For my community connections project I chose to interview and connect with canadien olympic softball player Sara Groenewegen. Sara plays for Canada Women’s National Softball Team. Sara was supposed to participate in the 2020
olympics but due to covid it was post-ponned. She has earned many awards including Big Ten Pitcher of the year twice in 2014 and 2017, Big Ten Player of the year in 2015 and she and her team won gold at Pan American Championships. It had been 32 years since Canada won. Sara attended The Unniversity of Minnesota where she played until she graduated in 2017 with a Sport Management degree.
I chose to interview Sara because softball is a big passion of mine and Sara has overcome a lot of challenges with being a type one diabetic, being in a coma for ten days, and has still found a way to persevere and follow her dreams. After being able to connect with her, she has inspired me to keep practicing and trying hard to reach my goals.
I reached out to Sara asking if she would like to answer a few questions the questions I asked were…
Why are you passionate about your role as a softball player?
Her response was ” I’m passionate about my role because I get to represent my entire country while playing softball, which is something I love to do. Only 15-20 women get the opportunity to put on the Team Canada uniform every year. I love having a platform to speak on topics that I a
m passionate about, and I love being able to be competitive.
What obstacles have you faced to get to where you are today?
She answered with ” I have faced many obstacles in my life, but they have all helped me grow into the women I am today. To name a few- I am a type 1 diabetic (have been since I was 9 years old), I have been cut from the junior national team, told I wasn’t good enough, bullied for my bod image, tore my MCL (ligament in my knee), and survived a sickness called legionnaires disease which put me into a coma for 10 days. And I guess you could say what we’re going through right now! Having to live out of a suitcase because of the 2020 Olympic postponement.
What advice would you give to someone interested in what you are doing?
Her response was “My advice would be to put your head down and get to work! It takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice to be able to play softball at a high level. I knew in high school that I wanted to go to college on a softball scholarship, so I made sure I made the right choices and made softball my priority instead of going to hang out with my friends all the time kind of thing. But anything is possible if you put your mind to it!”
How did you get better and more accurate when pitching?
She responded with “I think a simple answer would be to practice more! You can’t expect to be good without practicing and working on things. To be more specific, I would watch film and study what I am doing so I know how to fix it. I am a visual learner, so being able to see what I am doing and what I need to fix really helps me.”
Did do you have any big inspirations in softball like, a past coach?
“I wouldn’t say I had an idol or anything growing up, but I did look up to my older sister a lot. She also has type 1 diabetes and played softball, so she showed me that I was able to do it too! My college softball coach inspired me to be a better person off the field and to be a better teammate! Because softball does end one day, and you want to put yourself in the best position you can when you decide to stop playing.”
Thank you so much Sara for taking the time to answer my questions I’m so happy I was able to connect with you.