{"id":1374,"date":"2016-07-07T23:56:16","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T04:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2016-07-08T00:04:05","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T05:04:05","slug":"annie-fleming-moves-from-player-to-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2016\/07\/07\/annie-fleming-moves-from-player-to-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Annie Fleming moves from player to coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Annie Fleming should not be where she is. That isn\u2019t a knock on her talent or indicative of a lack of a work ethic. It\u2019s just that the odds were very much not in her favor.<\/p>\n

Raised in a small town, it was always unlikely that Fleming would end up where she is: playing in a starting spot on a Division I softball roster at the University of Illinois. She wears no. 99 for the Fighting Illini<\/a>, even though there was no shortage of obstacles to overcome in order to claim that jersey.<\/p>\n

When she started high school at Peoria Notre Dame, Fleming intended to be a three-sport athlete. She played volleyball in middle school, and she excelled at basketball and softball all her life. After completing her first high school volleyball season on the JV team, Fleming went down in the first week of the basketball season with a torn\u00a0right ACL. Just like that, her first year of high school athletics was over.<\/p>\n

Fleming had the necessary surgery and did the rehab, but playing softball during her freshman year was out of the question. She focused on recovery and building her strength, staying away from softball altogether. She returned to the softball diamond in the summer and decided to give high school athletics another try in the fall.<\/p>\n

\"Annie<\/a>

Annie Fleming bares her scars from two ACL surgeries<\/p><\/div>\n

Fate seemed to have it in for Fleming. Less than half way through the volleyball season it happened again, only this time it was her left ACL. Now basketball was out of the question, but the end of softball season was a small possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the thought of never coming back ever entered my mind. I always just thought \u2018I\u2019m going to come back and keep playing.\u2019 I mean, was really upset at first, but I never thought anything besides \u2018I\u2019m going to come back,\u201d she said of her second ACL injury.<\/p>\n

She focused in the winter on doing her rehab quickly and doing it well. She played in one game during the spring but was mostly benched for the 2012 season.<\/p>\n

The summer of 2012 was once again spent on the softball diamond, and Fleming made the decision to stay away from the court, leaving volleyball and basketball behind. Instead she used the offseason to work on hitting, pitching and strengthening her knee in order to prepare for her first full season of high school softball. The hard work paid off, because in the spring of 2013 (Fleming\u2019s junior year) she was named the Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Annie<\/a>

Annie Fleming hits ground balls to her players before a game<\/p><\/div>\n

Losing her prime recruiting years to injury, Fleming had a difficult time getting looks from college coaches. Essentially all Division I programs had filled all of their scholarship spots and had nothing but walk-on spots to give. In addition, Fleming didn\u2019t decide that college softball would be in her future until her senior year of high school, relatively late in the world of recruiting. For her, educational priorities came first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to go to a school for the school and the education instead of trying to go play softball somewhere when I could\u2019ve gone to a better educational school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Annie<\/a>

Fleming directs her team from the dugout<\/p><\/div>\n

With the help of good connections and an open mind, though, the University of Illinois was willing to take a look at Fleming. After watching her play and looking at her stats, the Illini offered her a spot as a preferred walk-on, giving her the opportunity to prove herself as a quality player.<\/p>\n

Fleming got the opportunity to start at third base for the Illini and became a regular player in the batting lineup, becoming a solid hitter in her first year facing top-level pitching. Her accomplishments highlight her ability to easily adjust to new situations and show that she can handle whatever is thrown at her, including a coaching position with a first-year team.<\/p>\n

Coaching was the next stop. This summer, Fleming was asked to take over coaching responsibilities for a team in the new Peoria Sluggers softball program<\/a>. Based at the brand new Louisville Slugger Sports Complex<\/a>, Fleming is the head coach for the 16U White team.<\/p>\n

The Sluggers program out of northern Peoria<\/a> is new, and Fleming\u2019s team in particular is geared more to learning the game than to winning championships and gaining exposure. She is the perfect candidate to accomplish that goal.<\/p>\n

Mark Petersen, Fleming\u2019s assistant softball coach at Notre Dame during her time there and the director of the Sluggers program, is man who hired her.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Fleming\u2019s qualities as a player and of his decision to hire her, Petersen said, \u201cThe people that are fun to coach and know the game usually are the people you turn around and think can be good coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fleming<\/a>

Fleming calls pitches from her spot inside the fence<\/p><\/div>\n

Fleming\u2019s style of coaching plays well to the instructional intention of her team. Her style is influenced by three of the most prominent coaches in her life: her summer coach, her father and her coach at Illinois. All brought a different aspect to coaching Fleming, and all contributed to forming her personality as a coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a combination of the fun side, the laid-back and the mechanical side has given me, overall, a really good approach to how to handle individuals and teams and how they work together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It is her players who benefit most from Fleming\u2019s all-inclusive coaching style. The 13 girls on her team recognize her status as an elite player, and they see how that status affects the way she coaches.<\/p>\n

\"Fleming<\/a>

Fleming welcomes her team back into the dugout.<\/p><\/div>\n

Macey LaSota, a pitcher on Fleming\u2019s team, understands her unique style as a reflection on the entire Sluggers program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we focus on the positives and know what we can do to be better, and we show it in the next game,\u201d LaSota said. \u201c[Fleming\u2019s style] definitely makes it look like a well-coached program with experience and knowledge of the game that looks at the positives of how people play,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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