Mengwasser Living the Softball Life

Since childhood OBU assistant softball coach Gina Mengwasser knew she wanted to be a coach. What Mengwasser didn't know was that one day she would be playing for one of the top professional women's slowpitch softball teams in the country.
 
"I knew as a little kid from eight years old I wanted to coach," she said. "I started coaching at 14 years old for my little sister's team."
 
From there Mengwasser, who was the Diamond Sports NCAA Division II Catcher of the Year as a college player, started coaching summer ball, building her own teams, forming an organization, working at East Central, and finally landing at OBU.
 
"I just always wanted to coach, I loved it," she said.
 
Despite her coaching career, Mengwasser still found time to play softball. Hoping to get a feel for the pros she started trying to get on a team. Before long Mengwasser got a phone call from a coach asking her to play.
 
"I got a call from a lady in Florida and her team is sponsored by Easton, which is called 'Enough Said,' and they're one of the top women's softball teams in the world," Mengwasser said.
 
Up until then, Mengwasser had been trying to get her name out in the world of pro softball by posting videos of herself practicing.
 
"About last year I was trying to get a feel for it, and I'd been posting videos about how I play, how I hit, and word got around," she said.
 
Mengwasser found herself traveling around with the team, playing anywhere from Houston to Chattanooga.
 
"We travel around a lot, so it's pretty cool," she said.
 
The team consists of players from all around the U.S., including California, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. All of them fly in on game days to play wherever the team is scheduled. Mengwasser mostly plays third base or pitcher for the team, but said they don't get to practice their positions together very often.
 
"We actually have an app where we all talk. We're supposed to do hitting videos or fielding videos and we post them on there," Mengwasser said. "Our coach will call us and tell us how it looks and before games sometimes we'll get together and practice right before tournaments."
 
 Most of their post season occurs between October and December, she said. During the spring however she has to align their softball games around her OBU team. Right now she said most of the tournaments her team plays in are qualifiers to help earn points towards playing in the World Series in Florida in September. Mengwasser said her team is hoping to play against some international teams as well.
 
"Our goal for this summer is to maybe get selected as the USA team so we can play Canada next year," she said.
 
Getting to continue her softball career in this way, Mengwasser said, helps her to better coach her team of Lady Bison.
 
"It helps me still understand what the players are going through, I understand how stressful it can be," she said. "That it's not all about softball, it's about the players."
It also helps her continue to understand the nerves and frustrations that a player might feel before a game she said.
 
"I still get the feeling of being nervous, I still understand what they are going through," Mengwasser said.
 
For any players wanting to get involved in pro softball, Mengwasser said her advice is not to be afraid to go for it.
 
"Don't be afraid to go out and try; I thought I was done with my softball career after college," she said. "There's a lot out there and you've just got to be willing to work hard and put yourself out there."