Alexis Detwiler, 18, of Fair Oaks, has played sports throughout her entire life. She’s played basketball and soccer, but most importantly, she’s a softball player. Alexis played for Sierra College in the fall of 2019, and while she’s currently undecided on her softball future, this piece highlights the amazing values softball has brought into her life.
What Values Have Sports Brought to Your Life?
“I’m not a super confident person, but when I step on the field I’m a much more confident person. So, sports have let me become more confident in myself,” Alexis said. For somebody who has been part of a team for many years like Alexis, some values and attitudes like these can be acquired, and they slowly help mold the person you become. Being around a team all the time helps you gain the ability to work as a team and with other people, something Alexis has learned over her sports career:
It’s made me learn how to be the best, how to work as a team, and I’ve made some of my lifelong friends from softball– people I’ve known since I was five I’m still friends with.
Being a part of a team is a unique feeling that is best known by people who have experienced it firsthand, like Alexis.
How Did You Get Into Softball?
Turns out, this life of sports runs in the family. Her father played sports all throughout his life too. He played several sports, like baseball and football in high school. He hasn’t played competitively since, but he’s going on about 20 years of slow-pitch softball now. Her father is also a major reason as to why she got into softball, or any sport in the first place. When I asked Detwiler how she got into sports to begin with, this was her answer, “Yeah, he’s the reason I got into all my sports.” She said, “I grew up playing with my dad… it was a way for us to bond and spend time together.” Family and sports tend to go hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to a parent and their child. Alexis has experienced this to a high level.
One of the most important things softball, or any sport she’s played instilled in her was the value of hard work: “Pretty much on any team I was on, I was always one of the best hitters, and that was because me and my dad would get up at like 8:00 AM on both days of the weekend and go hit for hours. On Christmas he would get me bats and gloves and we would go use that Christmas morning, when nobody else was even thinking of going to the ball field. Just my dad and softball have taught me that… you get what you put in… it definitely taught me to work as a team and to put in work, so I can be the best I can be.” Alexis says that these values instilled in her will affect her for years to come.
Did All This Hard Work Pay Off?
All this hard work came with results too. When I asked her about her favorite experiences, she mentioned her best achievements, “… hitting my first home run when I was 10, throwing a perfect game one time.” These are impressive achievements, but it’s expected when she put in the amount of work she did. Alexis also credits some of her favorite experiences as a player to the times she spent with her team.
Alexis’ sports career is the spitting image of what sports can do for a person. In a way that is often underappreciated, sports are able to instill lifelong things like the value of hard work, confidence, and many other things. Alexis is the prime example of the value of sports.
Written by Jake Brockhoff | Photo provided by Alexis Detwiler