Amanda Asay

Last updated

Amanda Asay
Amanda Asay 9283.jpg
Asay before a UBC Thunderbirds women's hockey game
Personal information
Full nameAmanda Karlene Asay [1]
Born(1988-05-16)May 16, 1988
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
DiedJanuary 7, 2022(2022-01-07) (aged 33)
Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Weight85 kg (187 lb) [2]
Sport
Sport Baseball, ice hockey
College team Brown Bears
UBC Thunderbirds
Medal record
Women's baseball
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Women's Baseball World Cup
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Taiwan Team competition
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Japan Team competition
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2012 Canada Team competition
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 South Korea Team competition
Pan American Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2015 Toronto Team competition

Amanda Karlene Asay (May 16, 1988 – January 7, 2022) was a Canadian baseball and ice hockey player. She played on the Canada women's national baseball team from 2005 to 2021, and was its longest-serving member at the time of her death. She batted and threw right-handed, [3] and played at catcher, first base, and starting pitcher.

Contents

Asay joined the national team when she was 17 years old. She played in the World Cup one year later, where she was named to the all-tournament team as first baseman and won the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. She proceeded to compete in six more World Cup tournaments, earning two silver and two bronze medals in total. She was also part of the roster which secured a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. At the 2016 World Cup, she played as a pitcher, won both her starts by pitching complete games, and was again bestowed the team MVP award.

Early life

Asay was born in Prince George, British Columbia, on May 16, 1988. [2] Her father, George, worked as a high school science teacher; her mother, Loris, was a nurse. [4] [5] Asay began playing baseball when she was five. [2] [6] She attended College Heights Secondary School in her hometown, [4] where she graduated with honours. [5] She then studied at Brown University on an academic and hockey scholarship, [7] graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 2010. [2] Subsequently, she completed postgraduate studies at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Suzanne Simard, obtaining a Master of Science in 2013, [8] and a Doctor of Philosophy in forestry in 2020. [6] Her research concentrated on kin selection and recognition in interior Douglas fir, as well as the involvement of mycorrhizal network in that interaction. [9] [10]

Playing career

NCAA

Asay competed in softball for Brown University from 2007 until her senior year in 2010, [11] playing as first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. In her first season, she had the most runs batted in (RBIs) on the team with 16, to go along with 20 hits and 8 runs scored in 42 games played. She was limited to eight games the following year due to an injury that prematurely ended her season, but maintained a .435 batting average with 10 hits and six RBIs in those games. Her 2009 season was also cut short to six games because of another season-ending injury. She nonetheless had 10 hits, two home runs, six RBIs, and six runs scored in 13 at bats. [12] She served as team captain during her senior year. [11]

Asay also played on the Brown Bears women's ice hockey team. She missed only one game during her first season in 2006–07, in order to travel back home to receive the Canadian women's baseball player of the year award. [1] During her second year, she played 19 games as defenceman and had nine shots. [1]

Baseball

Asay joined the Canadian national team in 2005, when she was 17 years old. One year later, she made her World Cup debut at the tournament in Taiwan in which the Canadians secured bronze. [7] [13] Asay was employed as a backup at her natural position of catcher, with the majority of her playing time coming as a first baseman and designated hitter. [5] She posted a batting average of .500 throughout the competition alongside nine RBIs, leading to her being named to the tournament all-star team as first baseman and winning the national team's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. [13] [14] [15] Asay went on to compete in six more editions of the World Cup, helping the Canadian team earn silver in 2008 and 2016, and bronze in 2012 and 2018. [7] During the 2016 tournament, she played as starting pitcher and won her two starts by pitching complete games. [16] This included a 2–1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals. [7] [13] She posted a 1.00 earned run average (ERA) and 16 strikeouts. Offensively, she had a .333 batting average with two doubles and three RBIs. [16] In recognition of her performance, she was honoured as the team MVP for the second time. [13] [16]

In May 2015, Asay was one of eighteen players chosen to play for the Canadian roster at the 2015 Pan American Games, held two months later in Toronto. It was the first edition of a major multi-sport Games to feature women's baseball. She was selected as both a first baseman and pitcher. [17] [18] The team ultimately advanced to the gold medal match of the women's tournament, losing 11–3 against the United States. [19] She pitched 2+2⁄3 innings in relief and recorded an RBI in the final. [20] [21] Asay was later ranked seventh in Baseball America 's top 10 list of best female baseball players in the world released in August 2017. She was the only Canadian to make the list. [22] At the time of her death, she was the longest-serving member of the Canadian women's baseball team, having played on the squad for sixteen years. [13]

Ice hockey

Asay competed in women's ice hockey with the UBC Thunderbirds from 2010 to 2012, playing as a forward. [4] During the 2010–11 Thunderbirds season, she scored 6 goals and contributed 5 assists for 11 points. [23] In her final year, she was second on the team in points scored with four games remaining. [24] She scored UBC's only two goals in a 4–2 loss to the Manitoba Bisons on Seniors Night, when Asay and another senior-year teammate were honoured before their final home game with the Thunderbirds. [25] She scored another goal during the penultimate game of the Canada West regular season against the Saskatchewan Huskies. [26]

Personal life

Asay appeared alongside her supervisor Suzanne Simard in the documentary film Intelligent Trees. [27] [28] She was employed as a forester for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development in Nelson, British Columbia. She played hockey there in the winter of 2021–22. [7]

Asay died at the age of 33 on January 7, 2022, at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson. [29] She fell into a tree well while skiing at the nearby Whitewater Ski Resort. [7] [13] Two months after her death, the Prince George Community Foundation created the Dr. Amanda Asay Memorial Award in her honour. It is presented annually to two post-secondary school students, one from School District 57 in her hometown and the other from School District 8 in Nelson. [9]

Career stats

NCAA hockey

YearGPGAPTSPIMPPG
2006–0728246N/A0
2007–081900080
2008–091501160

Source: [30]

Awards and honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UBC Thunderbirds</span> University of British Columbia athletic teams

The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports, winning 117 national titles. UBC has won an additional 21 national titles competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics against collegiate competition from the United States and 42 national titles in sports that compete in independent competitions.

Stephanie Jameson is a former Canadian women's field hockey international. Between 2012 and 2017 she held the record as Canada's most capped women's field hockey international. She represented Canada at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games, at the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Pan American Games and at the 2004 and 2009 Women's Pan American Cups. She won three CIS Championship titles with UBC Thunderbirds in 2001, 2003 and 2004. She also played for Ulster Elks in the Women's Irish Hockey League and helped them win the 2014–15 Irish Senior Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunderbird Sports Centre</span> Indoor sports arena at the University of British Columbia

The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is a LEED Silver certified indoor arena in Greater Vancouver, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. Located in the University Endowment Lands, it is just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia. The arena is home to the UBC Thunderbirds men's and women's ice hockey teams, and contains one international-size 61 m × 30 m ice rink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pritchett</span> American baseball player (born 1970)

Christopher Davis Pritchett is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the California/Anaheim Angels and Philadelphia Phillies between 1996 and 2000, and is currently a college baseball coach for the UBC Thunderbirds.

Andrea Neil is a pioneer of women's soccer in Canada. Neil retired from the game after representing Canada more than any other Canadian player in history.

The Canada women's national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digit Murphy</span> American ice hockey coach and administrator

Margaret Pearl "Digit" Murphy is an American ice hockey coach, administrator, and former college ice hockey player. She is president of the Metropolitan Riveters of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011–12 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey season</span>

The 2011–12 Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey season represented a season of play in Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's ice hockey. The Calgary Dinos women's ice hockey program claimed their first CIS national title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Overholt</span> Canadian swimmer (born 1997)

Emily Overholt is a Canadian former competitive swimmer. She has won bronze medals at the Olympic Games and FINA World Aquatics Championships, as well as a silver at the Commonwealth Games and three Pan American Games medals. Overholt also won three gold and a silver at the 2013 Canada Games as a representative for British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Stephenson</span> Canadian ice hockey and baseball player

Ashley Stephenson is a former two-sport athlete from Ontario who played baseball for Canada women's national baseball team and ice hockey in the original NWHL and the CWHL. She won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Daniella "Ella" Matteucci is a Canadian ice hockey and baseball player, currently playing with the Team Sonnet of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). She played ice hockey with the Clarkson Golden Knights women's ice hockey program and the Markham Thunder of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). As a member of the Canadian women's national baseball team, she won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Kelsey Lalor is a Canadian baseball player. She is a member of the Canada women's national baseball team which won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Casorso</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Sarah Casorso is a professional women's hockey player with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League. She was a member of the Canadian National team that won Silver at the 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain, and is an alumna of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Hindmarch</span> Canadian educator and ice hockey coach (1930–2021)

Robert George Hindmarch was a Canadian educator, sports administrator and ice hockey coach. He was a multi-sport athlete at the University of British Columbia (UBC) as a student, and returned as a professor and its director of physical education. He and Father David Bauer established a permanent Canada men's national ice hockey team based at UBC in preparation for ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics. Hindmarch later coached the UBC Thunderbirds men's ice hockey team for 214 wins in 12 seasons; they became one of the first Western Bloc sports teams to play a tour of games in China. He developed additional international sporting relationships for the Thunderbirds in South Korea and Japan, and served as vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association for 16 years. Hindmarch was made a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia; and is inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatiana Rafter</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Tatiana Rafter is a Canadian ice hockey coach and retired forward. During her playing career, she played in the European Women's Hockey League (EWHL), the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL), and the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

Nora June McDermott was a Canadian basketball and volleyball player, coach and physical education teacher in two Vancouver secondary schools. She played for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderettes varsity basketball team from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1948 to 1949 with victories in two senior "B" championships. McDermott won nine Dominion basketball titles with the Vancouver Eilers throughout the 1950s and played for the Canada team in three editions of the Pan American Games from 1955 to 1963. She coached the bronze medal winning women's basketball squad at the 1967 Pan American Games and taught physical education in Vancouver secondary schools for a total of 40 years. McDermott won two Canadian volleyball club championships with the Vancouver Alums side. She is an inductee of various Halls of Fame and has a school scholarship named after her.

Shanice Marcelle is a Canadian female volleyball player and assistant coach for the York Lions women's volleyball team. She is a five-time CIS volleyball champion as a university athlete and two-time Bundesliga champion as a professional athlete. Individually, she was twice awarded the CIS women's volleyball player of the year in 2011 and 2013, was the 2011 CIS volleyball championship MVP, and was named the 2013 winner of the BLG Award as the best female athlete in all of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. She joined the Canadian women's national volleyball team in 2011 and is a member of the beach volleyball national team.

Sashel Aitiana Palacios Barajas is an American softball catcher of Mexican descent. After playing college softball for Arizona State, she embarked on a professional career in 2018. She also helped the Mexico national team qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which finished the tournament in fourth place.

Jordyn Faiczak is a field hockey player from Canada.

Danielle Alice Steer is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Treaty United in the League of Ireland Women's Premier Division.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Amanda Asay – Women's Ice Hockey". Brown University Athletics. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Amanda Asay". Toronto: Canadian Olympic Committee. May 12, 2015. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Amanda Asay Bio" (PDF). Ottawa: Baseball Canada. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Amanda Asay". UBC Thunderbirds. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hawthorn, Tom (December 27, 2006). "A baseball diamond is this girl's best friend". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Forestry Alumna Achieves Top Ranks in Academics and Athletics". UBC Faculty of Forestry. November 2, 2020. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Clarke, Ted (January 9, 2022). "Canada's 'PhD pitcher' Asay was a true student of the game". The Prince George Citizen. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  8. ↑ Asay, Amanda Karlene (2013). Mycorrhizal facilitation of kin recognition in interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) (Thesis). Vancouver: University of British Columbia. doi: 10.14288/1.0103374 . hdl: 2429/45400 .
  9. 1 2 Petersen, Hanna (March 11, 2022). "Prince George Community Foundation announces Dr. Amanda Asay Memorial Award". The Prince George Citizen. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Students". The Mother Tree Project. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Off the Field with Brown Senior Captain Amanda Asay". Brown University Athletics. February 25, 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Amanda Asay – Softball". Brown University Athletics. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Longtime Canadian women's baseball team member Amanda Asay dead at 33". CBC News. The Canadian Press. January 9, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ Pawliw, Brendan (July 17, 2019). "Asay to represent Canada once again on the world stage". My Prince George Now. Vista Radio. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  15. ↑ Staffieri, Mark (July 16, 2015). "Former Brown and UBC Forward Amanda Asay Versatile Member of Canadian Baseball Team". Women's Hockey Life. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Crawford, Scott (November 18, 2016). "Votto, Saunders Head List of Candidates for Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's Tip O'Neill Award". St. Marys, Ontario: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  17. ↑ Kilkenny, Carmel (May 18, 2015). "Pan Am Games welcome Women's Baseball". Radio Canada International. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  18. ↑ Clarke, Ted (May 17, 2015). "Asay making history at Pan Am Games". The Prince George Citizen. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Baseball – Event Overview – Women". Toronto2015.org. Pan American Games. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  20. ↑ Kennedy, Brendan (July 26, 2015). "Canada takes silver in first-ever Pan Am women's baseball". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  21. ↑ Couto, Melissa (July 26, 2015). "U.S. beats Canada for women's baseball gold at Pan Am Games". Global News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ Peters, Jason (August 24, 2017). "Top of the world". The Prince George Citizen. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Amanda Asay – #6 – F". Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  24. ↑ "The final weekend for two UBC women's hockey T-Birds". UBC Thunderbirds. February 3, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Thunderbirds fall victim to Manitoba comeback". UBC Thunderbirds. February 5, 2012. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Thunderbirds drop the first of two against Saskatchewan". UBC Thunderbirds. February 11, 2012. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Intelligent Trees – The Documentary". Intelligent Trees. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  28. ↑ "The Intelligence of Trees". Buddhist Film Festival Europe. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  29. ↑ Harper, Tyler (January 7, 2022). "'A terrific person': Canadian baseball star remembered after tragic death at Whitewater Ski Resort". Nelson Star. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Amanda Asay: Career Statistics". U.S. College Hockey Online. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.