Gilbert's dream fuels success beyond Ball State

It was a bright, sunny day when Jeri Gilbert ventured on her route to pick up her 9-year-old daughter, Jenny Gilbert, from school.

Speeding down I-35 in Texas, a major interstate homeward-bound, Jeri Gilbert noticed something different - her daughter gazing off into the distance, the sun’s rays beating down on her face. 

Jenny Gilbert turned toward her mother with a fiery intense look in her eyes.

“You know mom," she said. "I’m going to be a great softball player someday. You have to believe me.”

At 23, Jenny Gilbert can’t stay away from the game she loves.

She decided softball was what she wanted to center her life around, before arriving at Ball State in 2010 and long before she was drafted 10th by the Akron Racers in the National Pro Fastpitch League.

As a player, mentor and coach, Jenny Gilbert uses her softball talents - not only for herself, but for sharing with others alike.

It all started with a dream - a dream paired with a work ethic that Jeri Gilbert said “just wasn’t normal.”

GROWING UP IN THE GAME

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Jenny Gilbert's family moved to Texas when she was two years old.

In Texas, Jenny Gilbert and her mother worked at least two hours every other day on becoming a better ballplayer. 

“I went home and told my husband, this is just way more to her than just throwing the ball around in the backyard,” Jeri Gilbert said. “She has a true passion for this.”

Jeri Gilbert realized her daughter's passion during a conversation between her 10-year old daughter and another young girl living near them. The girl invited Jenny Gilbert to come out and play, a question that most children that young would answer "yes."

But Jenny Gilbert had other interests. 

“I have to go work on my softball,” she said.

Her mother was amazed at her daughter's commitment. 

“It was just incredible as a parent to watch a young girl go through that," Jeri Gilbert said. 

Before Jenny Gilbert's sophomore year, her family moved to McKinney, Texas, where she attended McKinney High School, finishing as a four-year letterwinner and excellent student. 

Craig Nicholson, the Ball State softball coach at the time, recruited Jenny Gilbert to be a slap-hitter and a pitcher.

Those plans, however, quickly changed.

In her first season, Jenny Gilbert hit 15 home runs and had 63 runs batted in - both Ball State single-season records. She also had a .361 batting percentage. 

Prior to the start of her senior season, Ball State hired Tyra Perry to softball head coach, formerly from Western Kentucky. 

Perry and Jenny Gilbert had an instant connection. 

“[Jenny's] demeanor, the leadership skills that she exhibits and her swing was a definite indicator as to the sky being the limit for her,” Perry said.

Jenny Gilbert ended her four-year career with three Mid-American Conference Player of the Year awards, the 11th player in NCAA softball history to do so. She was also a two-time NFCA All-American.

She owns five MAC career batting records, including home runs with 75. Gilbert also cleared several Ball State career marks.

“Basically it was just working a lot of a tee, and growing myself," Jenny Gilbert said "I didn’t really reach full height until my senior year of high school, and even my freshman year of college I kind of grew a little bit ... I was a little bit of a late bloomer.”

THE PROFESSIONAL

On Jan. 19, 2015, Jenny Gilbert discovered she was selected to return to the Akron Racers for her second season of professional softball. 

“It’s a huge honor [to be chosen back],” Jenny Gilbert said. “There’s only five teams in the NPF … To be one of those girls across the country that was chosen, I can’t even begin to describe that feeling. It’s just a huge honor.”

The decision to stay wasn’t easy, but one she says she doesn’t regret.

“It came down to a point where I had to choose between the [Canadian] national team and the Racers," Jenny Gilbert said. "It was a lot for me physically, as well as mentally, going back from team to team [in the summer of 2014].”

Jenny Gilbert’s Canadian roots fueled her desire to play for the Canadian National Team from a young age, when she attended the Women’s College World Series with her mother. 

She held up her Team Canada poster, with all the players’ names when the international teams played, and told her mom that, one day, she would be on the team. 

It was an emotional moment for both Jenny Gilbert and her mother the first time she slipped on the red and white, maple leaf emblemed jersey for the women's Under 16 National Team in 2009. She played for her homeland until 2013, including two seasons with the Senior National Team. 

“I remember distinctly the moment I put [the Canada jersey] on," Jenny Gilbert said. "I kind of started to tear up a little bit because I had wanted that since I was 8 years old.”

International teams are the best a country has to offer, but Jenny Gilbert said the NFP league is more skilled and the best of the best.

Although she is done playing for the Canadian team, Jenny Gilbert embraces her experiences.

“You start to have those little successes, and then you start to build on them,” she said.

COACHING ASPIRATIONS

Crack!

Ball meets bat, sending a line drive into the net at the back of the batting cage.

“Good, that’s it. Nice job,” Jenny Gilbert says to an 8-year-old girl she is coaching at the 5-Tool Academy in Yorktown.

An aspiring Division I college softball coach, Jenny Gilbert works with girls from eight-years-old through high school, helping develop their skills. 

“It means everything to me," she said. "If I had somebody like myself who played the level that I played at coaching, I would’ve been all ears on my toes, and I know that they are thrilled to work with me, and I’m thrilled to work with them.”

Jenny Gilbert also works as a volunteer assistant for the Ball State softball team. She is starting graduate school in the summer, making the jump to graduate assistant coach.

She said it was a little strange at first teaching girls that she used to play with.

“As the weeks have drawn on, I made it very clear, ‘guys, yes, I used to play with you but now I’m your coach," she said. "They listen to me, because they know I want to make them better.”

Perry and her staff welcomed Jenny Gilbert, encouraging her to pitch ideas and be vocal in meetings. 

“[Jenny] does some things with us as far as fundamentals, but she’s been a tremendous asset from the area of perspective," Perry said. "She does a great job with the mental aspect of it.”

Jenny Gilbert’s perspective and analytical understanding of the game comes from her upbringing, her mother teaching her the ability to be honest with herself - to stand back and truly say, “this is what I need to do to get to the next level.”

On her breaks, Jenny Gilbert returns home to visit her family, revisiting the place her dream started.

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