Lindsey Bashor (far right, wearing white shirt) in the Croatia team huddle before their game against Italy this week. (Photo by Franco Bagattini)

ANOTHER OLYMPIAN GIVES BACK TO THE GAME
2011-08-05

Outfielder Lindsey Bashor made her mark on college softball at the University of Iowa and then Cal State Fullerton. It’s safe to assume that during those years, not to mention when she was captain of her high school team, she could never have imagined where she would go in the sport in the years to come.

To say ‘the road she would travel’ would be putting it mildly, since there would be thousands of air miles across a number of countries.

Thanks to her being the granddaughter of a native born Greek, Bashor – along with her sister Jessica – was able to play for the host country’s softball team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She played in all seven of the round robin games for the “Hellas” (see photo below) and would don the blue and white jersey again two years later at the International Softball Federation XI Women’s World Championship in China.

But before those high-profile events, it was her participation in a regional championship that has her in Italy this week, working with Croatia’s women’s national team.

It’s ironic in that she has come full circle.

In 2003 it was the European Championship – in Italy – that would set the stage for her role eight years later. On the field she was gaining attention with impressive statistics that included a .500 batting average, .606 on-base percentage, and six home runs. Off the field she was developing friendships with athletes from some of the other teams, including Tea Pejnović of Croatia.

The two of them stayed in touch over the years and, voila! Fast forward eight years and the invitation – at Tea’s urging – came from the Croatian Softball Association for Lindsey to come to their country to help the team train for the 2011 edition of the European Championship, at which the team has benefited from the Olympian’s experience.

“She really helped us with practices and with her positive energy,” Pejnović said today of Bashor. “My personal opinion is that she's the one who keeps us going through the games, in terms of cheering and getting us up when we're down. It was great experience having her as a coach at practices and also here at the tournament. She really helped us improve and showed us softball on a different level, better level.”

It has been quite a whirlwind three weeks for the 28-year old, who arrived in Croatia on July 15 from California. Once on the scene in Zagreb, she said she worked “closely with the coaches, providing support in all aspects, from base running, to fielding and hitting.”

Head Coach Robert Kovacevic described that time this way, “Our training camp started three weeks before the European championship. We had 16 girls at the camp and the decision was that all 16 of them would go to the championship. During the camp we worked hard and tried to practice as much as we could on our defense and offense. The girls gave their best during those three weeks.”

Following the 2006 world championship, Bashor played again in 2007 at the Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier, then retired from playing. She had been giving batting lessons consistently for the last two years. Now the Olympic legacy continues with her talents benefitting even more softballers as she continues to prove that the sport knows no boundaries.

Lindsey Bashor bats for Greece in their 2-0 victory over Canada on the second day of play during the 2004 Olympic softball competition in Athens.
(Photo by Franco Bagattini)