Sydney Supple from Oshkosh, Wisconsin is one of the Top 5 players in the 2019 Hot 100 rankings and in 2014 committed to Northwestern when she was just 13 years old.

The tall lefty, who is also a standout hitter and plays first base, is a freshman at Oshkosh North High School and plays for the Beverly Bandits-Conroy/Terrell 16U team, one of the elite club teams nationally in its age division.

If you watched any of the Judi Garman Classic games, especially those featuring Northwestern, you probably saw Syd in the crowd all decked out in purple as she got a sweet birthday present: a trip to Southern California with her parents, Jay and Heidi, to watch in person her future Wildcat team!

In Sydney’s latest blog here, she describes another milestone in her life—the start of her first high school season!

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Today is the day it all begins.

For the last two years, I have watching my future high school team and sitting in the dugouts charting pitches for every game.

I’d wake up before I'd go to middle school or go right after school was out to go pitch to get ready to play for the high school team one day. As much as I loved the club experiences I've had—and it made me work harder for my turn in high school—it’s been tough the last two years because I’ve have had to watch as my high school has come two games away from going to State and losing to the same team both times.  

Watching those girls go through that has lit a fire inside of me; I’m going to do everything in my power to see that we are not letting that happen again!

My class of 2019 is what everyone called the ¨Future,¨ but now—with us being in high school and being able to play for our school— we are called the ¨Present!¨
 
The girls I have on my high school team all have a special chemistry. I grew up playing with them all year round and when I went to the Beverly Bandits they still stayed together and the bond grew stronger.

Still feeling like a part of the family, I could not be any more excited to rejoin these girls on the field again and recreate the memories we´ve all shared. We have a young team without any seniors, but we have chemistry, talent and, most importantly heart.

Everyone loves the game and sometimes that's all you need.

Most importantly, being able to play in my home state and in my home town again makes me realize that there is something to be said about playing in front of family.
 
In the past our high school did not the have strongest program, but two years ago the school got a new coaching staff. Cindy Suess and Graeme Robertson—the ones who let me grow up on the field while they were coaching Univ. of Wisconsin (Oshkosh) and taught me how to play the game— took over the high school program.

In their first year, they won Regionals for the school’s first time in 29 years and they repeated it again last year. We are now the up and coming program and the ones to keep an eye out for because we are striving for big things ahead!

Today, before I start my first official high school practice and for every one after that, I will look at all the banners hanging in my high school gym. These are the ones that recognize each sport and all of the teams’ accomplishments.

Besides those two Regional Championship awards, the softball banner is blank. That all changes today and I´ve got four years to help fill that banner.

Let the journey begin!