Natasha Watley has won as a team member the gold medal for softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the silver for the Beijing Olympics for USA. She is two –time Pan American Gold Medalist (2003 & 2007), three-time World Champion (2002, 2006, 2010), and a four-time World Cup Champion (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) and has also won numerous other awards. She is the first African-American female to play on the USA Softball team in the Olympics.
She was born on 27th November 1981. She is an American, former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American, left-handed hitting softball player for the UCLA Bruins and USA Softball Women’s National Team originally from Irvine, California. She plays the position of shortstop and first base, and helped the Bruins win a national championship. She owns numerous records for the Bruins and is one of select players to bat at least .400 with 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases.
Watley played her first season professionally with the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut in the National Pro Fastpitch league in 2005. In her rookie season, Watley led the Nauts in batting with a .374 average and tallied 37 hits as the leadoff hitter to be named an NPF All-Star. In 2006, Watley played for the Philadelphia Force in limited action (30 at-bats) due to Team USA duities.
Today Watley plays for the USSSA Pride based out of Kissimmee, Florida. In the 2010 season, Watley received her second All-NPF Team honor and her team made it into the Cowles Cup Championship on August 29 vs. the Chicago Bandits. Watley hit a solo home run in a 3/4 performance against pitchers Kristina Thorson, Nikki Nemitz and Jessica Sallinger to win the title. For the 2011 season, she led the league in average at .459 and was able to get a rematch shot at defending her team’s title on August 24. The Pride lost but Watley had two hits and batted in two of three runs off ace Monica Abbott, pitching for the Bandits.
In 2012, Watley was second overall in batting average and had a rematch in the Cowles Cup Championship with the Chicago Bandits and Monica Abbott. They lost again on August 25 at a 2-1 score, but Watley managed a hit in the effort. For the 2013 season championship, Watley earned the Cowles Cup Championship and had a hit in the finale. Watley set a league record for hits in 2011 that still stands. She also holds the career batting crown for playing multiple season and ranks third in stolen bases.
The streak of three First Team All-American and All Pac-10 honors continued as the junior also broke the school record for hits in a season (112), which also led the NCAA Division I. Her triples and stolen bases were second best all-time, while her career-best .485 average ranked 4th (5th all-time) at UCLA. Notching her second-longest streak, Watley began a 29-consecutive-game hit streak on February 1 until March 9. Watley hit .543 (56/103) and had 24 RBIs, two home runs, three triples and 7 doubles. She also had a slugging percentage of .747% and overall her streak was 6th best for the NCAA.
Watley was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team, hitting over .450 for the Bruins. Again earning a place on the All-American team, she added the 2003 Pac-10 “Player of The Year” and the Honda Broderick Cup for “Best Collegiate Female Athlete” and “Best Collegiate Softball Player.” Watley ranked top-10 in school season categories of batting average, hits, on-base percentage and stolen bases.
From January 31 to February 31, she had her third-longest hit streak at 19 consecutive games. She hit .500 (30/60) with 21 RBIs, two home runs, a triple and 4 doubles. On April 30, Watley batted in a career-high 5 RBIs on two home runs to defeat the Washington Huskies. At the year’s WCWS, Watley was again named to the All-Tournament Team, batting over .400 with 3 RBIs and slugging over .550%. The Bruins made it into their third finale with Watley and claimed the no-hit win over Kelly Anderson and the California Golden Bears on May 26. Watley went 2/5 with a triple.
In her four years as a starter for the Bruins, she finished tops in career hits, triples, runs and stolen bases. She ranked second in career batting average (.450) and top-10 in doubles, slugging and on-base percentages. Watley holds the single-season record for hits (112) and is currently ranked fourth in Pac-10 history. Watley is listed seventh on the all-time NCAA record books with 115 hits in a single season. She was also the first UCLA Bruin to have two 100+ hit seasons.
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Natasha Watley in conversation with Namita Nayyar President Women Fitness.
Ms Namita:
You have selected a sport which is a team sport and requires a lot of cohesiveness and rhythm between the players to finally succeed, how do you achieve that?
Ms Natasha:
The term “Teamwork makes the dreamwork” is so true. Teamwork truly means each individual doing what they need to do to take care of their role in the team. So I personally, make sure that I make sure I’m where I need to be mentally, physically & emotionally the time season rolls around. Being where you need to be individually in those categories breeds trust to & from teammates. So it’s always important that individually I’m bringing something to the table to contribute to my team!
Ms Namita:
What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine you shall like to share?
Ms Natasha:
I really into doing lifting/Olympic lifts. My favorite lift is power cleans because it’s a full body exercise. Lately I have been doing Yoga, so I have been integrating that into my lifting schedule.
Ms Namita:
Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit?
Ms Natasha:
To be quite honest I don’t really diet, but I will say that I’m not really a junk food eater and I’m big on proportions. I don’t over do any meal, I eat very slow which gets me full quicker, so I never over eat. I LOVE fish & vegetables. I could eat a fish & vegetable every day!
Ms Namita:
Advice and motivational words to our inspiring and budding women softball playing girls, who all are your fans, what they should do for their climb to ladder of success in the field of women softball ?
Ms Natasha:
I always say as long your keeping the game fun, working your tail off everyday to be better than the day before and being patient with your rate of success I think good things will come.
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Ms Namita:
How did you feel before and after your memorable win of gold medal for softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens?
Ms Natasha:
Before the Olympics, I obviously was excited that I would have the chance to compete for a Gold Medal and fulfill my dreams but I honestly thought that I was going to be done with my softball career after 2004. After winning Gold, it was the best moment of my life and a moment that I wanted to duplicate over and over again…hence why I’m still playing to this day. Although these days I’m not competeting for gold, I love to compete in general.
Ms Namita:
It is known that you had fought back in matches with sheer determination against all odds and returned to win. How you were able to overcome mental block when you are trailing and then reversed the final outcome of the match in your favor and what advice you wish to give to the fellow sports person in a similar situation?
Ms Natasha:
As simple as Never give up! It’s hard to beat someone that never gives up.
Ms Namita:
You have taken Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, minor in Afro-American studies and Masters in Business. Are you doing activities in the area of your studies ?
Ms Natasha:
Only really using my Masters in Business to run my non profit “The Natasha Watley Foundation” (NWF) which is the newest expansion; which is a public, non profit, national community service organization.
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Ms Namita:
You have established ‘Natasha Watley Foundation’. Tells us about its activities and future vision?
Ms Natasha:
I started my non-profit to provide softball playing opportunities in underserved communities. Typically, softball is a an expensive sport because so much equipment is required to play. So it tends not to be a popular sport in those communities. I wanted to not only provide the equipment for the girls to play, I also wanted to teach them a great sport that I think if they were introduced to and had the opportunity that they would fall in love and possibly find a diamond in the rough!
Ms Namita:
You have done bold photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine “Body Issue”. What advice you wish to give to your compatriot sportsperson to be body confident in order to do such bold photo shoots ?
Ms Natasha:
As female athletes I think we can tend to be insecure about our muscles instead of embracing them. I’m definitely guilty of this, hence why I did the photo shoot to not only embrace my muscles but to celebrate them and show girls that it possible to not only be athletic but we can still be feminine as a female athlete. Muscles are are OK!!!
Ms Namita:
What you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for its visitors?
Ms Natasha:
I think it’s great that there is a place where women can go and learn all things fitness & health targeted for Women only! My message is just to encourage all women not matter their passion to take care of their health. Being physically fit & exercising is one thing that we can control in our lives.
Women Fitness Team thanks Natasha Watley for giving her valuable time for this interview and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her.
To know more about Natasha Watley visit her website at http://natashawatley.com
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All content on this site is copyright of Women Finess and no part of any article found on this site may be reproduced without an express permission and highlighted, do follow link crediting http://www.womenfitness.net/ or preferably the original page as the source. This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.