my pitchers who were struggling a little bit outside of softball, while still focusing on pitching and mechanics.
 
4. What it means to put your name on something. For the first time in my life I was saying “Hey, I think I’m good at this and would love to teach your daughter.” This was a concept that was beyond scary at first, but now I love it. I love being able to support parents and pitchers with a specialty that I love.
 
5. What it truly means to give support. I never imagined in giving “one hour pitching lessons” I would end up doing the things I did. My friends laughed at me while we hung out on weekends because I was constantly stepping outside to take calls or texting with pitchers, parents, and coaches about how weekends were going. I ended up spending many weekends at random ball fields all over Pennsylvania and Maryland to watch my pitchers. I babysat for parents in a pinch, I curled hair for homecoming, and hosted study sessions with some of my older pitchers. I never truly understood how invested I would be.
 
6. I am a better daughter, sister, friend, coworker, coach and all around better person because of the girls I have come to know and love through softball. The energy and enthusiasm that I see every day in the pitchers I work with genuinely makes me want to take that same energy and enthusiasm into other aspects of my life.
 
7. I came to the realization that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I spent my entire days looking forward to coaching softball each evening. I found a career that I can take my passion for softball and combine it with my love of teaching. While helping young pitchers learn to believe in themselves I somewhere along the way started to believe in myself again.
 
I never imagined saying more goodbyes than I can count over the past six months as pitchers find someone new to continue to help them grow. I am so thankful that I could play a small part in the softball community here in Southern Pennsylvania. The lessons that I have learned in the past years here will stay with me for the rest of my career. Shippensburg is the place I found my calling, and for that I will be forever thankful. I cannot wait to watch the pitchers I have worked with continue to grow into not only the athletes I know they can be, but also the amazing young women I have come to know and love here. 

Jock…Gym Class Hero…Gym Rat…the stereotypes thrown at athletes are endless, especially in the world of female sports. I can remember being a freshman in high school pitching for the varsity team, and the baseball team called me “testosterone.” (I should point out that our record was much better than theirs that year!) Athletes get a bad reputation and are often portrayed poorly in the media, yet generally these athletes in the media are the exception rather than the rule. Obviously, as many of you are raising amazing young women that I have been fortunate enough to work with who will continue to break stereotypes. 
 
Where does this stereotyping stop? It stops when those of us who do the right thing and are proud of what we accomplish on and off the field step up and say something. Stand up for your daughter and female athletes when someone sends a shot our way. Your daughter should be proud of who she is and what she has accomplished. When people question our choices to play sports and dedicate our lives to the craziness of traveling every summer and practicing almost year round remind them of the life lessons that your daughter learns.
 
“I saw both of my daughters deal with stereotypes in different ways as they grew up. There were moments in each of their careers when I questioned what was best for them and if this really was the right path for them and our family. Years later, I am thankful for the paths they each took. Playing collegiate softball helped shape each of them into the successful young women they are today.”
            - Laurie Murphy (also known as my awesome mom who
            raised two softball crazed & just plain crazy daughters)
 
 If your daughter chooses to take her game to the next level, there are SO MANY doors that are opened for her. Participating in college athletics should be considered a positive experience. The balance that student athletes maintain between academics and athletics not only helps them to succeed but also prepares them for the future.
 
Why I would want my (hypothetical!) daughter to participate in college athletics
 
1. A Huge Support System: On average a softball team has 20 players, and maybe 4 of those players are freshmen. This gives those 4 freshmen 16 people automatically who have been in their shoes as well. Most programs have required academic meetings with coaches or study halls to be sure that student athletes are also staying on top of their academics. Many programs have added academic support such as tutors and advisors that have worked with athletes for years.
 
2. High Expectations: Whether it comes in the form of NCAA Eligibility Rules, a Team Contract, or keeping up with classroom with a crazy schedule your daughter has been given expectations much higher than the general student population. She is expected to keep up with her classes or there will be consequences in athletics as well.
 
3. Time Management: Sometimes, the less time you have, the better you are at managing it. By having commitments outside of class your daughter will learn (if she hasn’t already!) how she “operates” the best and when she needs to do what. For me, it was always getting up early in the morning to do my homework and studying before I went to class and practice because by the time I was done with practice all I wanted was food and sleep! My teammates all managed their time differently, but they did what worked for them. As an adult, the time management skills I developed as an athlete help me at work more than I ever imagined they could.
 
4. Networking and her Future: Two words: resume builder. Employers don’t see “athlete” on a resume, they see “responsible, time management, respectful, dedicated, gritty, problem solver, mentally tough….” and the list goes on. On top of this, the alumni networking that occurs when you graduate as an athlete from an institution is huge. You automatically have something in common with thousands of professionals who graduated from the same school you did!
 
5. Lifelong Fitness: No “freshman fifteen!” just kidding…but seriously, the exercise and nutrition habits that I developed as a college athlete are now second nature to me as an adult. The gym has become an outlet after a long day now that I no longer have practice for that, and eating healthy isn’t something I need to think about on a daily basis anymore.
 
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“I wouldn’t be as successful as I was in college athletics if I didn’t have the support of my parents, teammates, and coaches. My teammates determination inspired my determination. My coach would read quotes that would help to put everything into perspective and refocus my energy on school and field hockey.
            - Miranda Wallace, Shippensburg Unv. Field Hockey (Senior, 2016 DII Champions)
 
“One way that really helps me balance academics and athletics is budgeting the time I’m going to spend on each the night before. That way when I say I’m going to pitch or workout after my class, I don’t really have an excuse. I also like to do everything the night before I start studying or doing homework, so it’s easier for me to go hit or pitch while I’m still out and about.”
            - Shannon Tierney, Rhodes College Softball (Freshman)
 
“Time management is key. Having a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule helped to give me an idea of what the short term and long term looked like without getting overwhelmed. That way I could also stay on top of my class work, play softball, and still have time to relax at the end of the day - having time to unwind is important too!
            - Taylor Dorman, Shippensburg Unv. Softball (Junior)
 
“I’ve been a student-athlete for as long as I can remember so I don’t really know any different. School work always comes first then practice. A normal day is school, homework, practice, then bed.”
            - Lexi Alleman, Shippensburg High School Softball/Field Hockey (Sophomore)
 
“The most important factor in balancing athletic participation with academics is time management. The athletes that do the best job of staying ahead of their studies and getting their work done early are the ones who tend to have the best ability to balance the two.”
            - Jeremy Phelps, Rhodes College Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach