"When you throw somebody that much and you lean on them that hard, they lose effectiveness, but you injure [them]. Gasso, who had never been to Hau'ula, said, "What I saw on that field was humility. The stadium that would later be named after former Sooners coach and administrator Marita Hynes (who also helped hire Gasso) would open in 1998, across the street from Reaves Park where Oklahoma couldnt even fit all the players in a dugout, Gasso said. JT and DJ Gasso relationship with their parents is very strong. JT Gasso is an assistant softball coach at the University of Oklahoma. EDITORS NOTE: The following is from Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) with an excerpt from an article in the February 2018 edition of FCA Magazine. Consider Gassos gambit successful. Recently, Mr. JT is the coach of the University of Oklahoma since July 2015. I earned the spot that I deserved, Braitsch said. The team had split into factions over who they preferred to replace Beitia. She was so worried about trying to build this team, build this softball program and put us on the map, Siegel said. SS PODCAST: Oklahoma SS Grace Lyons, OF Rylie Boone on faith & success I want to be the kind of coach she is because I want to reach people the way she reaches people, Sparks said. June 10, 2021 6:24 pm CT. No. My big picture of her was she was serious about winning, being a competitor and being professional, Vesely said. Alo was walked, repeatedly, incessantly, needlessly. Patty Gasso was a standout softball player in the early years of Long Beach State softball, playing for the 49ers during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. I knew that there was a generation change happening, and I knew that my style was not going to fit them, Gasso said. With the previous roster experience returning, it's easy to question how seamless the transition will be at multiple positions on the floor. You can find out more about which cookies we are using in ourPrivacy Policy. Perhaps as important to anything shes done as a coach, Gasso has learned how to uphold her lofty standards, while also building meaningful bonds with her players and staff. The team was able to avenge its loss in a three-game sweep in April, outscoring the Bears 13-0 across the three games. Her reaction was equal parts exuberance and relief. And she is far from the coach she was when she first started. One thousand pitches a day Levi would throw her, 500 each in two separate sessions, a figure that sounds apocryphal but everyone swears is true. Oklahoma couldnt overcome Alabama to win the 2012 title, but next years Sooners, which featured All-Americans such as Ricketts, Lauren Chamberlain, Shelby Pendley and Brianna Turang, finished the job and laid the groundwork for OUs stronghold on the sport, winning national titles in 2016, 17 and 21. Did we replace Jocelyn Alo? Finish! It was just constantly like that. And for 18 years since, Gasso has done just that, doing her best to glorify God along the way and instilling in her players something much deeper than wins and losses on the softball diamond. There was no softball stadium, so we drove by Reeves Park. what position did patty gasso playagnes hailstone crafts. KANSAS CITY, Mo.Patty Gasso is all about the wins, but not in the way one might think. Would Gasso take away her money? It wasnt until she stopped playing that she fully grasped Gasso was much more than a softball skipper trying to win games. Follow Nicole on Twitter @NicoleAuerbach, Gassos Sooners won it all in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2021. Entering 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners were an unanimous preseason No. I needed someone to pick me off the ground, Gasso told Sports Spectrum, because I was ready to walk away. Thats how I feel, Gasso told Sports Spectrum before the season. I thought going from junior college to college would be the natural step and it wasnt even close, Gasso said. There was so much riding on her winning, to be able to stay there. Last November, when the Sooners visited the White House to celebrate their championship, Sparks asked President Donald Trump if the team could prayboth with him and for himduring a break between photos. I knew I wanted to be a teacher and a coach, and growing up, through high school, there still wasnt a ton of college softball around me, Gasso told AllSoonners in 2020. She doesn't care who you are, she doesn't care what stats you had the year before or what you did in high school or whatever. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. She accepted the job, and Jim also got a gig in the OU athletic department. Shes become an even better coach, Castiglione said. Becoming more open has been a priority for Gasso, whether its about as something as personal as family or as inconsequential as what music shes listening to. All of your rings will be in my office in the safe, Braitsch recalls Gasso informing the team. How do we grow in our faith, and how do we find that path that were supposed to take?. Dont be afraid of the outcome. Posted by Nate Taylor | May 26, 2018 | Sports & Activities. During this time, Gasso naturally became the coach recruits. Three years later, she loved coaching and her players, but thought perhaps the 2000 season would be her last. Judy Braitsch inquired what position Gasso envisioned her daughter playing at the next level and received an answer her daughter cant forget. And the instruments is what makes the beautiful music. "He knew if she was playing baseball, there was no chance he could ever beat her out. She was named to the All-SEC First Team a season ago after notching 68 hits and 15 home runs in 2022. THE BANNERS HUNG from the backstop at the first park that couldn't contain Jocelyn Alo's talent: She returned on Wednesday, the day before the start of the Rainbow Wahine Classic, and spoke to about 70 girls in the Ha'aheo girls softball program, plus many of their parents. By 1997, Gasso was inviting her Oklahoma players to a voluntary weekly Bible discussion. Mindy Johnson was just 19 when she was asked to help the University of Oklahoma hire a new head softball coach in 1994. Home to family picnics, youth sports leagues and the citys annual Medieval Fair, Reaves Park provided humble beginnings to the Gasso era. Former players are more than welcome around the program, and Gasso does a decent job of seeking them out herself Braitsch will always be appreciative of something as simple as her coach attending her police academy graduation. If you think about it, in the beginning, when you are trying to change an attitude or a culture, you have to closely watch it. Besides sports, DJ worked as a Volunteer for several organizations. She came out of Torrance and played college softball at El Camino City College and at Long Beach State. How do we grow as women? Kelli Braitsch, a freshman on Gassos first national championship team, knows that version of Gasso well. The gesture was explained to fans, and soon a large portion of the more than 8,000 people inside ASA Stadium were also lifting their arms up in supportin front of a national TV audience. Starting pitcher Giselle Juarez was once again tremendous, throwing seven sensational innings that locked . Roberts entrance was a turning point of sorts for Gasso, who had noticed in herself a win-at-all-costs attitude beginning to creep in. When (Gasso) first came in, we all didnt have the warm and fuzzies, said Laura Purser Collins, who had transferred to play for Beitia from Barry University, a Division III program. Gasso had been pregnant with firstborn son J.T. Who cares that you're an All-American one season, because the next season, you could be the worst player on the team.. Hansen, still just in middle school, ultimately committed to Oklahoma a few months later. They just needed to be treated a little bit differently.. With the Sun Devils, Sanders led the team in home runs (21), slugging (.952 percent), RBIs (63), and walks (45) while notching 52 hits. Led by faith, OU softball caps dominant season with 2nd straight national title As a coach, JT Gasso has worked at several Universities. In addition, he received a Masters degree in Arts from the University of Oklahoma in organizational leadership. Patricia Marie Gasso ( ne Froehlich; born May 27, 1962) [1] is an American softball coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. She was living outside of California for the first time, and she was scared. It was not, 'Let me hit this out,' or 'Let me try to reach this record.' I've really created more of a relationship than I ever have.. But back when Jocelyn -- full name Jocelyn Aloha Pumehana Alo -- was 4, there was no fence separating the Alo homes from the ballpark. I didnt even know if they had a softball program. You should win it all because youre No. "I just care so much for her as a person that I can't help but root for her," Chamberlain said. Five years later, in 1990, she was coaching at Long Beach City College. After winning back-to-back USA Softball Collegiate Player of Year Awards and smashing 122 career home runs, Oklahoma had to help fill Jocelyn Alos offensive hole in the lineup. But in a twist that somehow made it all make sense, Alo hit a two-run shot deep into the night on Friday against Hawai'i pitcher Ashley Murphy, a senior who challenged Alo with a curveball up and out over the plate and watched as it boomeranged off the net in right-center field, roughly 40 feet above the wall. That first year, she plugged some holes with junior college transfers. She's got arguably the best college softball team in the country. Our upperclassmen have tried to bring them in the fold and get them to work at the speed and the level and the reactions and decision making. I think they'll tell you that they're learning about the game a lot and they're excited about these opportunities of making the right decision and making that big play on defense. This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Oklahoma softball head coach Patty Gasso (left) high-fives Tiare Jennings in the Women's College World Series, June 2, 2022. The American softball coach, Gasso also worked as a lead instructor. Thats when she met Marita Hynes. Or if you dress sloppily for a road trip? Once they get into the Gospel, God does the rest, Jim said of the Sooners. Players on her later teams would recall that Gassos first team gave her the hardest time and served as the biggest challenge of her career. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. That person was Sarah Roberts, who joined Oklahoma softball as team chaplain and took the pressure off of Gasso to lead in the same way. She has spent her entire career as a coach for the past two decades. But she said the family was always homesick for California. The players looked at each other with looks of confusion as to how could she possibly know that they werent in the best graces of Gasso. "Huge relief," she said. It doesnt quite work that way.. There was no stadium, theres no field, said Gasso, now 60. Can players push back on the new strength and conditioning program? We've been building this chemistry since they've gotten here.. The Sooners went 66-8 that season (they still lost 6-0 at Arizona but beat the Wildcats in the World Series) and have only gotten better as Gassos coaching evolved with the times. often before and after practice and games. It was the hardest experience any of them would ever go through, but they learned that it couldnt break them mentally. And he is the reason why I had to learn how to do things different. In June 2020, Patty Gasso kids, DJ Gasso became an Assistant Softball Coach at the University of Utah. Here's one: The baseball coach at Jocelyn's high school, Todd Koishigawa, struggled to motivate his starting catcher. And she and her teammates could give that feedback directly to the coaching staff. If not for her new outlook on the job, perhaps she doesnt have college softballs all-time home runs leader still on her roster. Because we've been doing this since August. But I was gonna go back because I just felt like I wasnt being good at anything. Not only being pregnant with a 7-year-old. So many of those players had come to Oklahoma to play for him specifically. Patty Gasso is in a weird position. This team, a couple of them made this comment that just stuck with me. 1-ranked Sooners run-ruled their opponents. Ashli Barrett Wigington, the catcher on the 2000 national championship team, puts it simply: They were the ones that were at my wedding, and they were the ones that were there when I buried my dad. Coach showed me who God is and connected it to softball, Aviu said. "It's not like this record is being broken every year. ET against Hofstra. So my idea was, you know, hopefully I can play in college and then Ill be a high school teacher and high school coach., BRYAN TERRY / THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK. Growing up in a single-parent home in the 1970s in Southern California, Gasso knew nothing of Oklahoma, or Norman, or Oklahoma City, or the euphoric mountaintop where the sport of softball would eventually take her. Gasso is known for the high standard she sets for her teams. The softball coach, Patty was born on 27th May 1962. Its pressure to win national championships. In Gassos early years with the Sooners, she admits she was a little shy about speaking out about Jesus. Jim Gasso is the owner of Intensity Sports Training Academy in Norman, Oklahoma. Gasso actually began her profession as a basketball coach. For the Sooners though, this has been in the works for several months. Gasso eventually thought maybe, just maybe, she wasnt the right coach for Oklahoma. So just use our gifts and lets go. Its about what Im supposed to give to my players.. "I was close to quitting," Alo says of a rough patch during the 2019 season. We knew no one no one in Oklahoma. So, I don't think that's gonna be a problem. I knew [as a teenager] that she's the real deal, Hansen said. The local Hawaiians know this story; it long ago settled in their bones. "It's new because they've always been like the superstars on their team," Gasso said. And I wasnt quite sure I was doing the right thing. Looking at his physical appearance, DJ Gasso height is 5 feet 10 inches and weighs around 180 lbs. Age, Biography and Wiki Patty Gasso was born on 27 May, 1962 in Los Angeles, CA. Eventually, thats how you land a Lauren Chamberlain or a Keilani Ricketts. She has willed this dynasty into existence, pushing everyone around her to take ownership of what they were building, too. He was born to Jim Gasso and Patty Gasso. The team would practice how it would jog off the diamond, and how the players would toss the ball around during warmups or after an out. Then-AD Donnie Duncan trusted Hynes to make the hire. Gassos former players have seen the ways shes stayed the same over the years as well as the ways shes changed. During Sparks prayer, Jim and Patty Gasso stood with their heads bowed in awe, grateful of how Christ, through softball, led them to experience such a spiritually powerful moment. I think people will start pitching to me normally again. Aviu read the Bible growing up, but she was lukewarm in her faith until she arrived in Norman. Title: Head Coach Skip Ad Bio Recently completing her 28th season at the University of Oklahoma in 2022, NFCA Hall of Fame head coach Patty Gasso has molded the OU softball program into a. The players still had cleats for practice just not the new team-issued pairs. It didn't start after Christmas break. Sometimes they can be kind of hanging over the plate. So I was really having to do research and start from ground zero. Hopefully the days of Paige Parker, and leaning on Paige Parker, are over forever for this program. Five generations of the Alo family have lived in this remarkable place, in the shadow of the razor-sharp green mountains, their tops shrouded in clouds. Now she doesn't have to think about it. Before we start this conversation, she said to the players, what are you guys in trouble for?. Ive figured out what my purpose is here. Some of them are Purdue University (2013-2014), Michigan State University (2014-2015), and University of Oklahoma (July 2015 to Present). If Oklahoma sweeps through the weekend by winning three more in a row, it will take on the winner of the Clemson Regional and be one victory away from matching the NCAA-record winning streak. What about the plan shed had with Beitia, in which she would redshirt like she had to but then start at shortstop? She had so much on her shoulders.. The confidence that she had, I think she built that into our team. But after just one season at the helm, Beitia left to start Tennessees softball program. Nicole was named the 2020 National Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, becoming the youngest national winner of the prestigious award. Come on.". And that is what was really different is that I spent time really talking to each one of them, whether it's over breakfast or in my office or what have you. So Gasso sees something else, too: another opportunity to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At times, they acted out or talked back. Castiglione describes it as Gasso evolving and adapting more so than changing who she is or her core values. You need to stay here, and this is where you need to do My work. I started to understand that my job is more to open the door for Christ to win souls. "It's not really a relief," Levi said, "because I knew she was going to do it." Everyone wants a piece of paradise, or at least a piece of what someone else believes that paradise is worth. Games, mind you, that the team could hardly charge fans money to attend, because, well, there werent exactly gates to keep anyone out. I felt this is where I belong. She took a pay cut, and the Sooners didnt even have their own field. The father knew his daughter had the ability and determination to accomplish great things, and he was willing to sacrifice -- and impose the same sacrifice upon his daughter -- to give her the best chance of making it happen. Ive had to personally grow in a lot for ways, she said. There was a pageantry and a professionalism that Gasso wanted to establish. #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/v540fdMBTy, Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) May 13, 2023, Norman Regional OU, Hofstra, Missouri and California. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but it has its own rewards. If you want kids to believe in anything, you have to believe in it yourself. Patty Gasso is the mother of JT Gasso (Head Coach) and DJ Gasso (Assistant Softball Coach). Jim and his partner, Patty have attended the same University. It was clear she wanted me to stay, but the plan may look different. Before transferring, she spent three seasons in Tempe. Players routinely decide to get baptized, and some, like senior Grace Lyons, have become bold Christian leaders who have helped shepherd others toward faith in Christ. Or if you mess with your teammates gloves? Roberts explained how Parker was playing the role of Moses, whose arms were fatigued from holding up the staff of God during the battle. Inside the team room, she spoke about Davids three mighty men in 2 Sam. OUs current players arent locked out from seeing or hearing about the early days of Gassos tenure. 'What do you do here? All of us had been recruited by someone different.. Coming around third, she threw the traditional Hawaiian shaka hand signal into the air and pumped a fist at her family in the stands. Mock draft 2.0: Which MCWS standout goes No. No, Gasso doesnt hold a lifelong grudge against the Longhorns, despite folks around the university telling her she ought to develop one when she first arrived to campus nearly three decades ago by way of Long Beach City College. She did get tested quite a bit, Siegel said. I just had to take it and learn. She giggled and turned to Gasso, asking her, Oh, were still doing that?. As the time has passed, their love for one another has grown together. Before OU softball called Marita Hynes Field home, it had Reaves Park. Now those players are like, I can't even believe you let your team get away with this and get away with that, Gasso said. The Gasso kids have followed in the footsteps of their mother, Patty Gasso. Koishigawa monitored the reaction of his catcher and immediately realized his mistake. We would go over before we would practice picking up beer cans from the night before and (there was) just trash everywhere., At five oclock, we got kicked off the field for a slow pitch adult beer league, Johnson remembered. Patty Gasso, Oklahoma's Hall of Fame coach, stood on the field Friday night and turned to wave a hand toward the Alo family -- many, many of them -- who gathered in front of the third-base dugout . Jim moved back to California in 1999 to coach soccer at Fullerton Community College. But if you're afraid you're going to get blown up on social media, what does that mean to this sport? They held each other accountable, not letting anyone give up on brutal workouts. 1, Gasso said. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso talks with Oklahoma's Kinzie Hansen (9) and Alyssa Brito (33) during a softball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Tennessee in the Women's College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June 3, 2023. (Patty and I) think about it all the time., Fellowship of Christian Athletes Staff Writer. Purser Collins understands that now that shes older and has spent some time as a coach, too. Both of them have followed the path of their mother, Patty Gasso. She said to me, Do you want to redshirt (at Tennessee) and watch your team go to the World Series? (Joe Erwin-Buettner / Eyes on Oklahoma) It was important for me to create a relationship with them, Gasso said. And then sophomore year, we butted heads a lot. Reaves Park stretches from Timberdell Road to Constitution Street, just east of Jenkins Avenue, in Norman but was no mecca for softball. "His face dropped," Koishigawa says. Bryan Terry / The Oklahoman-USA Today Network. She was under the demands of a long-distance marriageJim had moved back to California in 1999 to coach soccer at Fullerton Community Collegewas raising two sons, leading the Sooners and squeezing in time to recruit.