Caitlin Richards 40

I mean yes, I am a little bit cocky.

One of the news articles written about me.

"Lead by example" is what Caitlin Richards does as Captain of the Teaneck High School varsity softball team.

"She gives it all she’s got, that’s what I love about her. She’s an example of what I preach to the team, go hard and give it everything you have," said Coach Rich Aponte.

This season Caitlin switched from playing centerfield to catcher. She played a few games at catcher last season in anticipation of making the transition. The change was initiated by Aponte and she was open to the suggestion, having played the position last season. The move has been a lot of fun for Caitlin, however, she always loved to play in the outfield.

Being behind the plate gives her more control over the game, noted Caitlin. Her offense has actually improved with the position switch. As a junior, Caitlin had a batting average of .397 and 31 RBI’s. Now, as a senior, she has an average of .514 and 12 RBI’s at the halfway point.

"I get a better view of the pitching strategy. I can anticipate what’s coming when I am batting. I think this year has been the best year for me offensively," Caitlin said.

Aponte has given her the nickname "Hurricane". "After a game it looks like she’s been through a hurricane, Aponte explained. She’s a tough girl, tough as nails," he said.

Her mother got her involved in a recreation league at the early age of 6 and she has been playing softball ever since. The experience of starting so young has paid off at the high school level. She made the varsity team as a sophomore, batting .289 and playing centerfield in her first season. She has progressed every season, making her senior year the best.

Caitlin believes playing high school sports is beneficial to preparing teenagers for adult life. "It builds character and teaches life skills. I love the family aspect of being on a team," she added.

She is also the co-captain on the girl’s varsity soccer team. She’s involved in the HEAL program, Help Each other Achieve Longevity. It is a girl’s mentoring group. She’s also a member of the Teaneck High School Class Cabinet and Peer Leadership Youth Group.

Caitlin considers herself an average student, getting A’s, B’s and a couple of C’s on her last report card. She is more of an above average student and has been accepted to Stony Brook University on Long Island. Caitlin admits she works hard to keep up her good grades. Even though she did not get a scholarship to Stony Brook, she plans to try out for softball as a walk on. "I want to have a part time job in college. I’ll have to see if I can balance a job, school work and softball," she said.

She believes her coach admires her open mindedness and values her opinion. Before moving her to catcher full time he asked her about making the change.

"She’s a great leader, she’s everything you can ask for in a leader. She’s competitive and inspirational, and that rubs off on the rest of the team. I could tell right away that she was going to be my captain. When things go wrong she’s the first one to calm everyone down. She will be a great coach some day," added Aponte.

Sports

Before college, I don't think there wasn't a prolonged period of time when I wasn't playing some sort of sport, whether it be soccer, baseball, volleyball, or football. I was a very active student during high school, but for some reason, since I've come to Stony Brook I've barely played any sports what so ever which is a little odd if you think about it.

I played soccer almost my whole life up until i was 18, only taking a short break when I was 10, and then realized I missed it and then joined again. I played on the highschool team and a travel team that sort of died down during my junior and senior year in highschool. For the highschool team during my Junior year, we were in the 2nd division of the top conference, and made it to the playoffs where we played another team that was in our division, even though they believed that they should have been a division higher and this was their time to show it. Unfortunately for them however, they lost to us in the playoffs, but we only played one more game before we were eliminated by a division 1 team.

The next year, my Senior year, we got bumped up to division 1 which to be honest, we really shouldn't have been apart of. Alot of seniors had graduated the previous year, and we had alot of unproven talent on our team. However, all D-1 teams in that Conference made the playoffs, so my coach accepted the offer. I played goalie and after a few losses that year and without much goals scored, my morale was so that I felt that once I let in a goal, the game was over. My teammates view it as me giving up, which in reality I was, but I was tired of getting beat up for a lost cause especially since we already were in the playoffs. This proved to be a very bad thing as we ended up losing our first game in the playoffs to a lower division team that we completely outplayed and lost on an own goal from one of my defenders.

I haven't played soccer since, and regret my senior year of soccer to this day.