10
Thursday,May 4, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Michigan Softball Academy makes impact
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
stepped from the first baseline toward
home plate. Her smile couldn’t have
been larger.
“Alright, let’s go baserunners,” she
screamed emphatically.
Unlike most cases, though, she
wasn’t critiquing her players’ form
or implementing game strategy.
Hutchins was rooting on a handful
of the participants at the 8th annual
Michigan Softball Academy.
And looking around, it was hard to
find anybody at the facility — coaches,
players, staff, participants — without
that same beaming smile.
The Softball Academy is a training
camp-esque
environment,
run
by the players and coaching staff.
Participants, donned in pink, rotated
through stations run by the players,
working on a different skill at each
spot. The event’s culmination was
a social mixer after the on-field
activities.
In its eight-year existence, the
program has raised over $700,000,
according to Hutchins, with hopes of
surpassing $1 million soon. All of the
proceeds go to the American Cancer
Society with the intent of fighting
breast cancer. This year’s event raised
a total of $135,207.
The Academy was created in 2010
at the Michigan softball summer
camp. The team had participated in
a walk for breast cancer awareness
prior, so the issue was already on
Hutchins’ mind. Then, when several
parents who were dropping off their
kids jokingly asked why they couldn’t
also run the bases — and perhaps
drink wine afterwards — the idea for
the academy was born.
Hutchins
had
several
conversations with Tami Rummel
at the American Cancer Society, and
thus, the Michigan Softball Academy
was formed.
And for the veteran coach, the
message of the event to her team is
clear.
“Life isn’t about you, life is
about making this world better,
and
making
your
community
better,” Hutchins said. “We have
this platform in this fantastic
environment
called
Michigan
softball, with these priviledged kids
need to leave here understanding
that they’re the luckiest people on
earth, that they’re very priviledged,
and their duty is to give back to this
community.”
Janet Quaine is an original
member, having gone to the event
regularly since its inception in 2010. A
breast cancer survivor treated at the
University’s clinics who was also an
avid softball player and fan, Quaine
marveled at the importance of the
event — and the job Hutchins has
done promoting it to participants and
players alike.
“I was under the age of 50 and
had breast cancer that… most of the
time you’re not even supposed to get
a mammogram,” Quaine said. “It
kind of all fit together, because I love
softball and U-of-M saved my life.”
“It’s just very nice that all the
girls take all this time to do this, and
Coach Hutch is just awesome to do
that… there’s just smiles and grins
everywhere. … All goes for a good
cause, too.”
The participants are here for a
good cause, no doubt. But they’re also
here to play softball — some more
seriously than others.
“I was checking the MVPs into the
locker room,” Quaine said. “Some of
the people were coming and saying,
‘You didn’t bring a glove?’ ”
Quaine, a former shortstop, hung
up her glove several years ago. She
played softball throughout her youth
and after high school. Times were
different then, and she never pursued
a chance to play in college.
“I came from the thumb,” she
said, pointing to her small, rural
hometown of Westland, Michigan.
“So it was Class D, and nobody ever
said ‘Hey, you should go to college
and play ball,’ which I probably
should have.”
For people like Quaine — who
now works in the University’s
clinical department — the event
cultivates a fun softball atmosphere
while serving as a crucial fundraiser
for the future of cancer research.
For Hutchins, it also doubles as a
necessary educational experience for
her team.
“Years ago, when we first did
this, (former football coach) Lloyd
Carr asked me ‘Why do you pick
the night before your biggest
weekend of the year’ — which is
typically when we have it — to do
this?” Hutchins said.
“And I said, ‘Because, there’s
nothing like giving, giving, giving
to make kids really understand
that this world isn’t about them.
And
honestly,
their
sense
of
empowerment, the joy they get in
knowing they’re contributing to
such a great cause, I mean they’re
proud as peacocks, and they have a
great time doing it.”
Sophomore
catcher
Alex
Sobczak, one of the many Michigan
softball players with ear-to-ear
grins today, certainly heeded that
advice.
“Personally, it’s my favorite time
of year,” Sobczak said, in reference
to the Pink Game and the Softball
Academy. “To give back and just
realize how much these people are
sacrificing for a greater cause.”
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
MARINA ROSS/Daily
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins has helped raise over $700,000 to fight breast cancer through the Michigan Softball Academy.
Michigan fires men’s
and women’s coaches
The
Michigan
men’s
and
women’s lacrosse teams will be
getting a fresh
start on the field
with the opening
of
the
South
Competition and
Performance
Complex in 2018.
But this isn’t the
Wolverines’ only
fresh start – they
will
also
have
new
coaches
leading
them
into their new
home.
Athletic
director
Warde
Manuel
announced
Tuesday
that men’s coach John Paul and
women’s coach Jennifer Ulehla
will not be returning next
season.
After
70
years as a club
sport, Michigan
elevated its men’s
lacrosse program
to varsity status
in 2011. The team
began
NCAA
competition the
next year with
its first official
game, a 12-9
loss to Detroit. Paul previously
had coached Michigan’s club
lacrosse team for 14 seasons,
and continued as head coach
with the Wolverines’ move to
NCAA competition in 2012.
In six seasons at the helm,
Paul recorded a record of 23-61,
with a 2-24 record in Big Ten
play. His last season was his
most successful – Michigan
won a program-record eight
games,
finished
above
.500
for the first time in program
history, and defeated No. 10
Penn for its first-ever win over
a ranked opponent. However,
the Wolverines were winless in
five games against conference
opponents.
“We are extremely grateful
to John for his personal and
professional
investment
in
helping to build the varsity
lacrosse
program,”
Manuel
said in a statement. “John has
invested
over
two decades in
the
growth
of
lacrosse at the
University
of
Michigan
and
we owe a debt of
gratitude to John
for getting the
men’s
lacrosse
team
to
this
point.
Building
a program is no
easy
task
and,
through his efforts, we are in
position to take another step
competitively on the national
level.”
Michigan
upgraded
its
women’s lacrosse team from
club
status
to
varsity program
in
2011,
along
with the men’s
team.
However,
the
Wolverines
only began play
in
2014,
two
years after the
men.
Ulehla posted
a
record
of
20-49 in her four
seasons as head coach, with a
1-21 overall record against Big
Ten opponents. This season,
Michigan went 5-12, equalling
its record from the 2015 season,
and won its first-ever conference
game – a 12-11 overtime victory
at Ohio State.
“After
evaluating
our
women’s lacrosse program, I
have determined that a change
is necessary at this time,”
Manuel said in a statement. “We
are thankful to Jenny for her
efforts in starting the program,
and wish her success in the
future.”
Manuel
announced
that
Michigan will begin a national
search for its next lacrosse
coaches immediately.
LACROSSE
Athletic director Manuel dismisses Paul
and Ulehla, citing need for fresh start
JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
“Building a
program is no
easy task”
“We are
thankful to
Jenny for her
efforts”