Teacher and coach becomes an ambassador for the National Pro
Fastpitch league
Allison Andrade has done it all from helping her Live Oak team to the Central Coast Section final to leading her University of Arizona squad to a NCAA softball championship.
Now Andrade, 25, is an ambassador for the game of women’s fastpitch softball. She is traveling across the country as one of the nation’s top 13 All-Stars promoting the new National Pro Fastpitch league that will be starting up next year.
Andrade, who graduated from Live in 1997, comes from a long lineage of athletes. All three of her brothers, Wayne, Neal and Allen, were standouts on the Live Oak baseball team.
Although Andrade had been away from the game for a little more than a year after sitting out her final year at the University of Arizona to concentrate on studies and her future plans, she was able to pick it up again just like riding a bike.
“I could definitely tell when I stepped on the field I was still competitive and had the driving force to do it,” Andrade said. “It doesn’t take much to get the skills back. I went through so much extensive training at U of A that it just became such a daily routine and became so mechanical, so it was easy to pick up.”
Andrade competed in a couple of tournaments last year between coaching responsibilities for the Chandler varsity team. As a high school and special-Ed teacher, being able to play ball in the summer was ideal for her.
Andrade, a shortstop, has some pop in her bat. During the Wildcats’ 2001 NCAA championship run, Andrade played in all 69 games and had 12 home runs. She finished her college career with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs in 137 career games. In her junior year, she earned second-team All-PAC 10 honors.
“Attitude is everything, and you have to take a mental approach to the game,” said Andrade about her philosophy to the game. “There are so many different dynamics of the game. You can’t get overwhelmed by them. My advice for younger kids is to have the desire to want to play and have fun at it.”
Playing fast pitch softball often can be tougher than playing baseball because the pitcher is 43 feet away instead of 60.
“We get compared a lot to baseball,” Andrade said. “Our pitcher pitches about 70 miles per hour. That is the equivalent to a 100-mile per hour fast ball. It takes a really quick reaction time. It is something you have to work on in practice. You can’t just go out there and pick it up.”
One of the promotions that the team has is to have a male from the crowd try to get a hit off the pitcher. But everyone who has tried this summer has been struck out.
During the spring, Andrade, who takes pride in staying fit, trained every other day between coaching responsibilities. But now it is hard to find time with the busy schedule.
“Our job is not an 8-5 job; it is more of an 8-10 job,” Andrade said. “We try to get two practices in a week.”
In addition to her softball schedule, Andrade is also taking six grad units toward a masters in secondary education.
“It gets pretty stressful and hard,” Andrade said. “It takes a lot time management and making use of the time instead of going shopping, going out to lunch or sleeping.”
Balancing athletics and academics in college got her used to the rigid schedule.
“It was so exciting,” said Andrade of playing for the Wildcats. “It was such a huge highlight of my life. It was neat to see how 15 girls could come play as a team and play together to accomplish a goal.”
Andrade doesn’t know what team she will be on when the league play begins in the first week of June of next year. Teams will be decided in the December draft.
“They may place athletes in the place where they played in college at to draw a fan base,” Andrade said. “Or they may have an open draft.”
Some of the eight teams that will be participating in the league are from Sacramento, Tucson, Denver and Houston. Others from Ohio and New Jersey are expected to join the league.
“We went into this summer having only three teams that wanted to play, but now it is up to eight,” Andrade said. “It was kind of an ironing board to see if the league was going to run. There are four or five more that want to add teams also.”
Andrade and the team have spent their summer traveling around to each of the potential cities, hosting clinics, answering questions and playing exhibition games.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to take off or how our roll this summer would influence it,” said Andrade from Cincinnati, where she was this week. “It has absolutely taken off. The feedback that we have received has been awesome.”
National Pro Fastpitch is in its first year as on Official Department Partner of Major League Baseball. One of the promotions was at the MLB All-Star game in Chicago.
The Fastpitch All-Stars get paid for expenses and travel and receive $6,000 for their summer’s work.
Andrade was chosen by All-Star coach Tim Kiernan to play for the team.
“They aren’t going to get rich,” Kiernan said. “It will be a part-time job for awhile. Hopefully it will grow into a full-time job some day. These young women are pioneers for the game. And she is one of those pioneers. It is real exciting.”
Players on the team range from age 22 to 29.
“We have some age differences which is what we wanted,” Kiernan said. “We wanted some experienced players who knew how things work and some good players just out of college.”
Kiernan, the former coach of Sacramento City College, was familiar with Andrade after playing against her while she was at the West Valley, where she was a two-time conference MVP and batted over .500 during her two seasons.
She also was selected to the all-state team and was Northern California’s player of the year as a sophomore. There were three other players selected from the University of Arizona team for the All-Stars.
“She’s got great hands,” Kiernan said. “She’s a very intelligent player and has come through some good programs starting in Morgan Hill. I’ve know about her for quite a long time.”
“She is a pleasure to coach, and she is intense on the field,” Kiernan added. “She comes every day prepared to play. That is only about one fourth of our job this summer.”
In addition to being able to perform on the field, All-Stars also have to be able to market themselves and the game. Andrade has the perfect credential after working with kids during camps and then coaching.
“You have to know how to promote and have to know how to work well with kids,” Andrade said. “You have to know the game, and you have to be class act because there is more of a business aspect to it as well.”
Andrade has enjoyed being a part of the team and sharing in the chemistry.
“It has really been neat to get to know the rest of the players on the team from around the country,” Andrade said. “At times, it can be tough because we are together 24/7. But it is like a huge family.”
Andrade doesn’t have any plans to quit playing ball.
“I hope to continue playing until the flame burns out or I don’t have the competitive drive or I don’t have the work ethic” Andrade said. “I want to play as long as I can. Physically, I am pretty healthy.”
Andrade has less than a week left on tour before she flies back to Arizona to resume teaching on the day after she gets back.
