Essay On Kayleen Shaefer As A Role Model

A Genuine Inspiration

My sports hero is Kayleen Shafer, the starting catcher for the Oregon State University softball team. Kayleen is nineteen years old and has been playing softball since she was seven. Kayleen inspires me because she excels in her academics, always has a positive attitude, demonstrates excellent leadership skills, and performs at an extremely high level on the softball field. Kayleen’s kindness and softball excellence make me strive to be a better player and person on and off the field.
Kayleen has loved softball ever since her mother motivated her to play the sport as a child. During her first year playing, Kayleen realized that she wanted to have a more important role on the field. Becoming a catcher increased her responsibility to her team and forced her to find her inner strength. Kayleen’s leadership skills are evident if you ever watch her play a game. She has an empowering voice, but she says it took her until her high school years to find out that she had the strength inside her the whole time.

Although Kayleen is a role model to young girls, she has her own role models as well.

Kayleen went through a tough time when she was twelve years old and had difficulty throwing the larger softball. Her catching coach at the time, Stacey Farnworth, talked her out of quitting softball by building her confidence. Another catcher, Jen Schroeder, who played for UCLA, is one of Kayleen’s biggest role models. Kayleen says that she learned most of her leadership skills from Jen. Before Kayleen went to college, she coached with Jen at a catcher’s clinic where Jen told her to speak up on the field if she wanted to be recruited. Kayleen looks up to Jen for her knowledge behind the plate, but moreso because Jen exudes confidence both on the softball field and in

life.
Kayleen looks up to her role models the same as I look up to her. We look at them not just for their athletic abilities, but for their influencing attitudes. I still remember the day I met Kayleen Shafer at a college softball tournament in Cathedral City, California a few years back. Both Kayleen and I are similar in a number of ways. We are both an “only child,” both love to play softball, and both take our schoolwork very seriously. I think I look up to Kayleen most of all for a different reason, though. Kayleen took an interest in getting to know me and was just so kind and genuine. Kayleen told me that her parents never demanded much of her regarding sports or school, but required her to always be kind and respectful to others. My parents are the same with me and I only hope to be a role model to someone in the future the same way Kayleen is to me. Playing catch with Kayleen that day at the tournament led to a friendship that I hope will last forever.