Around the Horn with Ashley Courtney
2/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Alabama softball player Ashley Courtney loves kids. You will always find her after games signing autographs, taking pictures and playing with the kids who come to watch her play.
“I’ve always loved kids. I am really good around them and they are good with me. We just really seem to relate to each other.”
It’s the kids that make playing the game of softball worthwhile for the senior catcher. So it’s only natural that Courtney is going to go into a profession that keeps her close to children. The Vero Beach, Fla. native is majoring in elementary education and wants to be a teacher some day.
“I believe that teaching is my calling,” Courtney said. “Some people are just born knowing what they want to do and I was like that. I’ve know since kindergarten that I wanted to be a teacher. It’s something that I can just feel because I really enjoy being around kids.”
While teaching has always seemingly been in Courtney’s blood, softball hasn’t.
“When I was eight years old, my dad bought me a glove and basically told me to go and catch for my sister. It took me about five years to finally like it. I really hated that my parents were my coaches, yet I was sitting on the bench. So I really started to work hard at it because I wanted to play.”
The hard work paid off with a scholarship to Alabama followed by an All-American performance her freshman year.
Her sophomore and junior years, Courtney was named an NFCA All-Region performer and posted a batting average of .328 over the two years combined. However in her mind, her numbers were slipping because of a hectic class and student-teaching schedule. So she turned to the father of former Tide All-American and Olympic gold medalist Kelly Kretschman to help take her game to the next level.
“Like all softball players, my dream is to play in the Olympics, so I talked to Mr. (Ken) Kretschman. I asked him what it took to be an Olympian and he said, ‘You see pitchers throwing everyday to try and perfect themselves and basically there is no difference with hitting. You have to practice everyday to make yourself better.’ Well I had class until 9:00 at night. So I pulled my car up to the batting cage and turned my high beams and radio on. I had a tee and some balls in my trunk from coaching, and I would hit as many balls as I could.”
However through all the hard work, Courtney doesn’t lose site of what it is that keeps her going.
“Through every strikeout or every hit, it doesn’t matter; whenever I am through, the kids are always there after the game smiling,” Courtney said. “I just want the parents and kids to know how much we appreciate them and their support. I play for the kids. They make me happy to be doing what I am doing. If it wasn’t for them, it wouldn’t be as fun as it is to play.”
