By Jacques Lee |Staff Writer|
In the classroom, Nicole Nobbe is just your everyday college student, but on the softball field, she is a force to be reckoned with.
She was recently named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II National Player of the Week for the games between Feb. 10 – 15.
This award is given to the player with the highest batting average of the week.
She received the award for having a staggering batting average of .721 going (16-22) over that week.
This is the first time at CSUSB a player has been named National Player of the Week in softball.
“It hasn’t really kicked in. Everybody has been saying cool stuff about it, but I think it will set it and I’ll realize what I accomplished later down the road after season, because I’m just focused on my team and winning,” said Nobbe regarding the award.
Nobbe is a 23-year-old senior and a transfer student from Cypress College.
“I didn’t get any division one offers from anybody, actually and the ones I did get were all out of state, so I figured if my family can’t come watch me play softball then what is the point?” said Nobbe.
Softball has been a part of Nobbe’s life for 18 years and she says it was the first sport she ever played.
“You know it started in the crib really. My dad played baseball at UCR and he also coached in my hometown of Merced, California, so it was my first sport because I was around it so much,” said Nobbe.
Nobbe explains her passion for playing.
“It sounds pretty cheesy but it is pretty emotional to me because I’ve been doing it for so long. I think it makes me a better person if I finish it all the way and not give up at the end when I’m so close,” she said.
Throughout high school, Nobbe played other sports, which included volleyball and tennis, but she decided to stick with softball.
“After my freshman year, I just stuck with softball because I knew what it would do for me,” Nobbe said.
Most athletes look up to a professional athlete, but Nobbe says her older sister, Heather, who also played college softball, is her biggest role model in sports and life.
“She (Heather) was a Division 1 athlete and she got a full ride to New Mexico State and didn’t like it and then got another full ride to UC Santa Barbara, so just because she got discouraged about whatever it was she just kept on moving on,” said Nobbe, who has started every game at shortstop.
After her playing days are over, Nobbe wants to continue her career in the sport she loves and become a collegiate softball coach.
Nobbe had an answer that most people would be surprised about, as to why she wants to become a coach.
“My biggest influences are the coaches that I didn’t like because they taught me how I don’t want to coach,” said Nobbe.
Nobbe plays a huge role in her team’s success and believes the current team is built for something special.
“I think we have a lot of potential and we get along very well, but right now we are splitting even and winning and losing about the same, but I feel like we have so much potential that we can be a really great team,” said Nobbe.
Nobbe is a true leader for the team and will continue to do whatever she can to help her team win.
Leave a Reply