Get to know Fossil Ridge HS softball player Kodi Alvord
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Seventeen-year-old Kodi Alvord is not your average go-getter. She has participated in volleyball, basketball, and has her Nidan black belt in Karate. She currently plays softball for Fossil Ridge High School and Triple Crown Colorado 18 Gold, which is a summer weekend competitive softball club. They sometimes travel out of state to play the best teams in the country.
Her glass-half-full perspective on softball is that if you fail seven out of ten times, you鈥檙e in the Hall of Fame! It鈥檚 difficult for this perfectionist to accept she has chosen a field (no pun intended) in which it is impossible to be perfect. She manages this annoyance by focusing on one pitch at a time, doing her very best, and telling herself that is good enough.
Kodi wears a lot of hats and sometimes finds it overwhelming to find balance between her roles as student, athlete, friend, family member, and just being a regular person. The best advice she has been given is to figure out how to find that balance by being honest with herself about what is important in life, and divide her time and effort accordingly.
Softball gives this hard-working athlete the competitive environment she loves as well as a mental retreat. Kodi relates, 鈥淏eing able to play hard and give everything on the field without real life consequences is the perfect escape from everyday life.鈥� When asked if she has a pre-game ritual, she makes sure to have a good meal before the game and always puts her left batting glove on before the right.
Keeping her personal life separate from her life on the field is important to Kodi. She doesn鈥檛 have to be best friends with her teammates, but on the field it is essential to support them, get along with them, and play as part of the team. She says she always needs them to win! Kodi voices her frustration that softball is under-appreciated compared to some of the other high school sports. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely competitive once you learn the sport and watch it,鈥� she points out. She says it鈥檚 very discouraging when there are no student supporters at their games.
When she isn鈥檛 on the softball field, Kodi spends time with her family and friends. She enjoys hanging out at the lake, scuba diving, dirt bikes, camping, and traveling.
If Kodi had a chance to give herself advice as a freshman, she would have quite a lot to say: 鈥淚 would tell myself to have fun and soak everything in. Enjoy the environment and make friends with the new people you will meet. Don鈥檛 take everything seriously and at the end of the day, be happy with yourself. Keep your family close and don鈥檛 settle for anything. You will find your people and you will find yourself, but it won鈥檛 come right away. Don鈥檛 be afraid to make mistakes and go through all the phases so you can learn and become who you truly are.鈥�
She has recently been accepted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has been recruited to play college softball there while pursuing a degree in Aeronautical Science. Kodi has set her long-term sights on joining the Navy post-college and becoming a Navy pilot, followed by piloting commercial airlines. In my book, this girl is batting a thousand!
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