Unlimited opportunities open to parks and recreation: Olympic gold medalist Dot Richardson inspires NRPA crowd.

Editor's Note: Below are edited excerpts from Dot Richardson's speech given during NRPA's Congress & Exposition's General Session in Reno, Nev., Oct. 13. For more information about Richardson, visit www.dotrichardson.com.

First of all, I am so excited because there are no more energized people than you. When I was asked to come here, I feel like I would be preaching to the choir, because all of you know the difference that recreation and sports does for an individual. What I thought I would do, was share with you some of the dreams, some of the life lessons that I've learned through sports.

As the vice chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, I have an obligation and responsibility to say something that is extremely important: that all of us have got to work together to focus on the need of tackling the obesity issue of this nation. Let us stand strong in what we do to make a difference in every life; to encourage and inspire all of us to do more and be more physically active. I commend all of you for making it happen in your home town.

One thing that I have to say with sports is that it has prepared me for my career as an orthopedic surgeon; but, more importantly, it has prepared me for life. And these life lessons that I have learned began when I was very young.

When people ask me, 'What is the most memorable experience that you have had in sports;'--the most memorable experience is every time I was standing out there in the infield, to look around and see the gifts god has given to my teammates, and to realize that I am a part of it. When you talk about team building--that is the only way that we are going to make things happen--it is being able to get together with a common cause, focus on that goal and not tire in accomplishing it.

I knew that I was given a gift, and the gift was athletics. And I knew it was a gift, because I loved it so much. Running, climbing trees--I mean you should see when I get a new pair of sneakers. I'd be waiting for a truck to come by, and I would outrun it on the sidewalk. I felt so alive. And all of you out there have a gift and you know what that gift is. But there was one problem when I was a little girl--it wasn't the thing for girls to be athletic. There may be a few women out there who are nodding their heads. In fact, when I was a little girl, girls were not allowed to play in any organized sport. So my brothers got to do what I wish I could do, and that was play in little league baseball. And my dad coached them and he let me be the next best thing, and that was bat girl for my brothers' little league team.

I would go to bed at night and when I said my prayers, I would ask god, 'Why did you give me so much talent and so little opportunities to express that talent?' I could see if someone said, 'Well, if you can't throw very well or you can't run fast or you can't catch a ball,' but to say you can't play sports because I'm a girl--I couldn't comprehend that. What I am supposed to do about that?

Well, one day it happened. Before my brothers' little league game, my big brother asked me to play catch with him to break in his new catcher's mitt. And I still can hear the pop of that glove as I fired a fast ball, dreaming of being a major league baseball pitcher. I couldn't even play little league and I'm thinking of being a little league baseball pitcher. Well, this guy comes running off the field and says, 'Wow you've got a really good arm. How would you like to play on my little league team?'

YES! My prayers are answered! It's gonna happen! And then he said in the same breath, 'Well, we're going to have to get you to cut your hair short and call you Bob.' WHAT?

Have you ever been so close to living your dream, but the price seemed to be too high? I said, 'Sir, thank you, but no thank you. If I have to hide who I am, it doesn't feel right.'

Isn't it amazing now what we are able to do for boys and girls; for men and women--no matter what age it is? To give them an opportunity to express their talent, their enjoyment through recreation and sports?

Yes, I was upset--for a little bit. All my life they said no, you can't do it because you're a girl. So I walked to another field, and I was out there playing catch with a friend of mine, Sunday Brown. And this other man comes running up to me and says, 'Do you have a minute to talk to the head coach?' I said sure. And as I was rounding out first base, there no longer were boys, there were women. And as I rounded home and went towards third base, out from third base in the dugout came the coach, but it wasn't a man, it was a woman. I was shocked. I've never seen such a thing.

Well, she said, 'Have you ever played softball?'

'No, what's that?'

'Well it's just like baseball, but the ball's a little bigger. Get on third base, and we'll throw you a ground ball.'

I have to admit, for the first time I touched that ball, my response was, 'A little bigger?' So I was firing the ball around feeling like I belonged. Okay, it wasn't exactly what I thought about--it wasn't baseball--but it's close to it. The coach called me over and asked me, 'How would you like to play on my softball team. How old are you, anyway?'

When I said I was 13, she almost died because it was a women's team--the average age on the team was 22. So we went and saw morn and dad, and mom and dad said yes.

A lot of you are parents out there, and a lot of you are aunts and uncles, and this moment I'd like to share one of the biggest life lessons of all. I coach an 18-under travel ball team now. I also have a 10- and two 12[-year-old teams] that are under my non-for-profit organization. It's amazing how parents are behaving at recreational and travel ball level. It's amazing they forget it's about a child learning life lessons through sports. They forget. They also forget that for softball and baseball players out there, those are some of the hardest sports to play. Those sports are built around failure. In fact if you fail seven out of 10 times, you're not good, you're great. But no one tells these kids that. They think they have to be perfect. So they quit. So what have they learned?

Let's focus our efforts, on not just establishing recreational but good coaches. Let's do it; set the standard and make a difference.

So, here I am making my first fast pitch softball team. And at the end of the season, I made the all-star team. And we made it to the big time now, as an all-star. We're going to Chattanooga, Tenn. I made it, right?

Well, I'm celebrating in the backyard, having fun a week before we were supposed to go. And I was swinging from one limb of a tree to another, and I dismounted off of one the limbs. Perfect dismount landing on the hood of an old car my dad had in the back and I lost my balance. I remember looking back and seeing a board with nails sticking out of it. Well, I gave an extra little push and I said (while I was in the air), 'Wow what a great athletic move!' And I missed the board, but instead landed on a sickle barefooted.

I was rushed to the hospital and, yes, I was in pain. But the biggest pain was that I blew my chance; I blew my opportunity.

Well I'm here to tell you that everything happens for a reason. Life is not easy, as we know, and that's what makes it so fun is the challenges it gives us. Here I am hobbling around, missing my opportunity; but instead, hobble my way up to an instructional league tryout for the Orlando Rebels--a women's major fast-pitch softball team. It's like the [New York] Yankees, the [Boston] Red Sox, the [St. Louis] Cardinals, the Houston Astros. What happens?

At the end of the three months, of learning more about fast pitch softball, the head coach of the Orlando Rebels came up and asks me, 'Dot, how would you like to be our bat girl?' I was going to be the best bat girl I could be. And the best part was I got to practice with legends in the sport.

Then it happens, we were ahead 10O, and the head coach ... looks in the dugout and says, 'Dot, get in the game.'

'Is this legal?'

'Yeah, bat girls are on the official roster, get in the game.'

Anything that that could have happened to me happened. Got an RBI. I stole a base. I scored a run. Threw a girl out on first base.

Are each of us prepared for that door of opportunity? Are we willing to start at the bottom and work our way up? I always reflect back on Sunday Brown, who I played catch with. Why wasn't Sunday Brown asked to play on that first fast-pitch softball team? Well, it so happened that a year later with Title IX, Sunday Brown was asked to be the first girl to play little league baseball in our hometown. Everything happens for a reason. It may not happen when you think it should, but if it's meant to happen, it will happen. You will have your time in the sun, I guarantee it.

Well, the next year I got a phone call from the coach. She said, 'Dot, how would you like to play for the Orlando Rebels?' And I became the youngest girl ever to play women's majors at 13 years of age.

Do we feel so alive when we're expressing our gifts and our talents and making a difference? That's the best gift of all. Softball chose me. When I graduated from high school, I made my first United States team. We went to San Juan, Puerto Rico--and it was the first Pan American women's softball ever, and we won the gold medal. Since then, I've been to Japan twice, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia four times, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Holland, England, Canada, Argentina and Italy playing for the United States of America. No greater privilege than to represent out country in whatever field takes us, and in sports I was living a dream.

I do believe in the power of our dreams and this is why. I had this dream when I was 13. That I was a shortstop; and the ball was hit in the middle; and I went as fast as I could to get in front of it, but I couldn't so I dove; did a forward roll; got up and threw the girl out on first base. Cool dream, right? It's a dream? I had this dream over and over again. Two years later, second game of a double header ... I do a forward roll, get up and get a girl out on first base. My teammates--what were they doing? They were given high fives, low fives--they were going crazy. But what was I doing? I was standing there frozen, because I realized I had just lived that dream and I realized for the first moment in my life how powerful our minds are. If we can imagine it, if we're willing to work hard for it, if we want something so badly we're willing to dream about it, it can happen. It can happen.

Six years old, I saw the Olympics for the first time in my life. That night I went to bed and had a dream I was standing on a podium, and I bent down, and an Olympic gold medal was put around my neck. Five world champions, five Pan American games, every time a gold medal was put around my neck, I wondered, was I living that dream? But it was supposed to be the Olympics. Traveling the world ... the best thing sports gave me was an education. The Olympics was not meant for me, but I got a great education.

And then it happened, they announced softball in the Olympics for the first time in Olympic history. But it was too late; I was going on to my orthopedic surgeon residency program.

Well, I secretly tried out for the Olympic team. And in fact, orthopedics is predominately male. But they were so supportive. That's what we're talking about--there in your association, being a team. Being there to pick somebody up when they need you; being there to support the missions and goals of others so collectively it's a win for the association. These guys were supporting me to go for that team. Well, I got called to the chairman's office and they gave me a year leave of absence to try to live that childhood dream of going to the Olympics. Well, I made it to the 1996 major Olympic softball team; and I had three dreams for those Olympics.

Here they were: 1) I wanted to hit the first pitch in Olympic history for the sport of softball over dead center field fence. 2) I wanted to hit a home run in the gold medal game to help us win the ultimate dream 3) all of us standing there on the podium with Olympic gold medals around our necks.

Well, one, I'm not a home-run hitter. That's a problem, but I like to dream big. Number two: there is no way the first dream can come true. The Olympics were held in Atlanta, Ga., that meant that the United States was home team so there's no way I could hit the first pitch in the Olympics. So I changed my first dream a little bit. I wanted to hit the first pitch to an American over dead center field fence. Let me take you to that first at bat at the Olympics. To an American.

Ball, low outside. I stepped out of the batter's box, and I said, 'Do over.' Can you believe I said that? Thank goodness the umpire didn't speak English. I couldn't believe it. But you know, when you see a vision so real that it was meant to happen--but again, it happened the way it should have happened. Instead, the next pitch--I got a base hit up the middle; the next pitch was bunted over. And then [pitcher Lisa] Fernandez gets up and hits a base hit, and I scored the first run in Olympic history. Teamwork. Everyone doing their part to come together and make it happen. My fourth at bat was when it happened. When she threw that ball, I swear it stopped and said, 'Hit me.' And I said, 'Okay.' When I hit that ball, and I saw that it went over dead center field fence my arms went up in the air. I was thinking, I wish that everyone could feel what I was feeling at this point, at least once in their lifetime.

Gold medal game with a teammate on first base in the third inning. I get up to bat. And the reason I like to tell this life lesson is because that pitch that was thrown to me was a change up. To be honest, I just tried to rip the cover off the ball so that pitcher would never ever throw me a change up again. Why? Because the day before she struck me out on national TV with bases loaded and two outs, full count, and threw a change up. So in the gold medal game, when I hit that ball, I just wanted to hit that ball as far as it would go. Isn't that a beautiful moment in sport?

When, in someone's accomplishment as an individual, a team can celebrate in that accomplishment because it's part of them? It's amazing to me when I hear young people say, 'Why did she get all state?' 'Why did he get all-American?' It's amazing. Instead of saying congratulations, I'm proud to be your teammate--that's where we have to get.

Well, after the '96 Olympics--that third dream--when we were standing on the gold medal podium; when I stood up, I knew I was living the dream I had when I was a 6-year-old girl. This gold medal represents opportunity. It's an opportunity we have everyday.

What you do is so special. You touch so many lives. You may not even realize what your mission actually does touch to make a difference in the lives of other people. It's pretty special to have a career that can do that.

I was brought here today to tell you how special you are, and to thank you for what you do day in and day out. If you don't get it from those around you, remember today, because you got it. You are making a difference; you are impacting this country; and I applaud you. And thank you so much for what you do and for having me here.

ACCREDITED AGENCIES

During Congress, several park and recreation agencies were either newly accredited or reaccredited for the coming year. The Accreditation Program for park and recreation agencies is administered by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA), an independent body that is sanctioned by NRPA and the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA). To become accredited, agencies must meet 156 standards, as well as demonstrate that they not only meet the standards, but also that they have the interest, professional commitment and community support to complete the accreditation process. The newly accredited or reaccredited agencies are:

Ten-Year Reaccreditations

City of Piano, Parks and Recreation Department

Donald Wendell, Director

Plano, Texas 

Class: 2

City of Roseville, Parks and Recreation Department

Lonnie Brokke, CPRP, Director

Roseville, Minn.

Class: 4

City of Scottsdale, Community Services Department

Judy Weiss, CPRP

Director, City of Scottsdele

Parks and Recreation

Scottsdale, Ariz.

Class: 3

Five-Year Reaccreditations

City of Largo, Department of Recreation and Parks

Joan Byrne, Director

Largo, Fla.

Class: 3

Johnson County Park and Recreation District

Michael Meadors,

CPRP, Director

Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Class: 1

Initial Accreditations

City of Alexandria, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Activities

Kirk Kincannon, CPRP, Director

Alexandria, Va.

Class: 2

City of Carrollton, Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department

Wayne Gay, Director

Carrollton, Ga

Class: 5

City of Miamisburg, Parks and Recreation Department

Rebecca A. Benna,

CPRP, Director

Miamisburg, Ohio 

Class: 4

Clark County, Parks and Community Services

Patricia Marchese, Director

Les Vegas, Nev.

Class: 1

Fort Carson, Recreation Division

Russell J. Lee

Fort Carson, Colo.

Class: 2

Fort Wayne, Parks and Recreation Department

Dianne Hoover, CPRP, Director

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Class: 2

Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission 

Accredited October 2004

Trudye Morgan Johnson,

Executive Director

Riverdele, Md.

Class: 1

Montgomery County, Department of Recreation

Greg Bayor, Director

Silver Spring, Md.

Class: 1

Town of Hartford, Parks and Recreation Department

Tad Nunez, Director

White River Junction, Vt.

Class: 5

Two Universities Become Accredited

Accreditation is a status granted to an institution or a program that meets or exceeds stated criteria of educational quality. In the United States, accreditation of professional preparation curricula is conferred by non-governmental bodies, which are often closely associated with professional associations in the field. The NRPA/AALR Council on Accreditation, sponsored by the NRPA in cooperation with the American Association for Leisure and Recreation (AALR), is such a body. The Society of Park and Recreation Educators (SPRE) nominates members to serve on the Council.

Accreditation is voluntary. Applications for accreditation may be submitted by any institution offering a four-year curriculum in parks, recreation and leisure services education. Various factors enter into a program's decision to seek this status. Students considering the broad field of parks and recreation should investigate individual academic programs in detail to determine which ones meet their individual needs.

An institution seeking accreditation first submits a preliminary application to the council indicating its intent to pursue accredited status, and the support of its administration for doing so. The Formal Application notifies the council that it is ready to proceed with the process. The program develops an extensive Self Study, hosts an on-campus team of qualified reviewers, receives and responds to a written report of the team's findings, and is finally reviewed by the entire 10-member council, which determines the accreditation status and any follow-up actions the program must take to maintain it.

In Reno, the council reviewed findings, and awarded accreditation to two universities. These were George Mason University in Virginia and Pittsburg State University in Kansas. During the conference, Carlton Yoshioka also became chair of the NRPA/AALR Council on Accreditation.

For more information on university accreditation, go to NRPA's Web site at www.nrpa.org.

EDUCATORS ACCEPT AWARDS

SPRE gave out its annual awards in Reno/Tahoe.

The Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Award for Excellence in Recreation and Park Research, along with the Distinguished Colleague award was given to Leo H. McAvoy, whose contributions to the park and recreation research field have been unparalleled.

Other awards included:

Excellence In Teaching Award

Diane Samdahl

Lucille and Derby Dustin

Future Scholars, 2004

Megan Cronan, Texas A&M University

Jeff Bransford, Clemson University 

Rebecca Hall, University of North Texas

Leadership for the Future

Martha Barnes, University of Waterloo 

Paul Fokken, Indiana University 

Joy James, Clemson University

Professional Development

Scholarship

Patricia Ardovino, University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse 

Congratulations to all the SPRE winners!

BRANCH RECEIVES NEW NAME

After much debate, the branch formerly known as the Citizen-Board Member Branch, will now be known as the Citizen Branch. The branch's leadership submitted a request to the Board of Trustees to change the bylaws to reflect the new name, which was passed.

Members hope the name change will be more inclusive to citizens involved in parks and recreation, who may not sit on community boards.

The Citizen Branch dedicated a new bench to the citizens of Reno, Nev., for use in the town's community parks. Clockwise from left: President Jim Donahue, Reno parks supervisor Al Rodgers, TKTKTK, South Bay Foundry employee Garry Robinson and Darlene Harrell, Chairman David Lose, Reno parks supervisor Nanette L. Smejkal, and Citizen Branch member Myrtle Braxton-Ellington.

NTRS RECOGNIZES STANDOUTS

The National Therapeutic Recreation Society also gave its annual awards during the Reno/Tahoe Congress. Congratulations to the following winners:

Meritorious Service Award

John C. Chambers

Distinguished Service Award

Candy Ashton-Shaeffer,

Ph.D., TRS/CTRS

Member of the Year

Tracey Crawford, CTRS, CPRP

0rganization/Institution

Citation

Boulder Parks and Recreation Department EXPAND Program

Jean Tague Innovative

Program Award

Project N.O.I.S.E.E

Naturally Occurring Interaction

in a Shared Environment

Everyday

Ron McKenney Community

Service Award

Scott Youngs

ARMED FORCES AWARDS

ITS MEMBERS

In a breakfast ceremony,

AFRS awarded some of its

members who have proved

themselves in the past year.

Award winners included:

Front Line Award

Laura Jessee-Frost

Sharma Slappey

Allison Paige Murphy

Sebahattin Daglioglu

Michelle Ammon

Charles R. Pearse

Jeannette Kirk

Paul Woodward

Wayne R Weschrek

Lanorris Lee

Support Services--Behind

the Scenes Award

Harry L. George III

Clint Tolbert

Ceabert J. Griffith

Gary W. Elliott

Allison S. Foo

Special Citation Award

Brian K Lewis

Joseph Moscone

Karen Fritz

John (Pat) Harden

Practitioner Award

Raymond Santiago

Nancy Dussault

Stephanie Feagin

Frank Moneymaker

Kelly DeNeui

Larissa R. Seneres

Jeffrey Wapner

Robin A. Seabridge

Christine Cramer

John Gaffney

Fellow Award

Joseph Dumas

Dolores A. Perez

Executive Fellow Award

Russell J. Lee

Commander's Award

Jeanne M McDonnell

Mark A. Rose

Russell Alan Davidson

Lifetime Service Award

James A. Taylor 

Gerald G. Compton