OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso has accomplished a lot in her softball career, which spans over three decades. But there's one opportunity that Gasso had always hoped to achieve, which at times felt like a distant dream.
Becoming the head coach of the USA Softball National Team.
That dream has been officially accomplished for Gasso, who was introduced Tuesday as the next coach to lead the Olympic softball team.
For Gasso, it's almost surreal.
"This moment is truly special in my career. It feels like a dream come true to be appointed as the coach of Team USA," Gasso said. "There's a lot of responsibility to that, and I honor all the coaches in the past and watched their work from afar. To be handed the baton means a lot to me. Being chosen for this role is the highest honor a coach could ever receive, and I am both humbled and grateful for the confidence USA Softball has in me."
Gasso will serve as the head coach of USA Softball through the 2028 Olympics, with most events taking place in Los Angeles. However, it has been proposed for the Olympic softball games to be held in Oklahoma City, which could become official in the coming weeks pending a vote by Los Angeles' city council.
If the softball portion moves to Oklahoma City, that would make the state a significant hub for the Olympic games. In addition to games being held at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, the Sooners' softball stadium, Love's Field, could also serve as a training facility for Olympic softball athletes.
That makes dream-come-true opportunity even more special for Gasso, who has been the head coach of the Sooners for over 30 years.
"I'm so excited for Oklahoma City," Gasso said. "Is it ever going to come back here again? I don't know. This, to me, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that can change the city, that can change the state. I'm so excited for that."
This chance to serve as the head coach of the Olympic team is an opportunity that Gasso wasn't sure was ever going to come. Gasso has stockpiled an impressive resume at Oklahoma, winning the last four national championships and eight overall. The California native has been involved with the national team since 2018, coaching the U.S. Women’s Elite Team during the World Cup of Softball. But as Gasso focused on her family and her career at Oklahoma, the opportunity to be the head coach for the Olympic team seemed out of reach.
But Gasso, 62, sensed this could be the right timing and the right opportunity to make the leap. And when USA Softball CEO Craig Cress and the search committee interviewed Gasso, they believed the timing was right, too.
"I've been kind of in and out of the Olympic process, and I've gone to some training camps," Gasso said. "But I had kids that were young at that time, and I felt like it was a really hard thing to leave them... But now they're grown, and I've got grand kids, it's time. It's in Oklahoma City. But thankfully... the committee wanted to reach out and talk with me, and I think everyone is seeing the constant winning that's happening at a high level in Oklahoma. I guess it made sense to them to reach out to me, so we had some long conversations that really made sense.
While Gasso has built an impressive resume at Oklahoma, things will be a little different in the Olympics. Gasso will be responsible for selecting a 15-player roster from a pool that includes world-class players and veterans who have accomplished a lot in the sport, and the build up to the games in 2028 will include a lot of training, development and responsibility for Gasso in her first time as the head coach.
But Gasso is confident that her time with the Sooners can translate to the Olympics, and it's an opportunity she's worked for her whole life.
"My goal is to make Team USA the best it can be during my tenure, and I firmly believe that we will put in – I don’t firmly believe, I know we will put in the hard work necessary to earn a gold medal in L.A. 28 and that has been the goal for since the Olympics has been a part of softball.
"... This is going to be a first-class event all the way around it is going to change the city and hopefully change the state, and ultimately change the way USA is looked at in softball."
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