Keirstin Roose, junior first baseman
Junior first baseman Keirstin Roose plays for the women’s softball team at Coastal Carolina University, and since her freshman year, has been working hard to make every practice and game of her career count.
On game days, the players are either around or on the field all day preparing, whether that be with the athletic trainer or in the locker room getting ready. They make sure to get in the right mental headspace in addition to their physical preparations, acting as a warmup to the warmup.
“Before every game, I have to have some sort of caffeine, I need to get my mind right before I get into it,” Roose said.
Due to recovering from a recent shoulder surgery, Roose has had time to reminisce on her career so far.
“Freshman year I didn’t know that I was leading off, but I was batting first in the first game, and then my first event I hit a home run, so that was really exciting,” Roose said.
Roose said their staff and coaches prioritize not just their game, but also their efforts inside the classroom. Mental strength can be troubling when it comes to being a student-athlete.
“Nothing is more tough than the mental component of the game. As a softball player, we fail a lot and it is really degrading at times too,” Roose said. “We have sports psychologists and mental health coaches, so they do a really good job of giving us skills to use like visualization and breathing techniques.”
Recovering from surgery hasn’t stopped Roose from helping out the softball community, specifically with younger generations of women. She takes pride in teaching the youth and being an inspiration as a female softball player.
“I wanna give as much knowledge to the younger generation as much as possible,” she said. “Figure out the mental game, get to know yourself in and out of the sport because you can’t let the sport dictate how you feel about yourself.”
