A good pitch: Oklahoma University softball coach shares faith

The Oklahoma Sooners came up short in their attempt to win a fifth-consecutive national championship. However, the team remains a winner in things that matter most. Head coach Patty Gasso recently was honored with the Sports Impact Award at the K-Love Fan Awards.

“There’s a revolution,” she said. “I see it, I feel it and their lives are changing, where the nerves are gone, because they know the end is written, and if the end is written, ‘Why am I nervous? He gave me these gifts — let me play.'”

In a news conference during the awards, Gasso said faith enables athletes to handle pressure and anxiety. “That’s really where I’m trying to help take them,” she said, “because it’s really not a fun, enjoyable sport if you can’t play it the way you know how.”

A previous loss in the national tournament turned into a victory for her faith, with her husband’s encouragement.

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“I was at a press conference where we lost in the national championship game, and he challenged me to give glory to God,” she said. “And this is before I was very comfortable speaking out loud. So I’ll never forget that moment when I said, ‘Whether we win or lose, we’ll always give glory to God.'”

Gasso realized she could speak openly about her faith with surprisingly little pushback. “That day changed my life and allowed me to speak the truth,” she said. “And our players see that in me. And they’re learning. I’m trying to teach young girls how to be women, but women of faith as well.”

She wants her players to follow her example.

“My hope is that they’ll be brave, unapologetic, sharing their faith, bringing others with them, just standing boldly for the Lord,” Gasso said. “What I’m trying to do is just make them understand they’re so much more than just an athlete.”

–Lee Hartman