Former Lady Vol pitcher Monica Abbott was selected earlier this week to compete in three international softball events as a member of the USA national team.
Abbott is on the USA women’s national team that will compete in the Canada Cup on July 4-12 in Surrey, B.C., and the KFC World Cup in Oklahoma City, Okla. She is also on the Pan American Qualifier Team that will represent the U.S. on July 31-Aug. 9 in Maracay, Venezuela. She will not compete for the Japan Cup team which will compete in a tournament July 31-Aug. 2 in Sendai, Japan, because she will be at the Pan-Am qualifier.
Here is a question and answer with Abbott:
Q. How was the selection camp?
A. The selection camp was great. There were a lot of new faces from the college level, so it will be interesting to see how the younger players develop.
Q. It looks like a changing of the guard on USA team. Only eight players from Beijing are on the USA rosters. Comments?
A. Definitely. There will be a lot of new faces but still some familiar faces. I was definitely lucky to be able to play with such amazing Olympians in Beijing but the USA softball will have some new, exciting talent.
Q. Softball has been discontinued as an Olympic sport. How much does not having an Olympics increase the importance of these international competitions?
A. Since there isn't an Olympics as of right now - it's very important for events, such as the World Cup in Oklahoma City, to have a good showing of international competitions. The world needs to see Italy, Nederlands, USA, Japan, Australia, and Canada play. Even being able to see that men play fastpitch, this is important, so that the International Olympic Committee can see the diversity and greatness of softball.
Q. Can you give a short update on what you have been up to the last month or so?
A. I recently returned from Japan where I played for the Toyota Motor Corporation softball team. We are currently in a 3-way tie for first place, and the second half of the season playoffs start in September and last until November. I am now hooked up with my National Pro Fastpitch team, USSSA Pride out of Kissimee, Fla., and will be playing there until the end of the summer.
You can keep up with Monica Abbott on www.monicaabbott.net
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Comments » 2
arkyvol writes:
players like abbott, parker, and holtzclaw come around very rarely. thank goodness that in two of the cases, we had the coach who realized this.
rockytopron writes:
She should have left UT with 3 national titles and should now have an Olympic Gold Medal had it not been for poor coaching.
3 Titles - Weeklys made no efforts to make adjustments as hitting disappears during championship rounds so they finished 3rd twice & 2nd once.
Olympic Gold - Arizona coach should have chosen Abbott to pitch the Gold medal game instead of the choker in big games Osterman.
She is, however, the greatest fast pitch pitcher ever!
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