In today's blog, head coach Yvette Healy writes about the great week the Badgers had.

What a great week for Badger softball. After going 6-0 over spring break, including a weekend sweep of Minnesota , Wisconsin is 20-12 overall, and 6-3 in the Big Ten. We're in fourth place in conference, with Michigan, Nebraska and Purdue ahead of us. Sophomore pitcher Cassandra Darrah earned Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week honors, while sophomore shortstop Stephanie Peace was named Big Ten Player of the Week. 

Complete release on UWBadgers.com

We are so proud of the tenacity and fight our team is showing right now. We've won eight of our last 10 games, and we have a big week ahead. We'll face Western Illinois for a doubleheader at home on Tuesday. Western Illinois is in first place in the Summit League, posting a big win this season against Kentucky, who knocked off Michigan last year in the NCAA tournament to earn a Sweet 16, Super-Regional bid. We'll travel to Champaign, Ill., this weekend for a huge three-game series against Illinois. Saturday's doubleheader will be broadcast live on the Big Ten network, starting at 4 p.m. The series finale is Sunday, April 15, at 1 p.m. 

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about the Badgers' good start at Iowa.

What a great start to Big Ten play. The Wisconsin softball team is thrilled to open the season taking 2-of-3 at Iowa. Iowa is such a legacy program with four trips to the World Series and 16 NCAA appearances. We knew we would have our hands full facing them on the road for our first Big Ten games of 2012.

Entering last season, Iowa was 28-7 all-time against the Badgers. We're fortunate to have swept them last year, posting a 4-1 record against the Hawkeyes these last two seasons. Iowa native, sophomore Cassandra Darrah pitched all three games for us, holding Iowa to just two hits in the first game of the series.

After 23 games on the road, we're thrilled to host our home-opener this weekend against Northwestern. We have a doubleheader on Saturday at noon and 2, and our game on Sunday will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network at 2 p.m. Northwestern also has a rich winning tradition, with three Sweet 16 finishes and a second-place World Series appearance in 2007.

There are some great highlights from our games at Iowa on the Big Ten Network's homepage too. You can find them on UWBadgers.com. BTN is rebroadcasting one of our 2012 Iowa games today, March 28, at 3 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network's cable channel.

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about the need for leadership and building a legacy at Wisconsin

Watching the team play yesterday, and how bad we were, it's easy to see how Wisconsin softball struggled in the past. We played like the 177 RPI team we were in 2010. What we've achieved in the last 1.5 years -- winning 30 games last season, sitting 11-8 right now after facing several ranked teams, is special. Culture is not easily changed, and losing ways and bad old habits die hard. Like any progress, it's not a straight, linear path. Sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back. You have to appreciate the climb, and celebrate the small victories and minor improvements.

 As a team and coaching staff, you can't panic when things fall apart, but rather focus on solutions and improvements. It's easy to get angry and point fingers when we fail. Yet the best programs and coaches stay constructive with their criticism and approach, focusing on teachable moments and opportunities for growth rather than sulking and dwelling on what's broke. Things can get ugly and go downhill fast when adversity strikes.

The main thing I feel like we're missing right now is leadership. It's not just about one or two great players that we need to lead, but a culture of leadership that needs to be created. We need people to model what leadership is all about and to teach our athletes how to be great captains.

With all the amazing athletic success at Wisconsin in football, basketball and hockey, our athletes need to reach out to other top programs and ask the captains to share how they lead. It's interesting after being around teams in the past and coaching and playing, there's a toughness and savvy that we need. We need a few people who refuse to let the team or individuals be bad. For now, it's just our staff saying the tough things and holding people accountable.

What great teams have...

Great teams have a group of hard working athletes who love the game of softball, who are passionate about being extraordinary at what they do. Amazing teams are comprised of fearless individuals who know their strengths as an athlete and joyfully pursue improving their weaknesses, step by step.

Championship programs have a group who hold themselves to a higher standard, working to be great in all parts of their lives; academically, offensively, defensively and socially. There is accountability within great programs, where people aren't afraid to talk about what's missing and what needs to be done.

Most importantly, great programs achieve. The leaders will work, fight and prepare to guarantee effort and results. Leaders refuse to let their team walk in flat or scared. On their way to success, great teams grow by being fearless. They aren't afraid to fail. When they do stumble, they work through the difficulties, they embrace the journey, and all the while they fully believe in their talent, teammates, and inherent ability to succeed.

Mental toughness and confidence are the keys to achievement. Great teams and athletes have a sense of urgency. They passionately work to improve, grow, and minimize their deficiencies while remaining focused, cheerful and confident.

What would it take to truly believe that everything is going to work out, that things are meant to be good and you deserve to succeed? I don't know why some athletes truly believe that they are great, that their team is great and failures and setbacks are just bumps in the road along the path of achievement.

What's really important in this whole collegiate experience? What matters most as a take away from college athletics? Is it wins and losses and ERA and batting average? Or confidence, success and a deep belief that anything can be worked towards, built and attained?

When our athletes walk out the door in four years with an amazing degree from a nationally-ranked school, the most important asset they can take with them is an unshakable belief in themselves.

Athletics forges a sense of purpose and control over our lives. It is a microcosm of the world, where we all get to see and experience how hard-work, passion and dedication lead to success. Great things can be built from scratch.

Legacies and programs grow from the ground up, becoming something extraordinary and lasting, when a few passionate people dedicate themselves to improving as individuals and as a team. It is that group achievement that you'll never forget. Growing, leading, and lifting up those around you is life changing, its life affirming.

All great leaders care more about the relationships and group success over personal glory. There's an amazing satisfaction and pride that comes from making everyone around you better as you collectively achieve.

That lesson in leadership must come alive at Wisconsin. Legacies aren't easily built. They are hard-fought victories with a prize truly worth the years of dedication they take to grow.

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about the team's success at the Wolf Pack Softball Classic and what is key for UW's top performers.

It's sunny and 78 in Madison today, as we prepare for our last spring trip. We're thrilled to practice outside on the dirt this early in the spring.

What a great weekend for Badger softball in Reno. The team went 4-1 in Nevada, batting .394. We're 10-7 overall right now, which puts us 4th in the Big Ten with our winning percentage. A few of our student-athletes are really playing well, including many of our Midwest kids.

Former New Trier (Ill.) standout Molly Spence was named Big Ten Player of the Week after batting .529 with an OPS of 1.873. Molly reached base in each game of the weekend and had three multi-hit games, including two, three-hit games. She belted four home runs on the weekend, including two in the final game against Nevada, finishing with 10 RBI.

Freshman Maria Van Abel, from Kaukauna, Wis., is leading the Big Ten in hitting, with a .459 batting average.  She's done a great job at the top of the lineup, setting the table for our big hitters. Maggie Strange, our junior catcher from Gallatin, Mo., is leading the Big Ten in throwing out runners and allowing the least number of steals against.

The key for our top performers is definitely confidence, mental toughness and competitiveness. Each of our standout athletes has the right temperament. They understand that success is a process, and the only way to achieve small victories is continued hard work, a great attitude and the overwhelming desire to succeed. Injuries, setbacks and obstacles don't faze the best student-athletes. They just continue to work hard, developing a plan for improvement each day. They refuse to fail, and emotionally invest in the success of this year's team and the Badger softball program.

We leave Thursday for Santa Barbara, Calif. We'll have five games on the road, including a big match-up on Sunday against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State. OSU returns most of their squad from last year's team that reached the 2011 Women's College World Series. They just pitched a no-hitter against Nebraska who was ranked earlier this year too. We've had great games against several ranked teams this spring, and it's time to get over the hump. This game is a great opportunity to steal a key win for our young squad.

We've seen some weekends of good pitching early this spring, and strong offense lately. We're looking forward to putting it all together this weekend, building some excitement and energy as we open up Big Ten play next weekend at Iowa.

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about opening weekend and the team's focus.

It was great to kick-off the 2012 softball season in Tampa, Fla. The University of South Florida hosted a nice tournament with Arkansas, Drake and Georgia Southern. I'm proud of our team for winning our opening game, and coming home 2-2.

Whitney Massey led the offense, getting on base and driving in runs. Redshirt sophomore Molly Spence provided a few sparks, driving in runs in three separate games. Our pitchers were impressive; averaging only five hits a game while keeping us in every contest. Junior Meghan McIntosh and sophomore Cassandra Darrah each earned their first wins of the season. Defensively, Shannel Blackshear and Stephanie Peace did a nice job holding down the left side of the infield their first weekend on the dirt.

We have a short turnaround this week, returning to Florida to face Maryland, Florida State, Southern Illinois and St. John's in Orlando Feb. 24-26. Maryland and Florida State are both ranked in the top 30 right now, which is exciting.

Our focus last weekend was pulling activities from the book, "10-Minute Toughness" by Jason Selk. We had our team create "Identity Statements" to help them decide who they want to be and how they want to live. Dr. Maxwell Maltz's "Psycho Cybernetics" argues that you will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be. I think this positive self-talk exercise helped our athletes stay composed and confident.  

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about the first two weeks of practice and what a privilege competition is.

Winter Practice: Week 1

The Badger softball team spent a lot of time in 2011 listening to chalk-talks and inspiring speeches from great coaches and leaders on campus. We kicked off our 2012 winter practice season last week with a few visitors willing to share words of wisdom to help break up our two-a-day workouts. Major Shannon Hellenbrand spoke to our group about leadership, before our team got to participate in a mini boot camp. The amazing thing about Shannon is that she was young, friendly and bubbly. She shared her experiences of leading two tours to Iraq, managing units comprised primarily men, many of them older than her. She led a group of engineers and oversaw a detention camp. Her leadership seemed to be centered on caring for her coworkers. By establishing relationships with the people she commanded, she got more from her employees and created a better environment. We were inspired to meet someone so young who has dedicated her life to serving her country as a leader.



Later in the week Lindsey Smith from Athletes in Action spoke to the team about opportunities at Wisconsin for service, community outreach and spiritual growth. It's amazing how many resources are available to our student-athletes at Wisconsin. There are so many groups, organizations and professionals who are dedicated to helping our student-athletes reach their potential on the field, in the classroom and in life. One of my favorite quotes that you can find on a lot of the Athletes in Action materials is from Nelson Mandela, "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down barriers. It laughs in the face of discrimination."

Winter Practice: Week 2

This week's chalk talk was one of the most inspiring for me, because it featured two of our own student-athletes who wanted to share insights into leadership and mental toughness that they learned over break. Senior Karla Powell led the way by reading a book, "Strengths-Based Leadership", by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. While the book focused on leadership in corporate America, Karla shared lessons that translated into sports. It's rewarding to hear our team echo some of the life-lessons that our staff is working to emphasize.

The two lessons that Karla talked about, which resonated with me, had to do with surrounding yourself with good people, and leading from a strength-based perspective. The book emphasized the need to surround yourself with people who are positive influences. I think that's one of the most important things we can do in life; seek out individuals that inspire us, who build us up, who challenge us and make us better people. There are so many negative influences in this world, why not choose to be around people with similar values and goals, who care for others and do things the right way. My mom always told my sister and me to surround ourselves with good people when we were growing up. That lesson has helped so much in choosing the right college, dating nice guys, finding true friends and working for amazing bosses.

The other message I liked from Karla's talk said that leaders focus on their strengths and the strengths of their organization and employees. As coaches there are so many times that we dwell on what's wrong. It's so easy to see where our players fall short and how deficient our team is. Great leaders have the unique ability to see what people do right, and accentuate the positive. Sports and life can be a long, difficult journey. There are so many challenges and pitfalls along the way. To inspire our athletes, our teams and ourselves to survive the marathon, and stay motivated and positive, we must highlight the good. If athletes don't feel good, and worthy and special, they'll never have the energy or tenacity to chip away at their weaknesses. It's a tough world out there. If we lead from a strength-based perspective, our athletes will feel the confidence and energy they need, to take on new challenges in sport and life.

Sophomore Stephanie Peace then spoke to the team about a 30 day challenge she took on. She read two, 14 day workbooks on mental training. Each day there were stories and activities to read and complete. These workbooks offer a great, tangible plan for improving mental toughness, and teaching relaxation. If our staff had made the team complete these workbooks, I'm not sure how much they would have gotten out of them. I love having one of our young leaders share some of the extra work she is doing and to inspire her peers to do the same. What a powerful way to lead by example. Everyone wanted to try these workbooks out after hearing Steph's talk.

Accountability is an amazing thing among athletes. We can all take on new challenges, or try to overcome a weakness. Yet when you stand in front of your team, commit to being more positive under pressure and in control when the going gets tough, you really become accountable for your actions. True change happens when you put yourself out there and become vulnerable in front of your teammates, committing to a goal in public.

My favorite lesson from Steph's reading on mental toughness states that "Pressure is a Privilege." How true. If you are under pressure at work, in life, or on the field, you must have an amazing opportunity in front of you. Sure, you could fail, but you're in the fight, you've stood up, put yourself out there, accepted the challenge and joined the dance. You might fail, but you have the opportunity to fail brilliantly. Not many people have the privilege of experiencing pressure. If you're feeling pressure you must have made the team, and you are probably in the game! What a privilege to compete.