In 2018-19, the Mountain East Conference began its "Dear Sport" initiative where student-athletes in the conference were encouraged to write a letter to their sport. The initiative provides the opportunity for student-athletes to express in their own words the impact that sports has played in shaping them throughout their lives. 

Click here to view all letters posted throughout the year. 

Below is a letter from Mikayla Kessel, a softball student-athlete at Urbana.

Dear Softball,

I started playing you when I was four years old. My earliest memory of you was being coached by my dad and getting ice cream after every “good” game at the local Dairy Queen. A lesson that I have learned from my most memorable coach was to always try my best and leave everything I had on the field.

I’ve learned a lot about myself playing this sport. I’ve learned that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought I was. I’ve learned to push myself through the lows, so that when I got to experience the highs, they are that much better. I have made so many great friends that I may have never met without this sport. Being a student-athlete has prepared me so much for life outside of softball. I’ve learned that I must work hard for everything because nothing is ever guaranteed. I’ve learned how to manage my time and my relationships which will help me to be successful in life.

When I can no longer play the sport I love so much, the sport I have put so much of my time and energy into, I will miss the feeling of competing alongside my best friends. I will miss the tough coaching I received knowing that they had my best interest at heart. Finally, I will miss the overall feeling of butterflies before a game and the pregame rituals that have become so familiar to me. I hope as I move on with life, after my softball days are over, that I still have the connections I’ve made with my teammates. I hope to impact the lives of othersbthe way my life has been impacted by softball. When I step off the dirt and remove my cleats for the last time, it will be an emotional time for me. But it won’t be sad. I will always be reminded of the memories I have made throughout my life as a softball player. I will always cherish this time I have spent being a part of something so much bigger than myself.

Thank you, softball, for helping me find myself and giving me so many wonderful memories to hang on to.

Love Always,
Mikayla Kessel, #3
Urbana University