Katie Potter

I don’t even know how I came to play softball when I was 10 years old. My parents must have heard about sign-ups and took me there. That first year was what grabbed me as a ball player, and every year since then softball became THAT THING in my life that I loved. I just couldn’t wait every year for softball season and summer ball to come around.

And soccer was just a decision on a whim – a friend talked me into trying out my junior year. I went for it and fell in love with being the keeper for the team. That was one of the most exciting sports positions I ever played. For soccer, I have only one coach that I played for and learned from – Kathy Renwick-Geisler. Since I hadn’t played much soccer – she and my teammates taught me everything I learned. I am grateful for them.

I have played on a number of softball teams with some really excellent players, but I will never forget our high school team. We played together or against each other before high school for many years in the Rose City Softball Association and in the summer for the amazing and incredibly knowledgeable Teri Mariani, the Portland State University softball coach. Our high school team, coached by Herb Osaki and Dick Miller (these two were the best duo for us) was fire! We had already played so many years together and knew each other’s strengths and were confident in each other’s skills. We played like a well-oiled machine, and it felt like home every time I was on the field with them.

I remember practicing infield in the gym at Madison when it was too wet to play outside (Portland!). We would fire that ball around faster than any infield practice I had ever watched or participated in! Everyone would be right on task, present, giving their all – I was amazed at how fast and hard we could throw. And not one person let up during all of practice. We gave it our all, and everyone supported each other on the field. The hours, months, and years we all hung out and played together meant the world to me.

Those years cemented for me that if you work together and work hard, you will reap the benefits you sow. Friendship, trust, faith in each other, self-esteem, and respect are the things I experienced as part of a goal-minded, focused, and talented group. They were some of the best years of my life…until I had kids. And although being a mom outweighs every other thing I have ever done, this time with these teammates, these coaches, the freedom to travel to do what I wanted most – to play ball – was an amazing period of my life that I will never forget. And being reminded recently about this long-ago time, has brought back that same feeling of camaraderie, perseverance, and gratitude that filled those days. I am grateful to all my teammates and coaches, but I owe the most gratitude to my dad for all the support and guidance he has given me over the course of my life. Without these coaches and without him, none of this would have happened.

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