Bucknell University Athletics
Looking Back at a Summer Trip to Australia for Bucknell Softball
3/5/2009 7:00:00 AM | Softball
March 5, 2009
By Becky Hart, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Getting attacked by large birds of prey, learning to surf, experiencing vegemite sandwiches, competing in the 2000 Olympic stadium. These were just some of the stories three Bucknell softball players brought back to Lewisburg from their two-week excursion to Australia last summer. Ashley Carlson, Sherry Finkel and Mary Pavlovich can also add a round of undefeated tournament play to their list of summertime accomplishments as they enter the newest segment of Bison softball.
Two months after finishing in a second-place tie in the Patriot League, the trio, joined by recent graduate Christie Wiest, headed Down Under as part of USA Athletes International, a non-profit group giving amateur athletes the opportunity to play around the globe. Recruited by the team's coaches and joining other student-athletes from around the United States, the Bison faced off against marquis amateur teams from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
"There were 14 of us who were initially invited, but it only ended up being nine of us over there, so we played every single inning of every single game," says Pavlovich.
Those eight teammates from other American universities helped make the experience that much more enjoyable for Pavlovich.
"Honestly, it was a team made in heaven, to pull nine girls from all over the country and just have us all fit together so perfectly," says the junior third baseman. "I think that is what made our team special."
The team's results ended up being just as special, as the squad went undefeated against some of the region's most skilled up-and-coming athletes.
"They were all Australian and New Zealand teams. Two of the Australian teams were comprised of amateur girls," Carlson says of the competition. "They were the top amateurs that they could find in Australia."
"They were basically grooming them to be the next national team," adds Pavlovich. "They were very talented."
Seeing that international talent and how other nations build their softball programs was cause for Bucknell's players to be both impressed and saddened by the direction of their sport. Although softball was evidently alive and well on their trip, it has struggled to maintain its position on some of the biggest sporting stages in the world, the Olympics.
"I think what it (the trip) did for me was open my eyes to international competition," says Pavlovich. "It gave me a lot of respect for how other countries go about recruiting their young players. I feel it's a lot different than how it happens here, grooming them when they're really young. Seeing that softball is not an American sport, it's very much all over the globe.
"If the Olympic committee could see what other countries are doing to promote their programs, I honestly don't believe that they would shut it down," the infielder adds.
Softball was cut from the list of sports to be included in Olympic competition in 2012.
When not on the field, Carlson, Finkel and Pavlovich had the opportunity to experience Australia and all its offerings. Before leaving the city, the team toured the Sydney Opera House and walked across the 440-feet-high Sydney Harbor Bridge. While in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the group took surfing lessons, kayaked in the ocean and visited an animal refuge. Although the trio agreed on the fun had during these adventures, Finkel could have done without her run-in with the local wildlife.
"I almost ended my life via bird attack," says the junior utility player jokingly. "There are birds of prey there that are Jurassic."
While retrieving a ball hit over the fence during warm-ups, Finkel stirred one of Australia's many ground-nesting birds from its home.
"She went to pick up the ball and this bird started swooping around her and it started dive bombing her," explains Pavlovich laughing. "Paul (the team's tour guide) said, `Oh, yeah. That bird is really aggressive and what's actually really cool about it is that it has hooks on the bottom of its wings.'"
Finkel does not remember the event quite as fondly as her teammates, who are quick to point out that it was only funny because she was not hurt.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes," she says. "This bird was taking swooping nosedives at me, and I took off with incredible speed, screaming, asking for help. My teammates were rolling on the ground in the field laughing at me. The entire stadium, the 2000 Sydney Olympic stadium behind me, was watching this happen and laughing. There's a bird with an eight-foot wingspan. I thought I was going to be flying back to the United States."
When they weren't on the lookout for Jurassic birds, the group tested themselves and their knowledge of the Land of Oz with the "Down Under Challenge."
"You had to find out slang terms, sayings, locations. You had to do crazy things that they would do in Australia or try things out that were typical customs for them, eating vegemite," explains Carlson, a co-captain on this year's squad. "It was a really cool way of experiencing their culture so that while we were there, we were getting a taste of what they do and understand them as people. It forced us to talk to Australian natives and learn things."
Finkel's lessons did not end with her new-found knowledge of the country. The foreign surroundings provided her with an ideal environment for some personal growth as well.
"It helped me open up because for a long time you're in the same sort of monotonous situation. You've been in college and you're kind of put into a little box, the type of person you are," says Finkel. "I realized when I got there the way I was able to open up and be outgoing and interact with people. It helped me learn more about myself."
Now back in the United States and with their Australian experiences in hand, the trio has gotten its new season underway with the program's best start since 2005. The team opened the year 3-3 at the Campbell Camel Stampede and at North Carolina Central. Although the Bison will enjoy a week of competition at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., starting March 8 and ending 10 games later on March 13, Carlson, Finkel and Pavlovich are looking forward to Patriot League action.
Bucknell finished 13-7 in the league last year, falling 6-4 in eight innings to Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison and Leopards split their six meetings in 2008, each winning three games and setting the stage for one of the most anticipated matchups of the new year.
"Lafayette is the team who ended up knocking us out of the playoffs last year, and we always seem to be very well-matched with Lafayette. Those are always really good games," says Carlson, one of five seniors on the squad.
Bucknell was picked third in the Patriot League Preseason Poll this year, one spot behind the second-place Leopards.
To be successful against Lafayette and the other Patriot League foes, the Bison will be relying on a number of young players. Veterans like Carlson, Finkel and Pavlovich ware committed to helping the team's newest additions make a smooth transition to the college ranks.
"We have some young players that are going to be put into very important positions this year," says Carlson. "Our pitching staff is very young, so as a team I think one of our goals is to get behind them and support the young players, and groom them into players that don't feel young when they're on the field. (We want to) give them confidence."
With several years' experience under their belts and an Australian adventure marked in their passports, these Bison should have plenty of support, confidence and encouragement to give their teammates, even when they are fending off Jurassic-sized birds.
