My Story...

Colorado Native. Former Catcher for the Florida Gators. Former Graduate Asst. Coach for the Tennessee Lady Vols. Catching Coach. Hitting Coach. Life Coach. Wife and Mom to 2 Beautiful Girls.

Throughout my career, I’ve had some incredible experiences as well as some incredible challenges, here is my story…

THE GOOD – High school state championships, proud to call myself a Florida Gator, coached alongside the Division I Regional Coaching Staff of the Year at the University of Tennessee – SEC Championships, WCWS Runner Up Finish, Colorado Centennial League Coach of the Year Selection… played alongside and coached NCAA All Americans and Olympians… but ultimately have been blessed to coach and get to know some incredible young ladies and their families.

THE HARD – My career was riddled with injuries, in fact a knee injury ended my career in the middle of my senior year at the University of Florida. My first major knee surgery happened July 5th prior to my freshman year at Florida. In a travel ball tournament in Seattle, WA, I subluxed my knee cap running through 1st base. I had subluxed my knee cap on and off since middle school, but this time was different. When I hit first base I hyper extended my knee and out it went. My knee was immediately swollen and unstable, many thought I had torn my ACL. When we returned home from the tournament my mom took me straight to the Emergency Room where the ER doctor told me I had torn my quad from my femur. This didn’t seem right as I recognized the feeling of subluxing my knee cap, so we went to see our family orthopedic surgeon the next morning. There is where the accurate news was delivered… I did in fact sublux my patella but this time I had also fractured the lateral condyle (outside groove the patella tracks in) of my tibia. I underwent a Tibial Tubercle Osteotomy with a Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction. It was intense, it was painful, and it was here that I started all over again… After 6 weeks of non weight bearing activity and simply trying to regain range of motion, I stepped foot on the campus of UF with a completely atrophied quad (my calf was larger than my quad) and I was learning a proper walking gate again. The entire fall of my freshman year included twice a day rehab, strength and conditioning, practice as much as I could and hitting from a bucket. I was released to play Feb. 12th, the weekend of our first tournament. While I was released to play, that doesn’t mean I was 100% back to me and the level I was accustomed to. It was a long road back, at this point it was more mental than physical. Each summer during my college career resulted in a surgery, whether is was a clean out/ scope of a knee, or an elbow surgery on my throwing arm (radial nerve entrapment) or a torn ulnar collateral ligament in my left thumb (game keepers thumb), the cycle was the same – Surgery, rehab, fight my way back to 100%, play catch up to the rest of the team, season, start over again. 

Unbeknownst to me, the type of knee surgery I had leading into my freshman year is the type athletes don’t typically recover from, much less return to catching. It was during our series at UCLA my freshman year when an opposing coach complimented me on my recovery and let me in on the secret (people don’t come back from that type of injury). To date, I have undergone 7 knee surgeries, an elbow surgery and a thumb surgery. While none of this is glamorous, I wouldn’t trade any of it and have no regrets! Through all of this adversity, I learned grit, I learned how to fight back and I learned to never give up on my dreams. I learned how to work hard – mentally, physically and spiritually.

THE COOL – All of my experiences have resulted in a B.S. from the University of Florida in Exercise and Sport Science, a M.S. Degree from the University of Tennessee in Sport Management, multiple championships, the opportunity be coached by one of the best and most respected catching coaches in the game while at UF, the opportunity to coach alongside Ralph and Karen Weekly in the Women’s College World Series Championship Game, and work alongside the best of the best in this game!

My coaching career began with the focus of improving and teaching the physical skills and strategies of softball, while that still remains a focus, my perspective has evolved. As I watch my daughters (2 and 3 years old) grow, I ask myself, ‘how do I raise my girls to be strong, confident, kind and overall good people’?  

Softball is my passion but teaching and training the next generation of strong and confident young ladies is my mission. My ultimate goal is to build the foundation for female athletes to WIN. EVERY. DAY on and off the field! Teach them out to think positively, love themselves and look inward for their source confidence and self-worth. Softball is my platform for coaching and teaching the WHOLE student-athlete. 

As I progressed in my career and accomplished some of the preliminary goals I had set, I’m not enjoying the drive of entrepreneurship and being a professional troublemaker!