UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball head coach Clarisa Crowell was introduced to the media on Friday, Aug. 21 in a Zoom press conference. Here are five takeaways from the session as the Nittany Lions start a new era in 2020-21 under Coach C.
NITTANY LION OHANA
Coach Crowell is a native of Hawaii and knows how important family ("Ohana" in Hawaiian terms) is to any organization.
"The [Hawaiian] culture and my family that I come from is the reason why I am and the reason why I operate the way I do as a head coach."
"I love my student-athletes and my staff and I'll do anything that I can for them, and we're going to create that family-like atmosphere."
PENN STATE OPPORTUNITY
For Coach Crowell, Penn State has always been a school she would consider coaching at if the opportunity presented itself.
"To be able to come to a school such as Penn State where the name and the brand sells itself is truly amazing for me and it's definitely a dream opportunity," she stated. "When you look at Penn State and everything that you have here from the resources to our facilities, I think the sky is the limit for what we're going to be able to do here."
GETTING TO KNOW THE TEAM
With the current climate of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coach Crowell has not been able to meet the team in person as the student-athletes have just arrived back to Happy Valley for the start of the semester.
However, the team had multiple team meetings on Zoom, and Crowell has made sure to also reach out to each student-athlete individually via phone calls and text messages.
"I'm doing what I can given the circumstances.'
The team has also already planned a socially-distanced campus tour for Crowell and her new staff once everyone is cleared as well as a team dinner in the outfield of Beard Field.
BUILDING THE PROGRAM AND THE CULTURE
Coach Crowell knows that culture is crucial to the success of any program, but she's also very realistic and knows it can't be built over night.
"You need to win the people and you need to build the culture and that is my primary focus right now."
She emphasizes that the student-athletes will need to be committed to excellence on and off the field and that her initial intentions are to reinforce hard-work, grittiness and respect within the team.
Crowell also knows she can come in with a vision and a plan but will need to assess where the team is already at and then build upon that.
"I can come in here with a vision and a plan but what I've learned is that doesn't matter if you don't meet the kids halfway, if you don't have that middle ground."
GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS
To put it simply "to be better than where we were last year," said Crowell.
"We have a lot of potential and we have a lot of room for growth and development, and that's what I'm here to do."
She emphasized that success starts with the pitching staff and the defense so they're going to put emphasis on those two aspects of the game.
"From a big-picture standpoint, we want to be contenders in the Big Ten, there's no doubt about that. Any coach, any student-athlete at this level wants to be successful, but in order to be successful you really need to focus on what you're doing each day to be at your very best."
