Intro

Beydoun: 00:00-00:29 

Welcome to the Chomp Pod. My name is Gibran Beydoun. I am the sports editor for Golden Gate Xpress. Today, I’m joined here by softball head coach Alicia Reid. Today, we’ll be going over several topics, including her early beginnings in the sport of softball, her experience as a coach (and education related to it), even what she’s gained from coaches that she’s been working with and working under and maybe stuff related to this season. So, let’s get started.

Interview

Beydoun: 00:29-00:35

In your early beginnings in the sport, how would you say it all began with the sport of softball? So take it away.

Reid: 00:36-01:25

Yeah, gosh. So the sport of softball, I definitely, early on, was a multi-sport athlete. Really loved basketball, softball. Later on, in high school, got into golf and loved football as well. But in terms of the sport of softball, I started playing competitively at the age of 9 for some travel teams. So we would travel all over California, down to Southern California, even out of state, for some tournaments and national tournaments. So that started at 9, continued that every — year-round through summer and fall seasons all the way through high school at 18, and then moved on to the college realm. So, very, very athletic, upbringing in different sports for sure. But softball, competitively, started at 9. 

Beydoun: 01:26-01:36

After that competitive tournament, afterwards, go into maybe where you played in school and like the turn was like leading up to college. 

Reid: 01:36:06-02:10:10

So like you said, travel ball is year-round. Your summer league essentially starts after the high school season, so in May. Tournaments every weekend, varying from out-of-state, in-state, Southern California to some local ones, through nationals being in August. So, every weekend going somewhere. A lot of the places I’ve gotten to see is from softball, across the U.S. and then, you get into a fall season where you have a little bit of a break there with school starting up.

02:11-03:00

I was playing sports in high school. So I had golf during the same time as our fall travel softball season. So you had sometimes some practices for softball during the week on top of high school, very busy schedule, and then the tournaments on the weekends. So that would be typically from September, October, November is that travel softball season in the fall. Kicking into high school season for softball would begin — well, I was playing basketball, so you have to, as soon as basketball season ended, probably in the middle of February, I would say you jump into that high school season, you know, practicing everyday, games during the week to May. And then, like I said, now that’s your summer season of travel ball.

03:00-03:11

So, a lot of games are played over the course of a year. A lot of practices, for sure, but it was a very enjoyable experience with the people I was with. And you definitely have to love it and enjoy what you’re doing, invest so much time into it.

Beydoun: 03:15-03:23

And then, just because I went through your bio and everything. During your collegiate experience as an athlete, did you start at Stanislaus State at first?

Reid: 03:23-03:30

I did. Yeah, I did. So, as I mentioned, multi-sport athlete, loved basketball just as much as I loved softball, to be honest. 

Beydoun: 03:30-03:35

Yeah. You were — I read that you played basketball as well, during your freshman year at Stan State.

Reid: 03:35-04:18

Yeah, a little fun fact there. Not a lot of my own athletes sometimes don’t always know that, but the returners like to throw that out there to them is, yeah, I actually played college basketball my freshman year at Stanislaus State. I knew a lot of the softball players on Stanislaus State. Of course, from being athletes in the same realm, but also growing up locally, there’s a handful of athletes on that team that I played with. Actually, one of them was a shortstop my first year playing travel ball at 9. Like I mentioned, she was on that team as well. I’ve known her and played softball with her from 9 and up. She was playing collegiately, the first baseman, pitcher at the time, an outfielder, another outfielder.

04:19-04:35

So a lot of those girls, we grew up in the Central Valley, not too far from Stanislaus, playing. So when I decided to no longer play basketball, I knew that I could compete, and it’d be a lot of fun playing with people I grew up playing with. So actually then switched over and did softball at Stanislaus State there.

Beydoun: 04:38-04:58

And then after Stanislaus State, you — let’s see. In the time between that and graduation at Humboldt and, just to make sure I got it right, did you… because I know, as an assistant coach, you also played under a coach I believe was a Hall of Famer here at San Francisco State. Was it basically you went to Stan State, then here, then Humboldt? Or how did that work?

Reid: 04:58:16-05:49

So my collegiate resume, if you will, was my freshman year of basketball at Stanislaus State. Then, the next two years I did softball at Stan State, transferred over to Humboldt and played, as you kind of mentioned, for Frank Cheek, who is a SF State Hall of Famer here on the wrestling end. So he was a wrestling coach here for many years, and a long-time coach, afterwards, at the wrestling program at Humboldt. And then they started a softball team and he also took that on as well. So, I was fortunate enough to play for him at Humboldt, and I kind of say things happen for a reason. It’s kind of nice to have that kind of go full circle where my first head coaching job was where he was a Hall of Famer at. So that was pretty cool for me, definitely.

Beydoun: 05:49:09-05:59

And I believe you also got all-CCAA as a senior in Humboldt and everything. So I was like, “Okay, she got an impressive resume as an athlete as well.”

Reid: 05:59-06:15

Yeah, I had a great time there at Humboldt. Finished off my career on a high note. Unfortunately as a team, we weren’t as in the top ranks, but really, really enjoyed my time at Humboldt and had a good senior year for sure.

Beydoun: 06:15-06:24

How would you say that experience — on the athletes’ end, not just coaching, even during your collegiate athletic career — how would you say that kind of helped you as an athlete and now as a coach?

Reid: 06:24-07:26

Yeah, I think I was very fortunate enough that I’ve been surrounded by some good coaches early on when I started playing at 9. My dad is actually — was a softball coach as well. Got started, coaching a handful of my teams early on. So, not only was I being mentored and taught by some good coaches, but the many drives home from practices or tournaments there, you know, we’re talking the sport, watching film or watching games on TV, professional athletes. Not just watching it, but being a student of the game and dissecting it. Although I was learning and improving my IQ as an athlete, it allowed me to also start putting things away in the coaching aspect early on. I think that allowed me to be a good leader and a good teammate, kind of having the knowledge more of just playing the game, but strategizing and kind of anticipating what might be called before it’s actually called.

07:26-08:13

So, learning a lot from my dad, definitely, and again, the many, many talks and conversations we had there, to the coaches I got to play for and coach with. As you mentioned, Frank Cheek, a Hall of Famer and very well-known in the softball world, in our conference and at the D2 level, a very successful career and teams who have won national championships. Getting to learn from him and be surrounded by him on a day-to-day basis as an athlete, but also the year that I got to coach with him, it definitely impacted me. And being able to have the IQ of how to manage a game. But also, there’s a lot off the field as well when it comes to coaching that I was able to take from them.

Beydoun: 08:13-08:24

Going into education, because I did see among the other degrees, you also got a master’s in kinesiology with an emphasis on teaching and coaching. Do you mind telling us about that and how that kind of helped you?

Reid: 08:24-09:10

Yeah. Continuing my education in getting a master’s degree was always kind of my plan. When I kind of decided that I felt coaching was the route I wanted to go, I knew a master’s degree would kind of broaden my horizons in terms of getting a research side and a research background, but also being able to have the potential to go in the JC route if that should be where I felt I needed to be. Some universities might require a master’s degree in order to be a head coach. And I knew that at the end of the day, that was my goal. I knew too that if I took a break from school, I felt as though I wouldn’t want to go back and get that master’s degree. So jumping right into that after graduation and allowing me to be an assistant at Humboldt, while doing so, was a great experience.

09:11-09:55

My thesis project was great in terms of getting to study on the educational side and viewing things from a research perspective. It was actually on softball — head coaching and the motivation behind how coaches can impact athletes’ motivation and performance at the end of the day. I also had a few classes where we were looking at teaching and pedagogy. And so, you know, to me, coaching is teaching, just your classroom is on the field. And so able to take some from that as well and incorporate how I think I could become the best coach that I could be at the end of the day and be me.

09:55-10:22

After completing my athletic career as a student-athlete at Humboldt, that’s when I jumped into a master’s program. They had asked me to be an assistant coach. For me, that was a no-brainer. I wanted to still be around the game of softball that I loved. And later on in my undergrad degree, I kind of realized my degree is actually in elementary education. I love teaching, but realized I didn’t necessarily want to be at the elementary school level.

10:22-11:14

So this allowed me to kind of see, okay, is coaching maybe a route that I want to pursue as well? I have the education piece and getting a credential that I could fall back on. But while I’m getting my master’s degree, is this a route I want to explore, too? So, very fortunate enough to be on that staff. And during my five years as an assistant there, a part of some very successful programs, we went to the national tournament three of the five years there, and after Coach Cheek retired, I became the first assistant, the main assistant there, and loved working under Shelly, who was a Humboldt alumni as well. So, I was fortunate enough that she gave me a lot of autonomy in terms of the recruiting aspect, building relationships and connections and helping our athletes on the hitting side and field side.

11:14-11:54

And really brought to the program something I feel very strongly about, which is aggressive base running. During that time, Humboldt was always kind of a powerhouse in the home run side and just not a team that really stole a lot of bases. However, when Shelly and I became a team, we definitely implemented that into our program. And so, fortunate enough to experience some, some great teams, some very, very good athletes there. And I think that really allowed me to transition into a head coaching role and feel better prepared from my experience at Humboldt and in those years of being with those teams.

Beydoun: 11:54-12:06

And then after that, you became a head coach for San Francisco State in 2017. What was happening behind the scenes that led to that decision? What were the factors considered? What kind of intrigued you about the opportunity here?

Reid: 12:06-13:05

Again, as I mentioned, one of the reasons why I got a master’s degree was because my end goal ended up being I wanted to be a head coach someday. I had applied while I was an assistant at Humboldt to a few different places, a few different head coaching opportunities, landed a few interviews. At that time, I mean, I was young still as I was applying for those head coach positions. So, it was really about finding an athletic director who was willing and open to kind of taking a chance on me. Sure, as an assistant, we had great success at the national level but do you want to give the keys to the car to someone who’s a little bit younger, right? And hasn’t been a head coach quite yet, whether that’s at the JC level, NAIA or D-III. I’ve always loved our conference in the CCAA. I think there’s a ton of great athletes and great softball being played every weekend. A lot of these athletes can go on and play the Division I level, to be honest.

13:06-14:45

And during my time as a coach at Humboldt, there used to be a tournament that had some D-I teams and D-II teams and that quickly stopped when some of the schools in our conference were beating some of the D-I teams. So, it’s very competitive. For me, I’m also close to family.

So, what intrigued me about the position here is it’s close to home. I think San Francisco’s a great area in terms of there’s a lot to do here. You can never be bored, as a student, but also for me. I love sports. I love live music and a really important factor, too, is I’m still close to my family. I have three younger sisters. I can go home on the weekend if we have a weekend off. Or for a night. If it’s someone’s birthday, it’s just an hour, 45 [minutes] away. And that’s really cool. 

14:00-14:38

It was definitely a challenge to do so at Humboldt, being six hours away and a little more secluded up there. So when this opportunity at San Francisco State arrived, I definitely jumped at that too. I thought, maybe one day I might come back to the conference. I might have to leave to then have an opportunity to come back. But to land a head coaching job in this conference at my first go, I was very fortunate enough. And like I said, it kind of felt full circle of being somewhere where there was still kind of a Humboldt tie with Frank Cheek having been a Hall of Famer here. So, for me, it was a no-brainer when I was offered that position.

Beydoun: 14:38-15:02

And then you said, it’s close to home. So, your family lives in the Central Valley, maybe? 

Reid: 14:41-14:42

Mhm.

Beydoun: 14:43-14:59

Yeah. Because even for me, I’m born in Modesto, grew up in Turlock. I would say for like 2 and a half years old to… Summer 2017 is when we moved to Tracy. So I read that “Okay, you play at Stan State.” Then I saw the [Pedretti Park] tournament. I’m like, “I know exactly where that is!”

Reid: 15:04-15:32

So I actually grew up in Oakdale. I went to Oakdale High School, so Oakdale, Modesto, Turlock, they’re all right there. Little neighbors. Obviously, Oakdale and Turlock are very different than San Francisco in terms of the population. I love the small-town feel and everyone knowing everyone, but there’s so much to do here and so much diversity here in the city that I feel I get the best of both worlds. I get that outdoorsy side of the city and the hikes and the beaches, but endless amounts of food and places to go. And yet, I can still see my family. I love being here.

Beydoun: 15:32-15:35

How did you feel about that first year and how was the experience for you as the head coach?

Reid: 15:35-16:27

Yeah, the first year, it’s a lot of prep work. And for me too, finding my voice of now I’m the head coach, right? So, it was a growing year, definitely for me. But at the same time, I think when you have an idea of your philosophy and your style of play and how you want to implement that, it’s trying to bring that strategy and that style of play to players who were already here, right? And I felt bad for those players. I think their senior year, they had — I think I was the third head coach in a four-year span. And that’s a lot of turnover, a lot of changing from year to year. A lot of that group really took what we were trying to teach and implement and had some of the best years of their careers individually.

16:28-16:45

I think in the end of that season, we were in a position going into the final weekend of conference, playing Chico, who was a top dog in the conference. Depending upon how that series went, we could have been right there in the conference tournament. So for year one, that was a huge stepping stone.

16:45-17:20

And I think we even took a larger jump that next year with the first recruit class that we had. It was great to see those athletes have some of their best individual years, which led to, you know, team success at the end of the day. Of course, each year when we play Humboldt, I want to see them do well as an alumni, but not when we play them. Of course, I want to go in there and get a sweep each year. So it’s always nice when we have success against Humboldt, of course. On a personal level, but I want to see them do well. Just never when we play them.

Beydoun: 17:21-17:26

How would you say this early, successful start could serve as a motivator for the team heading into the season?

Reid: 17:27-18:13

I think they have to get the right mindset of knowing who are some of the tougher teams that we were tested with earlier on and wanting to show up and make a statement. At the same time, still staying within the moment of where we’re at, that, you know, when we don’t show up and play good softball, that anyone can beat us. I would say that that’s the case for some of the losses that we have currently. Again, any time a team beats you, you tip your hat in and they just beat you, they won. They played better that day. But I think that in at least two of the games we lost, we kind of shot ourself in the foot and had some mistakes on our end that wasn’t typical of us in the other games where we came out ahead.

18:13-18:46

If we can look to this week to clean up a few of those things and be able to turn the page in. But we can’t go in with too big of a head because, any weekend, teams can knock you back down and give you that reality check that you need. We’re focusing on — it’s great to only have to prepare for one team now, whereas we had five scouting reports and film that we’re watching. Being able to take the time to focus on one opponent is really nice and kind of slow that process down for them, which, at the end of the day, will help us as well continue the success that we’re on.

Beydoun: 18:46-18:58

Especially with a little time in between, the doubleheaders, in between each game for doubleheaders, like you said from day to day, but what’s the preparation like in between those? How does that usually go?

Reid: 18:58-19-39

You’re doing a big chunk of that scouting report and preparing for each pitcher before you even leave. That’s where I say a big chunk of it is. And then, from game one to game two, you try to — because I can’t necessarily say who’s going to be pitching in terms for them until we get that lineup. So, you have kind of an idea based upon stats and innings. So you’re talking, “Okay, from game one, how did that pitcher attack us individually as a hitter, but as a group?” And is game two’s pitcher similar? Do they throw similar games, or someone’s best pitching game two a changeup when game one might be a rise ball, right?

19:39-20:27

So those intricacies might be a little bit different. But we’re not trying to drastically change someone’s swing from game one to game two. It’s minor talk, sometimes maybe just your mindset. Maybe a thing we stress a lot is being able to turn the page and forget about something if it didn’t go our way or went wrong for us. Because you can’t dwell too long on the past play, the past loss maybe, or even the past win that you just got in game one. Because, again, that team’s going to come out fighting, looking to split the day or split the series at the end of the day. You have kind of a short-term memory. You celebrate the win briefly, go grab a lunch real quick, snacks and fuel up. And then we’ve got to come back in and do the same job in game two.

Beydoun: 20:28-20:31

How are you feeling heading into the season — the regular season in the CCAA?

Reid: 20:39-21:25

Very excited, like you mentioned, our early success so far. There’s a lot of great things I’m seeing from our girls early on. In that same light, with the success we’ve had, we still know based upon watching film, there’s still a handful of things we would love to continue to be better at. So I think if we’re able to really focus on those things during the week and continue to have some of our incoming freshmen and new people to our system, kind of learn quick and on the fly and speed that process up for them, it’s going to put us in a great position. So really excited about the group that we have. We have a lot of leadership and seniority of people who have a lot of experience and have been in our program now, and started a lot of games as well, not just been here a long time, but have been starters. They sometimes already know what I’m about to call before I call it.

21:25-22:08

And so, as a coach, when I have that within our players of them seeing the game in the field the way I do and thinking that same way, you become a well-oiled machine. You really then allow those players on the field to kind of be mini-coaches themselves and they can self-correct a lot of the times. They can really help guide the new people in our program who haven’t been here as long and are still learning the things we do. This is a really exciting group I think, and looking forward to conference play. They’re ready to make a statement. They feel the preseason ranking of finishing kind of middle of the pack of six.

22:08-22:53

They’re just solely basing that off last year. And each team is a new team. The new pieces we’ve added I think, combined with our returners, have so far done well for us and been a great success. What’s even kind of that cherry on top for us is the camaraderie and connection that this group has. They’re a lot of fun to be with, not only from the coaching side, but the amount of time they spend together off the field means a lot, and I think translates onto the field for this group. They have a lot of fun and really enjoying every moment right now. And so, excited for the conference, the leadership that we have, and to see what this group can do, definitely as a whole. It’s going to be fun.

Beydoun: 22:53-23:02

Do you feel kind of a sense of nostalgia in your coaching career, especially looking back on yourself and maybe seeing your collegiate self in your players or your coaching?

Reid: 23:03-23:28

As a coach and a prior collegiate athlete, you miss, of course, getting the opportunity to play and be out there. But for me, happy with that time as an athlete and very okay with closing that part of getting to play and be out there. Now, I still have that same competitive, fiery energy, just as a coach.

23:28-24:03

And I love seeing the players’ success. When we’ve been working on something or a player has been struggling, whether it’s offensively or defensively or something we’ve been talking a lot about in film. And when that light bulb goes off and they make that great play or they make the play that we’ve been talking about and practicing — you ask our team and you’ll see me on the field, I’m just as fired up as they are. And sometimes they give me a hard time and joke around. And when we were watching film, they’d point out me coming up off the bucket or out of the dugout pumping my fists and getting excited for them.

24:03-24:29

But, I tell them, you have to enjoy the moment. And if you don’t enjoy your teammates’ success, and for me as a coach, those players’ success, why are you out here? Right? Why are you playing the game? So, I’m very okay with being in the coaching role and seeing them grow and succeed on the field and just being able to help them along in their own journey and be a part of that process.

24:29-25:01

For me, of course, we’re very competitive. We want to win ball games and we want to have great success. But I love being able to be a part of that journey for more than just the four years, seeing them and prepare them for the real world, and their job and profession, whichever route they choose to go. And then the relationships that you see and the alumni coming back for our alumni day. Or checking in and getting those texts from alumni of how the game went, “I saw this, I saw so-and-so do this.” 

25:02-25:18

To me, sports are also very much about the relationships that you build and the connections that you build because there’s a lot of things going out in the real world and in life and in our day-to-day. So, to be able to be with a group and build that connection with the group, to me, that’s what’s really fun about my position as a coach.

Beydoun: 25:18-25:22

So, are there any final comments or final thoughts you’d like to share?

Reid: 25:22-25:57

Oh gosh. I don’t think I have anything to add, but definitely come on out and support Gator Athletics. Of course, we would love to see you at the softball field. Your athletes put in a lot of time and a lot of effort to go out there and be successful. We would love to see, you know, the students and faculty come on out and support us as well. It’s great to see a little student-athlete section. I mean, not student-athletes, like our student section cheering them on. It definitely can be an impact in the game and a turning point in changing that environment and whatnot. So yeah, come on out and support.

Beydoun: 25:57-25:59

Thank you so much.

Outro

Beydoun: 25:59-26:03

This has been Gibran Beydoun for the Golden Gate Xpress. Thank you for watching and listening.