‘ E F F O R T C R E AT E S A B I L I T Y ’
They dare to dream… All kids dream. When they play sports, they dream of winning the big game. They dream of earning trophies for their athletic prowess. They dream of being recognized for their efforts. But it takes more than dreaming to be on a championship team. As this story goes to print, the Greensburg Salem Girls Softball team is ranked number 1 in the WPIAL for AAA schools. Their eyes are on the prize of a WPIAL championship and beyond. These girls have been doing a lot more than dreaming. These young athletes have received direction and vision under the guidance of a skilled and experienced coaching staff led by head varsity coach Jody Morgan and including Rick Petro, Kristen Mehan, and Kevin Hutchinson. Miss Morgan has been the Varsity Softball coach for 34 years – since her first year of teaching at Greensburg Salem.
Like many other Greensburg Salem student athletes, several members of the softball team have made a year-round commitment and play on traveling teams during the offseason. Again, like a lot of students at Greensburg Salem, many of them are multi-sport athletes. “Greensburg Salem has a tradition of dedicated athletes that play more than one sport,” stated Lynn Jobe, GSSD athletic director. “We have found that multi-sport athletes are well-rounded and that play on more than one team helps to reduce burnout, boredom, and injuries. It is also good for the students to be exposed to different coaching styles and philosophies.” Jobe went on to say, “Our programs that include multi-sport athletes are the example of what interscholastic sports should be – we not only want our students to give their all on the playing field but also in the classroom.
Students can take the leadership skills and team-concepts that they learn during play and use them in all the other parts of their lives – for the rest of their lives.” Displaying those leadership skills on the softball field are three seniors – Syndey Bacha, Taylor Mehan, and Jane Oberdorf. As 4-year veterans of the team they have playoff experience and the skills and positive attitudes that characterize the whole team. The team is loaded with talent from freshmen to seniors, with everyone contributing to the program’s success. By the time you are reading this, the softball season will be over. The team may have earned their dreamed of WPIAL championship, or maybe not. But if at the end of the day, when they put their heads on their pillows, they will know that they did the best they could – that they gave it their all – and they won’t need to dream to know that they are champions.
Greensburg Salem | Summer 2013 | incommunitymagazines.com 11