Assistant softball coach Elizabeth Kottich has taken over the role of head coach for the season. One of her main wishes is to build and grow relationships with both new and returning players.
Kottich said it can be a lot between preparing her English lessons and preparing the players in order to have a good season, but she manages.
“I really try to get as much done in the summer as I can,” Kottich said, ”Then it just comes down to effective time management. I have to work on the weekends a little bit more than I do outside of softball season.”
Kottich has now been coaching for over 3 years and while her official position is assistant coach, she’s currently stepping in as the head coach while Bree Salgado is on maternity leave.
“[Kottich’s] a really good coach,” junior Ellianna Reyes said. “She played softball before so she knows the game.”
According to Reyes, the players all have a good relationship with Kottich. Reyes said they all actively go into her room to hang out and relax when they have free time. Both the players on the team and Kottich are eager to work together this season as well as the next.
“This year is really interesting,” Kottich said. “We have 22 girls total in the program and 12 of them are freshmen, which is a huge, huge percentage.”
Although she’s working with an almost entirely new team and in a new position, the team has a good dynamic and many competitive players, Kottich said. The team has fun together and there’s a lot of different personalities.
“If I can look back and say I’ve even helped one kid you know, grow and achieve what they wanted, then I’ll be happy,” Kottich said.
