Danyel Heppner has always been a standout multi-sport dynamo, but the athletic wonder has committed to softball and next season, she will be attending Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO.
Going back to the start, Heppner says it took some time to find softball as her sport. "I started with soccer at a very young age and it just wasn't my sport," she says with a chuckle. "I joined a little club team from Niverville when we freshly moved here. I moved to tee ball and I just really loved it. I found softball and as I grew up, we heard about the Eastman Wildcats organization, we went to tryouts and the rest is kind of history, it all just fit together."
Being athletically inclined, Heppner says it maybe wasn't the smoothest transition into the game of ball. "Oh, I'm sure I wasn't a natural," she says laughing. "I can probably guarantee that it took some time. Even when I made my first year of Wildcats, I think it was still about learning and a big commitment, so it took some time to acquire those skills."
Known as the ultimate competitor, Heppner says the mental side of the game of softball took some getting adjusted to. "For sure, softball is a huge mental game, especially when compared to lets say, hockey. In hockey, everything is quick, you're going shift after shift, and if you get something wrong, you can go back out a minute later and try and correct it. Softball is a slow paced, mental game. You go up to bat and you may only get four in one game, there's not a lot of opportunities to overcome problems. I can say for myself, I'm very hard on myself, I'd say it's one of my worser qualities, just because it's such a mental sport and you have to be straight with yourself. Moving on, you have to forget about the bad defensive play you made, you have to get on the sticks and make sure every half inning you're doing something better than you did the last."
Always pushing herself, always working hard and loving the game has brought Heppner to the point where she will be taking her future to the next level at Lincoln University. "It's really exciting. I think even thinking about college is a pretty scary thing when you're going through grade 10, 11 and 12. I think, I did decide to go the softball route and that is the right choice I made. I'm looking forward to growing at this school and I'm so excited to see where these next four years will bring me."
Heppner details the recruitment process and why Lincoln was the right choice for her. "The coach came to one of the tournaments I played in for Team Manitoba. He emailed me and we chatted, it's a solid 15 hour drive but we talked about going for a visit there. We drove down one weekend, I want to say in January, we went down and met the coach and met a bunch of the girls. Actually, a girl I play with, her sister goes there and I got a tour from her. She was amazing, she showed me around the whole place, around the housing and it all just felt like home. It felt like the right fit for me and it's where I want to spend the rest of my school career."
Telling her teammates about the news, Heppner says she was overwhelmed by the love and support they showed. "They were one of the first people I told, that group of girls, they were so excited. A few other softball girls have already committed and it was a real bonding moment. We get to talk about the housing and what we're going to do in school, I felt like it was all just so exciting and everyone was so supportive. It was a great experience."
It may not be like it was back in the old days where parents would need a travel atlas or a big map to plot out the route from place to place, but Heppner says her family is already plotting trips to watch her play. "They've looked into things and flights are pretty difficult to get apparently," she laughs. "I'm sure they will be coming down a few times."
With the commitment to Lincoln in her pocket, Heppner isn't taking this year for granted, she's viewing it as a launching pad opportunity. "I think this year is going to be a good show so I can see what that level will be like. Being with Team Manitoba, going to Canada Summer Games and Canada Cup, things like that, there will be older and stronger girls I'll be going up against. They'll be pitching and hitting and it'll show me how I need to grow. Hockey is done now, now my focus is just on ball. Team 'Toba is a really good start because you really have to focus. Every week, we have to show what we've done at home, we're practicing all the time and it's going to be a really good thing for me as I move forward."