While junior Kayla Colbert is a valuable asset to the Lady Buff softball team on the field, perhaps her biggest value is as a team leader.
“Kayla is a great player and person. She plays the game hard and expects everyone else to do the same,” says her new coach Benita Gilmore. “Even though she’s just a junior she’s definitely our team leader and captain. She’s very vocal but she’s also a good helper when asked. The players respect her and turn to her if they need help.”
Athletically, Kayla says she started out playing basketball but decided it wasn’t her sport and took up softball in the fifth grade. She didn’t really have a role model to follow as her sister was into cheer and gymnastics and her brother played football and baseball, so her success in softball has been of her own making. She plays catcher in fast pitch and is a utility player in slow pitch and is also in the school show choir. Her leadership style is built around attitude.
“I just try to keep everybody in good spirits and go for a positive attitude especially if we’re not doing our best. I want to reassure them that it’s okay and that we’ve got this. I tell them to just focus and don’t let the negative in. There’s a lot of potential on our team and we just need to learn how to use it together.”
In dealing with the youngest members of the team, Kayla recalls what it was like for her as a freshman.
“I try to reassure the freshmen that they’re doing good and just be nice to them and tell them we all started this way. When I was a freshman, we didn’t really have any good leaders and I thought they were really rude and I didn’t like being treated like that, so I try not to be that way.”
Kayla enjoys the catcher’s spot the most because she feels like she’s good at it.
“Although I don’t call the pitches for our pitchers, I do concentrate a lot on the opposing batters and know what their weak areas are, and I can show the pitcher where to pitch effectively.”
Although she has another year to decided where to go after high school, she’s already got a good idea of what she should like to do.
“I really want to go into physical therapy because I like helping people through hard times in life and let them know they have someone in their corner.”
