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Hayley Wickenheiser is a Canadian former ice hockey player, resident physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional men’s hockey in a position other than goalie. Wickenheiser was a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team for 23 years, from 1994 until announcing her retirement on January 13, 2017, and is the team's career points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists in 276 games. She represented Canada at the Winter Olympics five times, capturing four gold and one silver medal and twice being named tournament MVP, and one time at the Summer Olympics in softball, and is a seven-time winner of the world championships. She is tied with teammates Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford for the record for the most gold medals of any Canadian Olympian, and is widely considered to be the greatest female ice hockey player of all time. On February 20, 2014, Wickenheiser was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. In 2019, she was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, in her first year of eligibility. She was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
Softball is a popular variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball on a smaller field and with only underhand pitches permitted. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock.
Jennie Lynn Finch Daigle is an American former softball player. She played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 1999 to 2002, where she won the 2001 Women's College World Series and was named collegiate All-American. Later she led the United States women's national softball team to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also pitched for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch from 2005 to 2010.
Lauren Bay-Regula is a Canadian softball pitcher. She played college softball at Oklahoma State from 2000 to 2003, where she holds several all-time school records. She was a part of the Canadian softball team who finished ninth at the 2002 World Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and fifth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bay-Regula pitched in 2005 for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch and was named co-Pitcher of the Year; in 2006, Bay signed with the expansion Philadelphia Force. Bay-Regula represented Team Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal.
Jessica Ofelia Mendoza is an American sportscaster and former softball player. Currently, she serves as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage on Spectrum SportsNet LA. As a softball outfielder, Mendoza was a collegiate four-time First Team All-American and two-time Olympic medalist. Mendoza played from 1999 to 2002 at Stanford and was a member of the United States women's national softball team from 2004 to 2010. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch and was named 2011 Player of the Year and currently ranks in the top 10 for career batting average and slugging percentage.
Christine Laura Simpson is a Canadian television personality, best known as a hockey reporter, host and interviewer. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington Glory in the final game of the championship series. The team won their second NPF championship following the 2011 season when they won the championship series two games to none over the USSSA Pride. Following the 2015 season the team won its third NPF championship defeating the USSSA Pride two games to none. They played their home games at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Illinois. The team folded in 2021 when the NPF disbanded.
Victoria Noel Galindo-Piatt, commonly known as Vicky Galindo, is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, three-time professional All-Star, softball player and current head coach at West Valley College. An infielder at second and third, Galindo played college softball at West Valley and later for California in the Pac-12 Conference, helping them to back-to-back national runner-up finishes at the 2003 and 2004 Women's College World Series. She was drafted to the Chicago Bandits of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) winning two championships. She also played for the United States women's national softball team, winning a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Natasha Renee Watley is an American, former collegiate four-time first-team All-American, two-time medal winning Olympian, retired seven-time pro-All-Star softball player. Watley played college softball at UCLA, and helped the Bruins win a national championship. She represented the United States women's national softball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal.
Michele Mary Smith is an American, former collegiate All-American, two-time medal-winning Olympian, international professional left-handed hitting fastpitch softball pitcher and current sports commentator, originally from Califon, New Jersey. Smith played her college career for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls for the years 1986–89, where she set numerous records in the now defunct Big Eight Conference. She is also a double Olympic Softball gold medalist with Team USA, having played in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. She has been ESPN's lead college softball color analyst since 1998. In 2012, Smith became the first woman to serve as commentator for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game. Smith is a USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree.
Caitlin Faith Lowe-Nagy is the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats softball team. Lowe is a former collegiate four-time first team All-American and medal winning Olympian. She played college softball for Arizona and led her team in back-to-back Women's College World Series championships in 2006 and 2007. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Lowe played with National Pro Fastpitch's USSSA Pride for six seasons, winning three titles and being named 2012 Player of the Year, before officially retiring in 2015.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team and was named Most Outstanding Player. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.
Victoria Gran Hayward is a Canadian Olympic athlete, a professional softball player and the current head coach for the University of Nevada softball program. She played college softball at the University of Washington from 2011 to 2014, professional softball with the National Pro Fastpitch league from 2015 to 2019 and currently competes in the Athletes Unlimited softball league. She is an outfielder who bats and throws left-handed. She has played for the Canadian Senior Women's softball team since June 2009 and was team captain when Canada won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Ashley Kristina Holcombe is an American softball player who plays catcher for the USA national softball team. Holcombe is now in her third year with the Women's National Team.
The prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada serve as the pinnacle of women's athletic competition in North America. The United States is home to the vast majority of professional women's leagues. In North America, the top women's leagues feature both team sports and individual athletes. While some leagues have paid professional female athletes, others do not and function at a semi-professional level.
Angelique "Angel" Bunner is an American, former professional softball pitcher. Bunner pitched collegiately for Auburn from 2008 to 2012. In the 2012 NPF Draft, she was drafted seventeenth overall by the Carolina Diamonds. During her professional career in the National Pro Fastpitch, she played for the USSSA Pride, Chicago Bandits, Pennsylvania Rebellion, Carolina Diamonds, NY/NJ Comets and most recently the Beijing Eagles. She currently ranks in career innings pitched and won a Cowles Cup championship with the Bandits in 2016.
The USSSA Pride is a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a former member of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF). Founded in 2009, they previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play their home games at USSSA Space Coast Complex.
Kelly Katlyn Barnhill is an American professional softball pitcher. She played college softball for the Florida Gators from 2016 to 2019, earning All-American honors during her tenure with the team. She was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Honda Sports Award, and espnW Player of the Year in 2017. She is the career no hitters (7), strikeouts, strikeout ratio (10.5) and WHIP leader for the Gators. She also ranks in career strikeout ratio for both the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA Division I.
Eujenna "Jenna" Afrodite Caira is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional softball pitcher for the Canadian Wild of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). Caira was a starting pitcher for the Syracuse Orange from 2009–12 and holds the career records in wins, shutouts and innings pitched. Additionally, she is the Big East Conference career leader in strikeouts. She has been a member of the Canada women's national softball team since June 2009 and helped them win a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Zoe Hicks is a Canadian softball and baseball player and coach. Hicks is currently a coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers in their technology department. She helped Canada to win a bronze medal in softball at the 2023 Pan American Games. Hicks played softball collegiately with Iowa Western Community College before ending her college career with Louisiana Tech.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Profiles - Caitlin Lever". Softball Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
- ↑ "Senior Women's National Team Roster". Softball Canada. Archived from the original on 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
- ↑ Solinsky, Kolby (July 18, 2014). "Canadian Open: Caitlin Lever leads Canada into border battle against Team USA". Langley Times. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- 1 2 "CBC Olympics - Caitlin Lever". CBC Sports. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
- ↑ "CHICAGO BANDITS OUTFIELDER RETIRES". National Pro Fastpitch. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
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