Q&A with USA Softball Star Kelly Kretschman
4/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 15, 2008
The second-ranked Alabama softball teams gets a special opportunity on Tuesday as they step out of SEC play for an exhibition game against the USA Softball Women's National team at Liberty Park in Vestavia Hills, Ala.
Former Tide great Kelly Kretschman is a member of the USA National Team and will be in search of her second Olympic Gold Medal later this year in Beijing, China. Kretschman and her teammates are currently on the KFC Bound 4 Beijing Tour in preparations for those Olympic Games.
RollTide.com's Scott Latta caught up with Kretschman Monday night to talk about her Alabama days, her Olympic experiences and what it is like to get the chance to play her old team.
UA: What is it like returning to the state of Alabama to face your old team while you are a member of Team USA?
KK: It's exciting. Whenever you have the opportunity to play your alma mater, it's a special honor and privilege. I'm excited. I'm looking to seeing the girls and of course coach (Patrick) Murphy again.
UA: What did your time at the University of Alabama mean to you?
KK: It was a special time in my life. I wasn't really recruited out of high school so for coach Murphy to pick me out of a lot of girls who wanted to come to their school was special to me, just having them take a chance on me. I grew a lot as a softball player and as person in general. I think they're probably consistently the three best coaches in the country, and I still talk to Murphy like he's my best friend, which means a lot. I have a lot of pride in graduating from there and I'm proud when I look back and see how good they're doing. It's exciting to see where they're going and where they've been.
UA: What did it mean to you to be selected for your second U.S. Olympic Team?
KK: It meant a lot because this is possibly the last time for softball to be in the Olympics. It could also be the last time for me on the national team as well, so to go out being on an Olympic team is something that's really special to me.
UA: What was the experience like in 2004 when you helped Team USA to the gold medal in Athens?
KK: It was exciting, you know, a dream come true for me. Ever since I saw the '96 team win the gold medal in Atlanta I knew it was something I wanted to do, so to have that dream come true and win the gold medal and reach the ultimate in this sport is awesome.
UA: With the Olympics roughly four months away, what kind of preparations are the team going through to get ready?
KK: We're on our college tour right now and the tour continues until we leave for the Olympics. An average day for us includes waking up and doing weights or conditioning in the morning, then we leave in the afternoon for the game. We leave the next day and bus to the next city, where we'll do weights and conditioning when we get there and play the next day. It's a pretty consistent schedule. Sometimes we'll practice but it's a pretty hectic schedule. But to be the best in the world you've got to prepare like no one else, so it's worth it.
UA: Does your past Olympic experience help you in preparing for Beijing? And are you doing anything different than you have in the past?
KK: I think this time is a lot different than in '04. 2004 was our first tour so we didn't know what to expect, but a lot of us now were on the team in '04 and know how rigorous this tour can be and are trying to take it as easy as we can. When it's time to work we will, too, and we do all we can to fit in whatever social lives we have.
UA: Do you take the same mental approach to the games now as you did when you starred at Alabama?
KK: I'd like to think I'm a lot smarter and wiser than I was in college. When you get older you grow as a person as well as mentally and physically, and I think I have learned from past mistakes. If I could go back to college now it'd be great, but that's not going to happen.
UA: What does the gold medal from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens mean to you?
KK: Pride and honor. There aren't many people in this world that can say they have a gold medal or even went to the Olympics, so to have been a representative of our country in some way and be on the athletic stage in something you're good at has been an honor.
UA: What was it like to hear the National Anthem played and have the Gold Medal around your neck?
KK: It was amazing. When you're a little kid everybody watches the Olympics in things like track and field and you see them standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem, but there's something about having a medal around your neck that makes it different.
UA: What memories do you have from your first game at Alabama?
KK: (laughing) I do remember it because all the girls on the team tried to make me wear a bow in my hair and it lasted about an inning. I knew it wasn't me. It was a cool moment though to realize that for once we weren't just lifting weights or conditioning, that it was the real thing.
UA: What was your best memory at Alabama?
KK: I look back and remember all the girls I played with and all the tradition of the school. We helped build one of the first teams to win an SEC tournament championship and one of the first teams to go to regionals and the World Series. It's great now to see the tradition we helped build and see where they are now and know you're a part of that is awesome. People ask me all the time if I'd change where I went to school and I'd say without a doubt I wouldn't change a thing. To be able to look back at all the traditions and of course coach Murphy is awesome.
UA: What does Coach Murphy mean to you?
KK: He means the world to me. I know he's one of those people who no matter where you are or what you're doing he'll always be there. It`s so great to me that we've stayed close. I've been out of school for eight years and I'll send him random text messages and get them back from him almost immediately, like he's one of my friends. To me you can't beat that in a person. He cares about you and he's followed me and gets on me if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do, but it's all you could ask for in a person and he's been great to me.
