Stephanie Pratt | Fastpitch Softball, Pickleball
I've played fastpitch softball since the 1980s. My parents told me I started at age 4. Other than the 2 years where leagues were shut down due to Covid, I have not missed a year since, which puts the 2025 season as my 39th year of playing!
I play pickleball year round, have been playing since 2017, minus 2020 when our league was paused due to Covid 19. I first tried the sport in high school gym class over 25 years ago, and my current doubles teammate is the person I played with back then too!
What do you love most about being involved in sports as an adult?
I do this for me - it is just as much of my identity as anything else, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's one of my happy places.
There's community there no matter what sport it is, no matter who the people are. Acceptance comes easy.
I have developed a deeper admiration for anyone who plays the sports that I do, at any level.
If I'm being honest - women belong in sports, and I am proud to be an adult who plays them! I know it's not for everyone, but I feel like I need to represent women and femmes in sport, and I want to keep doing so for as long as I can.
Why do you think it's important for women to play sports in adulthood?
In a world where we are expected to fill roles for others, such as mother/daughter/spouse/friend, sports can be a place where we can be ourselves, where the only requirement is to show up. We can do our best to build our skills so that we can be a better teammate, but we don't have to. This is a place where we can simply play. There's no one else you need to show up for, and that is very freeing in a world where women are expected to be something just about all the time.
Women/femme/2spirit leagues are needed more than ever. You see a lot of terrible opinions online against women being treated equally, and I truly feel that the more we normalize women in sports at an amateur level, the easier it will be to normalize professional women's sports.
What would you say is the biggest benefit sport gives you?
Being an athlete is such a good metaphor for dealing with life. There will be moments of pain, stress, and negativity, but there will also be equal moments of euphoria, victory, and being a part of something bigger than yourself. Emotions will run high, it goes by way too fast, so enjoy every minute.
Ed Sheeran wrote a song for the finale of Ted Lasso that includes the lyrics: "Out of the embers, we'll rise from the ashes / And write in the stars with our names / That we are here, we are bruised, we are damaged / But the joy was worth the pain / Love's a beautiful game."
I think that sums it up perfectly - life, and sport aren't all that different, and they can be so beautiful, even when it doesn't go right.
Sports gave me closeness with my dad that I don't think I would have developed otherwise. He was a true sports parent, making sure I had all the equipment, registrations, skills building courses, and did all the driving. He and I will send each other messages on game day, and I am so proud to say that he still comes out and watches me play, and I'm in my 40s. I know that is a gift that won't last forever, and it truly warms my heart to have these moments with him. It's made me who I am as a parent as well, that unconditional love and support of what your child does gives them a confidence in themselves and the world around them. I learned that from my dad, and although neither of my kids are big into sports (Yet, one of them is still quite young), I love seeing them learn new skills and be happy with what they choose to do.
What's the best advice you have for other women who want to play sports?
Start somewhere and go. Don't worry about your experience level, your skills, or your awkwardness. Everyone else has been in the same place, many currently are.
If you want to join a sport but don't know where to find people to play with, make noise! Ask friends to ask around, post on social media, even send emails to leagues similar to yours. My fastpitch league has an intake form online for single players needing a team, and we get more and more people every year! (Shameless plug for the Sherwood Park Ladies Fastball Association, you can find us on Facebook!)