Natalie Ward (softball player)

Last updated

Natalie Ward
Natalie Ward.jpg
Personal information
Born (1975-12-24) 24 December 1975 (age 48)
Newcastle, New South Wales
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
ClubLake Macquarie Association
Coached byTroy Baverstock & Fabian Barlow
Medal record
Women's Softball
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1996 Atlanta Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Sydney Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Beijing Team
Updated on 4 October 2015.

Natalie Anne Ward (born 24 December 1975) is a former softball player from Australia, who won bronze medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ward also won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. [1] She played shortstop and 2nd base. She wore jersey number six.

Ward was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. By 2006, she had appeared in 357 games for the Australian national team. That broke the former record of 356 games held by Sally McCreedy. Ward played in the 2008 Olympic Games, her fourth Olympics. [2] Ward retired from the sport following these Olympics because of the IOC's decision to not allow softball into the next two Olympiads.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Coughlin</span> American swimmer (born 1982)

Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than one minute—ten days before her 20th birthday in 2002. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became the first U.S. female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympiad, and the first woman ever to win a 100-meter backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Natalie Jean Williams is an American basketball executive and former player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She was also an accomplished volleyball player at UCLA. Since 2022, Williams has served as the General Manager of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belinda Snell</span> Australian womens basketball player

Belinda Snell is an Australian women's basketball player. She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, and has won two silver medals in basketball at the 2004 & 2008 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softball at the Summer Olympics</span> Competition of the Olympics

Softball was on the Olympic program from 1996 to 2008. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was removed from the program for 2012 and 2016, but was added for a one-off appearance, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Berg</span> American softball coach and former player

Laura Kay Berg is an American college softball head coach for Oregon State and a former collegiate four-time All-American and Olympian. She played for the Fresno State Bulldogs from 1994–98, where she won the 1998 Women's College World Series and owns the Western Athletic Conference career records in hits, runs and triples. She is one of only four women to have won four Olympic medals in softball, having won a medal at every Olympics the sport was contested. She is second all-time in NCAA Division I career hits and at-bats. She is also a USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree.

Amanda Louise Freed is an American, former professional softball utility player and pitcher. She played college softball for UCLA, winning the national title for the Bruins in the 1999 Women's College World Series. In two other national runner-up finishes, she was also named All-Tournament in all her appearances at the world series. She later won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2005, Freed joined the National Pro Fastpitch and played until 2008 for the defunct Rockford Thunder. She also served as a coach for Virginia.

Natalie Titcume is a softball player from Australia 350 games, who won a bronze medal 2000 Sydney Olympics, a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She plays catcher and 3rd base. Natalie is Director of High Performance and Sports Academies at Bishop Druitt College, Coffs Harbour. She has a partner Daniella and son Jagger.

Brooke Wilkins-Penfold is an Australian, former collegiate All-American, retired three-time Olympic Games medalist, left-handed softball pitcher, originally from Sydney, New South Wales. Wilkins played two years from 1994 to 1995 for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine in the Big West Conference, ranking in career pitching records for both. She later who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics for Team Australia as a starting pitcher for the national team.

Melanie Jane Roche is a softball player from Australia. She has won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics along with a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Participating in 4 Olympic Games and winning 4 Olympic Medals is an Australian Olympic Record. Roche was a two-time First Team All-American at Oklahoma State University, where she played from 1990 to 1993. While in college, Roche tallied 774 strikeouts in 658-2/3 innings, a ratio that is tied for 28th all-time. She was inducted into the OSU Hall of Honor on 2 September 2011.

Joanne Brown is an Australian former softball catcher and outfielder, who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

A total of 433 competitors competed for Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The team was Australia's second largest away team after the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which included a team of 482 competitors. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronte Barratt</span> Australian swimmer (born 1989)

Bronte Amelia Arnold Barratt, OAM is a retired Australian competitive swimmer and Olympic gold medallist.

Crystl Irene Bustos, also known as The Big Bruiser, is an American softball player at the designated hitter or third base position although on the roster she is a designated player. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. She holds the world record for home runs during an Olympic series, with six.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacey Porter</span> Australian softball player

Stacey Porter is an Australian professional indigenous softball first/third baseman. She represents New South Wales in Australian national competitions, where she has won several national championships on the junior and senior team. She played university softball for the University of Hawaii from 2001 to 2003 where she set several records and was named to the All-American team. She plays professional softball in Japan. She represented Australia at the junior level and continues to represent Australia at the senior level and is current Australian Captain. Stacey competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal and the 2008 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal and has competed in multiple world softball championships.

Belinda Wright is a softball player from Australia. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Andrea Jane Duran is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional four-time All-Star softball player. She played college softball at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Pac-12 Conference, where she was named to the all-conference team twice, and Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2006. She also won two national championships in 2003 and 2004, and was named to the All-Tournament team in 2006. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. On the Olympic team she played third base and outfield. Duran was undrafted but later played professionally in the National Pro Fastpitch, being named the 2014 Player of the Year and winning three Cowles Cup championships with the USSSA Pride.

Christie Ambrosi is an American, former collegiate All-American, gold-medal winning Olympian, right-handed softball player and current Head Coach, originally from Overland Park, Kansas. She attended high school at Blue Valley Northwest High School. Ambrosi was a shortstop and outfielder for the UCLA Bruins in the now-named Pac-12 Conference from 1996-97, 99, winning a national title in her final year and was named All-Tournament. She later helped Team USA to a gold medal in the Sydney Olympics. Ambrosi held several coaching positions and is now head of the SVSU Cardinals softball team.

Jennifer Lynn Brundage is an American, former collegiate All-American softball player and current associate head coach for Michigan. She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 and won the 1992 Women's College World Series. Brundage was named Honda Sports Award for softball as Player of the Year in 1995. As a part of Team USA softball, she won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Sheila Marie Cornell-Douty is an American, two-time Gold Medal winning Olympian and former collegiate right-handed softball first baseman, originally from Woodland Hills, California. Cornell-Douty won two National Championships with the UCLA Bruins in 1982 and 1984. After graduating from UCLA she played for the Stratford Brakettes from 1988 through 1994. She also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team. She was also a member of the American gold winning team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2006, and the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame in 2007.

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.

References

  1. "Hunter Olympian Profiles". Newcastle Herald . 4 August 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  2. "Natalie Ward's record breaking effort". 14 September 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2006.