Talent is not the question, but rather it is believing in herself.
That is the assessment of Dave Burns, the head coach of the Surrey Storm U18 Gold girls softball team, in describing his shortstop Alisha Welch.
鈥淪he is a pretty talented kid,鈥� Burns said.
鈥淪he works hard, has lots of desire and wants to be successful,鈥� he said.
鈥淗er biggest problem is probably not believing in herself.
鈥�(Alisha) is one of those typical high-achieving kids: they always think they are failing (but) they are getting high scores in school and in their SATs and they think they can do better all the time.鈥�
And there is no denying Welch 鈥� who doesn鈥檛 turn 17 until August 鈥� has accomplished a lot, both in the classroom and on the ball diamond.
She is set to graduate from Walnut Grove Secondary next month 鈥� a full year ahead of schedule by virtue of her skipping the sixth grade 鈥� and next year, she will be a 17-year-old freshman playing Division 1 softball for the UMass Lowell River Hawks.
The River Hawks are also making jump from Division 2 to Division 1.
Welch signed her national letter of intent in November, after visiting the school the month before.
She chose the school more for their engineering program 鈥� she also earned an academic scholarship 鈥� and said it was nice to have the decision out of the way so she could concentrate on her final year of high school.
鈥淲e are certainly excited to get her,鈥� said UMass Lowell coach Sean Cotter.
鈥淪he is a five-tool player and gets it done in the classroom.鈥�
Welch came to the school鈥檚 attention after they saw a video of her and brought her in for an official visit.
鈥淪he fits in well with our kids and we certainly liked her competitiveness,鈥� Cotter said.
鈥淪he is a pretty good athlete and we wanted that as we make the jump to Division 1.鈥�
And for her part, Welch just loves being on the ball diamond.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 really imagine my life without (the game),鈥� she said.
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 play, it would be weird.鈥�
Welch has been playing the game since she was about eight years old, and gave up soccer and swimming a few years back to concentrate solely on softball.
And that decision has paid off.
In addition to earning the athletic scholarship to UMass Lowell 鈥� she will also attend on an academic scholarship and plans on studying engineering 鈥� Welch is among the 40 invitees to a Canadian junior women鈥檚 national team evaluation camp.
The camp gets underway today (Thursday) and runs through the weekend in Cloverdale. From that pool, 17 players will be selected to represent Canada this summer at the junior world championships in Brampton, Ont.
鈥淒efinitely nervous,鈥� Welch admitted, adding she has never taken part in such a big tryout before.
Welch will be among the youngest invitees 鈥� 鈥� as it is open for players born in 1994 and later.
Burns has coached Welch for two seasons now and last year, she was named an all-star at the U18 national championships after helping the Storm to a second-place finish.
What made her all-star selection even more impressive, was it was Welch鈥檚 first year at the position. She has previously played second base and pitcher.
鈥淪he has a great set of hands and was an easy choice to be shortstop,鈥� Burns said.
With her schooling decision out of the way, Welch is focused on helping the Storm return to nationals and improve on last year鈥檚 second-place finish. After that, she will turn her attention to moving away from home and transitioning to university life and earning her playing time with the River Hawks.
鈥淥ur hope is she is going to come in and push for a job in our middle infield,鈥� Cotter said.
