Kayli Cooper '23 Recruiting Profile

My name is Kayli Cooper, I am currently 17 years old and will be graduating in the year 2023 from John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford Saskatchewan. One of my biggest goals in life is to continue to play softball at the university level. Softball has become my passion from the first time I played a game at 8 years old and has grown into one of the most important things in my life aside from family, friends, and my education. I was first introduced to softball when my parents took me and my older sister into the park behind our house to hit, play catch, and run around the bases. 

Throughout the years of watching and playing softball, I fell in love with it and haven’t stopped since. It has brought tons of new opportunities and lots of amazing people into my life that I am very thankful for. Playing softball has also taught me some things about myself. I have learned that I am a very competitive person, I am mentally tough, I am a coachable person, I am able to push myself and stay calm in high-pressure situations, and that I am a team player and love to meet new people as well as help those around me. To play softball at a higher level I also had to overcome obstacles as I am from a small city that does not offer A-level softball. So instead of playing in my hometown, I have had to move around and play in a different province, driving 3 to 7 hours to and from practice and games every week. Although softball is very important to me so is my education. I strive to achieve good grades in my classes and get the most out of each course I choose to take. I have been an honor roll student throughout high school and am also enrolled in the AP English program. 

In order for me to further my softball goals, I attended the Tiger Softball Academy at Tommy Douglas Collegiate for the past two years in which I had to move away from home.  At the academy, I was coached by two Canadian national team coaches, Don Bates and Trevor Ethier. I have also been taking pitching lessons from Don Bates since I first started pitching at 10 years old.

Growing up, aside from softball, I have played multiple sports including soccer, hockey, and volleyball. Volleyball was my second favorite sport where I played on a competitive club team for 4 years and also made the high school junior team. My entire family has always been involved in many different sports and have also been inducted into the Saskatchewan baseball hall of fame in the family category for multiple generations involved in the sport. By working hard and pushing myself I have achieved the goal of making the Saskatchewan high-performance softball team 2 years in a row where we traveled to Oklahoma and got to practice with the Oklahoma stars softball team and coaches. Another goal I have reached is making the 222’s softball travel team for the past 2 years. My coaches are Dean Holoien and Keith Mackintosh who are both Canadian National team coaches. In October of 2021, I traveled with the 222’s travel team to California where we played in the Orange County fall showcase as well as the NIT San Diego showcase tournament.

I hope to achieve my goal of playing softball at the university level by continuing to work hard and pushing myself to continue to grow and learn in the sport.