Lappin is Warming Up Post-Beijing

Olympic silver medalist softball player Lauren Lappin is happy winter is over.

The native of Anaheim, Calif., and former Stanford star, wasn't quite ready for the chilly Chicago winters when she moved to Illinois to be a part of the Northwestern coaching staff.

"I've seen snow before, but never on a daily basis," Lappin said with a laugh. "It's been fun. But there were so many days where I got in my car and it was really snowing outside."

Lappin had to adjust to practicing indoors and coaching with gloves and wearing multiple layers of clothing.

But the 2008 Olympian is used to facing challenges. And now with winter behind her, she can focus on what she loves --- softball --- and sharing that passion for the sport with a new generation of future stars.

An alternate on Team USA for the 2004 Athens Olympics, Lappin returned to the national team in 2007 and was a part of the gold-medal winning teams at the Pan American Championships and the World Cup.

The following year she earned a spot on the roster for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Playing as a utility player, Lappin helped the team earn a silver medal. It was the first time the Americans had not won a gold medal in the Olympics since the sport's inclusion in the games beginning in 1996 in Atlanta. Team USA lost to Japan, 3-1 in the gold-medal game in Beijing.

"It seems like it was yesterday, but it seems like a long time ago, too," Lappin said.

While the competition on the field and earning a silver medal was memorable, the former Stanford player also made memories outside of the tournament that she will cherish, such as the Olympic atmosphere and the bonding during the team's pre-Games domestic tour.

Before even heading over to Beijing, Lappin made memories playing on the team's KFC Bound 4 Beijing tour. Taking on domestic opponents in a pre-Olympic tuneup, Lappin said she enjoyed spending time with her U.S. teammates as they hit the road traveling from city to city during their 46-game tour.

Once the tour ended, it was on to Beijing, where Lappin got caught up in the Olympic spirit.

One of her favorite experiences was attending the Opening Ceremony. The back-up third baseman and catcher said she was awed by the pageantry and precision during China's Olympic kickoff. She also enjoyed the enormity of seeing all of the athletes in the stadium at the same time, wearing their individual country's colors.

"The Opening Ceremony was absolutely unbelievable, just to walk in with all of the other U.S. athletes and all of the athletes around the world," Lappin said.

Another moment that stuck out to Lappin was when she stepped onto the Olympic softball field for the first time, just days before the Americans would post an unbeaten record in pool play en route to its second-place finish.

But while Lappin enjoyed her Olympic experience, there was something missing from Beijing-her sister.

As Lappin battled teams on the field with some members of her family in attendance, her older sister, Amanda, was back in the United States awaiting a kidney transplant.

"She was with me in spirit for sure," Lappin said. "She's not only my sister, she's one of my best friends."

The California native's older sister, who has suffered from Type I diabetes since she was a teenager, still hasn't received the new organ and remains on the transplant list. Her family has held fundraisers, including a golf tournament, to help cover some of Amanda's mounting medical expenses.

"I have a really amazing family," Lappin said. "My whole family has been behind her both emotionally and financially."

While Lappin and her relatives remain hopeful for her sister's health and future, her softball family is enduring a different type of battle as the sport is fighting to get back into the Olympics.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics could have been the last time softball was competed at the Olympics, as it was voted out of the program for the 2012 London Olympics. Representatives from the sport are lobbying to get softball reinstated for the 2016 Olympics.

While the sport's Olympic future remains in doubt, Lappin said she's worried more about the careers of the younger players than she is of her own dream of returning to the Games.

She said that while growing up in California, she dreamed about one day representing the United States at the Olympics. Now she wants younger Americans-as well as girls all around the world-to achieve their own dreams.

"(It's important to have softball in the Olympics) so that hundreds of thousands of girls that play softball worldwide will have the opportunity to play in the Olympics," Lappin said.

The former Pac-10 Conference star says that while she's coaching at Northwestern she teaches her players what the Olympics are all about, and she hopes that one day they'll have the opportunity to experience the Games first hand.

But for now, with hopes of representing the U.S. again in 2016 --- perhaps in Chicago of all places --- in the distant future, Lappin is focusing on the present.

An avid traveler, Lappin is hoping to find time once the softball season ends at Northwestern to take a few vacations.

At the top of her list is Costa Rica. Lappin hopes to go on a few adventures on her trip, as well as find time to relax after a busy season and enjoy the climate, which the Wildcats volunteer coach says is "great any time of the year."

She is also planning on taking a trip back home to California to spend some time with her family, including her newest relative, her newborn nephew.

But before Lappin can take off on her adventures, she first has to finish her initial season on the sidelines at Northwestern, and shed her winter clothing in time to enjoy the Chicago spring.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Mary Motzko is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.