Cat Osterman on the World Cup of Softball

Michael Clarke

Cat Osterman is arguably the most popular fastpitch softball player in the world. From her dominant stint as the ace of the University of Texas pitching staff to her phenomenal run on the U.S. National team, Osterman has secured her place among the legends of the sport.

Recently we sat down with her to get her thoughts on the upcoming World Cup of Softball III in Oklahoma City, what softball needs to do to become an Olympic sport again and why putting a note card in her shoe gets her ready to pitch.

Tough question first. Where do you keep the ESPY you won in 2005?

My ESPY right now is in my parent's garage. No wait! Actually it was in Austin this last year. It's just kind of house decoration right now.

I've read you quit softball for a brief period of time to play soccer. What brought you back?

I was playing goalie in soccer. And while I was good at it, I was extremely bored. (Laughs) So I just wanted to try something else and softball sign-ups were around the corner. My dad suggested I maybe try it again...so I did!

Even among professional athletes you've been described as unusually competitive. Where did this orginate?

I think being competitive is just something that's in my family. There are plenty of basketball coaches in my family. My dad coached us. And my cousin and I were always out there playing one-on-one. Even though he was bigger and stronger I was always wanting a rematch and trying to compete.

And that famous Cat Osterman work ethic?

My parents. They made it clear if I was going to be doing something I better be doing it 100 percent. If I wasn't going to give 100 percent, than they weren't going to pay for stuff like pitching lessons. So I did. And when you love what you're doing, it's easy to give 100 percent.

You've often mentioned a desire in getting a master's in Sports Psychology. What sparked your interest in that field?

I don't actually know how it got started. But in high school I had an assistant basketball coach who I would visit before every game. And we always made a note card that had my goals of the day, or for that game, written on it. Things such as how many points; how many rebounds; keeping whoever I was guarding from scoring a certain amount of points. Because I'm feisty some of the goals were like not yelling at the refs. (Laughs)

After we were done I would take the note card, fold it up and put it in my shoe. And honestly it really helped me meet my goals. Seeing how talking about your goals actually works got me interested in the psychology of sports.

Any tips for young athletes wishing to improve the mental side of their softball game?

You have to have experience first. That includes failure. You're not going to have success right away. A lot of kids don't understand that. Once we were playing a team from California in travel ball. And I had pitched really well but we lost 1-0. I walked up to my dad after the game crying. And he said, "What's wrong? You pitched really well." And I said, "Yeah, but I need another pitch."

Even though I had failed, I found something I could take away from that. So when we got back I started working on that other pitch. Using failure to find things to work on really puts you on the path to success.

You've mentioned that speed is not the most important thing for a pitcher, but instead it's spin and location. Can you talk a little about your approach at the mound?

I just try to keep the ball moving. I try not to throw anything too close to the zone or that flattens out. The more you keep the hitter off-balance, the more successful you'll be.

Last year the U.S. team reclaimed the World Cup of Softball title from Japan. What do you think the difference was from the previous year?

I think last year you saw a different focus. We all wanted to win so bad because we were embarrassed it got taken away from us on our home turf the year before. We really wanted redemption.

Also we had more time to calm down from the Olympics. That first year we came off winning the gold in Athens. And though you try not to think about it, it's in the back of your head. "We're gold medalists!" So we had a different mindset last summer because we knew we had work to do to prepare for the world championships.

I assume the team is expecting Japan to have revenge on their minds.

Oh, I'm sure they will. They always gun for us hard because we've been a top team in the world for awhile.

There seems to be a tradition on the U.S. National Team of veteran players taking younger players under the wing. Can you talk about your experience with players like Lori Harrigan and Lisa Fernandez when you joined the team at a young age?

Lori Harrigan took me under her wing right away. She was the only other pitcher who didn't also hit at the time. So she and I spent a lot of time together with her helping me out and being there when I needed her to. She was great for me and when she retired I really took it hard. But I attribute a lot of my growing up that first year to her.

What's it like looking out into the stands of a stadium and seeing a ton of Cat Osterman jerseys?

It's cool. It's awesome to see so many kids touched by what we do. We didn't necessarily have a ton of that growing up. So for our generation on the field it's exciting to have kids look up to us and wear our jerseys. And now girls can walk around wearing a softball jersey just like a guy walks around in a major league baseball jersey. It puts a smile on our face to know what we do is definitely worthwhile.

After the games in Beijing do you think there's a chance softball can be voted back into the Olympic rotation?

Yeah. I definitely do. It's going to take some planning and strategic action. I'm not sure about 2012, but definitely for 2016 there will be a very good push. A lot of the voters were confused the first time around and don't really understand softball and how universal it is.

I would assume with the prospect of softball being exluded from the 2012 games that the Beijing Olympics take on added significance.

I was the youngest on our 2004 team. So I don't know if many of us will be playing in 2016 -- including myself because I'll be 33 in 2016. That's old! (Laughs) Seriously, this is one of our last go-arounds so we're ready to put everything we have into it.