Patty Gasso is one of the legends in college softball, having won two National Championships (2000, 2013) with a 928-283-2 record (76.7% winning percentage) in her 19 years at the helm of Univ. of Oklahoma softball.  She was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2012 and has produced nearly 50 All-Americans for the Sooners including the 2012 and 2013 National Player of the Year Keilani Ricketts.

We spoke to Coach Gasso earlier this week on general topics relating to softball at the club and college levels and she was refreshingly candid, especially as she talked about balancing softball excellence with her own family, which includes her husband, Jim, sons J.T. and D.J., and two labradoodles, Una, and a new puppy named Dos.

 

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StudentSportsSoftball.com What is your take on early recruiting?  Is it a good thing for the player and their family?

Patty Gasso: I’m not a fan of early recruiting, but the bad thing is if I don’t go after a player when she has obvious talent I’ll be left behind.  Truthfully, I wish it were the way it used to be when kids were juniors in high school before they were getting offers.  There’s so much growth and learning potential as they get through the high school years, but now we have eighth graders committing. It’s crazy. There’s not a lot I can do about it other than just encourage the athletes that, if they’re going to be making decisions that early, they need to know a coach will expect them to work really hard.

In reality, if you are that good of an athlete and you’re getting an offer in eighth or ninth grade, it means you’re good and will get more offers. You should take your time and make sure it’s right.  More offers will come your way, but it seems like there’s a panic button and kids jump on the first opportunity available.  That can be regrettable because a program you’d rather be interested in may come along and be a better fit but you’ve already made the decision.  I’d encourage young athletes to slow down and don’t be so anxious.  If you do make that decision early, you should be working to see how great you can be and make a goal to be a starter as a freshman when you show up at the university.

 

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SSS.com:  Aside from the obvious physical skills, what are the attributes you look for in a player?

PG: I look to see if an athlete is a good teammate— you can see it on the field if she’s engaged with her teammates and coaches.  I want someone who shows passion when they play.  They get excited that it’s not just another game, they really want to be there.  I definitely look for leaders; too many players get concerned about their performance over the team’s success.  I love to see athletes who extend themselves to their teammates, who know when to call time out and rally.  And I am always looking for players who make other players better.

 

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SSS.com: Players, both at the high school and college level, seem to be under a lot of pressure these days… what are some things you do to keep things light and ensure there’s balance in a player’s life?

Patty Gasso:  One thing about practice is I try to keep it fresh, make it challenging and keep the athletes from being bored so we mix it up a lot.  But it’s not always serious—we try to make it fun where practices are a bit lighter in the ways of competitiveness. We’ll do things on road trips, too, like have roommates dress up as a famous couple; even the coaching staff participates.  One time on a trip to Baylor I dressed up with an assistant coach and we were Siegfried and Roy, the famous tiger training act!

Sometimes you need a reality check and need to realize that there are other things important in life, too. l love the athletes who have hobbies, those who play other sports if they choose to, those who will take time with their families to go to the river and relax.  There are many, many things that are bigger than who’s going to offer you a scholarship. A good example for me and my players was being part of the Moore (Oklahoma) tornado discussion and clean-up.  Talk about reshaping your minds, you definitely learned that while you may think softball is the biggest and most intense thing in the world, it’s the furthest thing from it.

 

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SSS.com:  Do you think players generally are having fun in softball or has it become too business-like in the effort to get a scholarship?

PG: I do sense that players are enjoying playing, mainly because they’re playing with their friends. However, I do think that one thing taking away some of the fun is the amount of games being played.  It wears these guys out a bit. I also think there’s a lot of specialized coaching and some players are starting to burn themselves out with going to a hitting coach three times a week, doing weight and agility training, meeting with a mental coach, etc. There’s all kinds of stuff where every night of the week something’s going on in softball. It’s crucial that as they get older, kids have to give themselves the chance to do things away from softball and families have to take vacations away from softball.  Don’t get me wrong— going to tournaments, for example, is travel and the family does get to be together, but it’s good to be a family and get away from the field, too.  I think we’re getting away from that; everybody, myself included, needs a chance to get a breath of fresh air.  I’m seeing kids run out of gas even before they get to college.

 

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SSS.com: What do you like to do in your spare time to recharge your batteries? What do you do to get away from it all?

PG: What I like to do, when I have some free time, is to be at home.  For me, being at home is like a vacation! I like my house, my dogs, my family and having a BBQ or just hanging around the pool versus the thinking of ‘I gotta go to a game, talk to a recruit, go to a practice,’ etc. I look to do nothing when I can! We went to Hawaii on a trip to get away, but I couldn’t wait to get home.  It doesn’t mean you have to get up and go somewhere in travel ball it can be just spending a week at home.

 

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SSS.com: You’ve emphasized the importance of putting softball into perspective with the other important aspects of life…  how have you successfully balanced being a title winning coach with raising two sons who have also had success in collegiate sports?

PG: I could tell you that as a mother, wife and a coach, although it’s not something you see or hear discussed a lot in our sport, that there were many times in my career where I was judged and told I was selfish and that I should take more time with my kids.  I’ve had guilt trips raising my kids with the time commitment coaching takes, but I have to say I’ve been very blessed by God to have two wonderful boys and blessed to have a husband who has been supportive. Still, and being completely honest, I will always feel at some level that I sold them short in some ways so I can’t tell you how great it is to have had my boys with me at both of our national championships.

In 2000, the boys (J.T., the oldest, and D.J.) were 11 and five and I can still see their faces all painted as we walked hand-in-hand onto the field for the championship game.  That was one of the greatest moments of my life. Another was this summer when JT was right behind me (coaching) as we won the national championship again.  I remember looking in the crowd during the national anthem and seeing DJ—he’s 18 now and had his face painted exactly as he had it for the first championship when he was five years old.  Nothing means more to me than having my two children being there and supporting me in big moments like these.

They’ve learned a lot through athletics and I’m so blessed to have had quality time with them as I have.  When I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing taking this job, they will always say they wouldn’t have had me do anything else.  They’ll tell me, ‘If you weren’t a coach, we wouldn’t know what to do!’”