Polidori Ready to Find Softball Success On Campus, Globally

ROCHESTER, Mich. – Entering her senior year at Oakland, Erika Polidori is actively campaigning on behalf of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in an effort to see those bat-and-ball sports return to the Olympic Games in 2020.

The catcher/outfielder believes the world-wide support exists to warrant baseball and softball’s return to the Olympics – and she should know, having spent the summer playing with the Canadian National Team.

“It's always a humbling experience putting on the Canadian jersey,” Polidori wrote in an email. “I have played on the Junior National Team for a few years so I knew how special it feels to wear the red and white but I found it was a different experience being able to wear my country across my chest with the best players in the country [and] knowing that my competition was the absolute best around the world and I was able to call myself one of those competitors.”

Team Canada’s final tournament of the summer was the Pam Am Qualifier in Puerto Rico, where a second-place finish secured the Canadians’ entrance into the 2014 World Championships in Amsterdam and the 2015 World Championships in Toronto.

“The experience was exciting and the atmosphere at the stadium was incredible. The local fans [that] came out to support the teams and the sport made playing there so fun!” Polidori wrote, adding that the support for softball was evident. “To see the passion and excitement the teams and fans had for the games was amazing and the tournament helped shine some light on our bid for the 2020 Olympics. It was so neat to see that at the end of the day, after the games were over, all teams came together to support the same movement for the sport.”

Fans who would like to help the WBSC’s bid to get baseball and softball back into the Olympics can show their support by “liking” the Play Ball 2020 page on Facebook or sending a Tweet with “#PlayBall2020” or “@PlayBall2020.”

“A lot of the IOC votes rely on social media and the community's opinion of the sports so the more I can spread the word, the better our chances,” Polidori wrote.

Considering Polidori’s desire to see her sport return to the largest stage in the world, it is somewhat ironic that the Golden Grizzly is most excited about the immediate future because of Oakland’s transition to a more intimate conference footprint in the Horizon League.

“Moving to the HL is a much better fit geographically,” Polidori wrote. “Travel time and expenses will decrease (we won't have to travel multiple times a year to the Dakotas!) and the extra money will definitely help grow the softball program as well as all programs here at OU.”

Polidori added that she’s also excited about the prospect of being able to better support other Oakland programs when the Golden Grizzlies hit the road for Horizon League action, carpooling with groups of students to the campuses of other member institutions.

“We've never really been able to do that before because we've never been close enough,” she wrote.

Regarding her own team, Polidori believes the softball programs has something to prove – and is eager to do so.

“My early impression of our team this year is that we are a passionate group, hungry to work hard and see that hard work pay off,” Polidori wrote. “We are determined to make a good first impression in the Horizon League and to set a standard for the softball program for many years. We have high expectations from ourselves and our coaches and I think that will be the driving force this year.”