SOFTBALL
"When you meet someone like that you think, 'She's going to be suc- cessful,'" Healy said of her first im- pressions of Van Abel. "You could tell she had a lot of confidence and I thought that matched up similar- ly to what we're looking for.''
Van Abel played on state championship teams in softball as a junior and volleyball as a senior at Kaukauna High School. She was a four-year letterwinner in both sports. "But I had made up my mind late in the spring to play volleyball,'' she said.
As far as giving up softball, she added, "I was okay with it then.'' Still, she was intrigued by the banquet speak- er: Wisconsin softball coach Yvette Healy. "You could tell she was really turning the pro- gram around and changing the culture — as they like to say,'' said Van Abel, who eventually talked herself into talking to Healy. "I decided after the banquet to go up there and introduce myself – for what reason I'm not sure.''
She just thought it was the right thing to do. "Plus my mom said, 'Just go say hi, it can't hurt anything,''' she recounted. Van Abel was pleasantly surprised upon meet- ing Healy. "She recognized my name when I introduced myself,'' she said.
Healy had done her homework before the banquet. "As I was trying to mingle and get to know
some of the (high school) coaches in the area, I heard her name passed around a lot,'' Healy re- called. "A lot of people said that she was one of the best softball players in Wisconsin – one of the best outfielders – and she isn't even playing
38 » VARSITY APRIL 12, 2012 softball.
"It was pretty ironic that she would come up to me afterwards.'' Van Abel left a positive first im- pression, too. "She was defi-
nitely well-spoken, a happy person and personable – that came across right away,'' Healy observed. "When you meet someone like that you think, 'She's going to be successful.' You could tell she had a lot of con- fidence and I thought that matched up similarly to what we're looking for.'' Truth is, Van Abel wasn't sure the post-ban- quet conversation would lead to anything. "I thought that was that,'' she said. And she was okay with that because, if noth- ing else, "I got to meet the head softball coach.'' Why was that so important to Van Abel? "It was always kind of a dream to play for the Bad- gers,'' she confided. "Growing up in Wisconsin, it's kind of every kid's dream.'' The following week, Van Abel got a phone call
