ATHLETE INTERVIEWS: Kaitlyn Le (Batbusters 18U Athlete)

In order to cultivate mental toughness, I often seek advice from those around me and those who I look up to. I've found that hearing the experiences of others can make me feel better and I can learn new methods and strategies that I can apply to my own game. As a result, I decided to create a series of posts on my website dedicated to interviewing athletes (titled ATHLETE INTERVIEWS) so that anyone visiting my site can potentially use the words of others to better themselves.

In this seventh installment, I interviewed Kaitlyn Le:

Tell me about yourself!

My name is Kaitlyn, I'm going to be a senior at California high school. I have been playing softball since 1st grade. I’m a pitcher primarily but can also play in the outfield if necessary. I played on SRVGAL when I was first starting out but then switched to travel when I realized how competitive I was. I really enjoyed traveling to different cities for tournaments and being able to win them was also a plus. I was on multiple travel teams during my career but I currently play for Batbusters 18U Gomes/Ching.

How did you start playing softball?

I first started playing when I was in 1st grade. I was always interested in baseball when I was really young. My parents were very big sports people. Everyday, the TV would be on, usually on the sports channel. My parents soon enrolled me into softball and I fell in love with the sport.

How has softball impacted your life?

Softball has impacted my life in a lot of different ways. It has brought me together with some of my closest friends. As well, it has really taught me how to manage my time properly. During the high school season, softball is played in the spring, which poses a problem because of AP testing and more. But softball has pushed me to manage my work, stay on track, and more. Not only does it help me for now, it will also help me in the future when I go to college.

Why do you continue to play softball?

I really enjoy playing softball, it is a way for me to get out of the house and exercise or de-stress. Without softball, I wouldn’t be as fit as I am today. As well, I would be a very stressed out person, not knowing how to cope and de-stress. As well, I continue in hopes to get recruited for college. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to play in college.

How would you define mental toughness?

I define mental toughness as someone being able to push through the tough times without having to throw a fit. As well, being able to block out all the negative thoughts and continuously thinking positive reinforcements. Being able to also pick other people up while everyone is down is also mental toughness in my opinion.

Was it easier to focus on mental or physical challenges in high school?

This year, for high school [2022-2023], it was easy to focus on both to be honest. It was difficult to motivate myself to practice while it was raining. For me, the rain makes me very lazy, and practice being after school, I was exhausted all the time. For physical challenges, I was constantly pitching, almost everyday, I would throw near or over 100 pitches. My body, my shoulder, and wrist were very sore at the beginning of the season but soon became used to the constant pitching.