Softball Newcomer Q&A: Kloyee Anderson
1/29/2019 4:37:00 PM | Softball
We will be posting Q&A's with each of the seven newcomers on this year's Alabama softball team heading into the 2019 season. The sixth is with freshman Kloyee Anderson, a two-time state champion from Candler, N.C., who also posted a top-five finish at PGF nationals with Lady Lightning Gold.
How did you get your start playing softball?
"My older sister played and my dad was her coach. She's six years older than me, so I grew up wanting to be just like her. Since I can remember, I had a bat in my hand and I wanted to play. I played volleyball as well and did travel ball from about fifth grade to my freshman year. When I started getting heavily recruited in softball I had to make a decision between the two and chose softball."
When did playing in college become a real possibility for you?
"Probably my seventh-grade year. I played in a home league and just did some travel ball around where I lived. Once that team broke up, I started playing travel ball out in South Carolina and in bigger tournaments. I had never been around games where college coaches had come to watch us play before. That's when I started getting recruited and thought it was a possibility.
Softball wasn't really big in my town. No one in my town had really gone anywhere except Kelly Grieve who went to Tennessee. When I was playing at a tournament in Spartanburg in eighth grade, the North Carolina coach wanted me to come for a visit. That was the first time a coach had approached me about a visit."
What colleges were you looking at early on?
"Alabama had always been my dream school. I came on three visits and they were very particular about them. It was way more in-depth than the visits I took to other schools. My dad had always been a huge Alabama fan. They were one of the last schools to come into the picture but when they offered, it was a no-brainer."
What were your first impressions when you visited Tuscaloosa?
"My first visit was for a football game my freshman year. I loved the college-town feel and that softball was such a big part of it. We got to meet Nick Saban on my first visit too. My whole recruiting process probably lasted six months before I made my decision. I knew this was where I wanted to go, I was just waiting on an offer. We were so excited when I finally got one and I committed maybe two days later."
Your first experience with the team was the Japan trip last summer. How was that?
"I was really excited but was a little nervous. I had played travel ball with Kyra [Lockhart] so I already knew her and had got to know some of the girls on the team on previous visits. The trip made the fall a lot easier because it took away a lot of the stress of having to get to know the girls. I had already built relationships with them so it made my transition much smoother in the fall."
What was it like putting on the Alabama uniform for the first time in Japan?
"It was so surreal. I remember calling my dad and telling him it didn't feel real that I was going to play the next day. Putting on the uniform in the morning in the hotel was a dream come true."
How has the acclimation process to college life been so far?
"It's hard work being a student-athlete, but there are a lot of good things that come from it. Having access to the tutors and the academic facilities at Bryant Hall has been a huge help. We have study spaces and tutors available to us and it really helps us with time management. Not everyone gets these opportunities, so I make sure to take advantage of them. Coach [Patrick] Murphy really prioritizes academics and it helps that he makes it a priority so it's easier for us to do that as well."
What are your individual and team goals for the spring?
"Everyone is fired up to prove that we have it in us to compete and win in the SEC. Everyone on the team has big dreams, so an SEC championship and a national championship are our goals. We're all competitive. Personally, I just want to be the best teammate I can be. I want to be fully into the game at all times and be there for my teammates."
What advice would you give to young aspiring softball players?
"The new recruiting rule is awesome. Making a decision so young is really hard and you don't always know exactly what you should be considering. My advice would be to take your time. There's no rush. Really go visit the schools and see what they're about. Think about it and talk it over with your family. It's such a big decision and I think some people just want to play softball and don't care where, but there's a lot more that should play into the decision.
"You also need to stay focused. There's a lot of other things you may want to do and you will have to sacrifice some things, but it will be worth it in the end. The stuff that you miss out on really isn't that big a deal in the long term."
