64 Spring 2020
and only the third player to be recognized as a two-time Academic All-American Team Member of the Year award winner since its inception, just to name a few. Yet, the foundation for this arsenal of accomplishments was laid long before her nights in Rhoads Stadium. McCleney is a native of Morris, Alabama, a town with a population of just 2,000, meaning that her alma mater’s home stadium has more seats than her hometown has people. As a selfproclaimed “old soul,” she enjoys retro tunes and slow mornings. She said her mom claims that raising her was like raising a 35-year-old woman. Growing up with two younger brothers meant that she spent her childhood afternoons romping around the neighborhood with their friends. The competitive spirit and grit that she attributes to much of her success was acquired through wiffle ball tournaments and backyard basketball. She quickly learned how to hold her own as the posse’s leading lady. “I refuse to be denied,” McCleney said. As a “traditional ballpark family,” McCleney jokingly explained that there was no such thing as a civil game night in her household. The desire to win was in her blood. With her father being a former baseball player at Samford University and her brothers playing sports as well, any organized form of competition was quite simply a recipe for disaster. Walker McCleney, the oldest of her brothers, is a senior at The University of Alabama and plays in the outfield for the baseball team. He believes this level of rivalry defined the close relationship the McCleney siblings have. Despite their competitive nature, they are each other’s biggest fans. Reflecting on their younger years, he said: “Even though ‘she was a girl,’ I never took it easy on her, and she definitely didn’t take it easy on me,” he said. “She pushes me to be better, and I believe I push her to be better; but in all that competition against each other, we still want to see each other succeed, and I’m beyond proud of what Haylie has done.” Her youngest brother, Garrison, agreed. “The way that she carries herself on and off the field is amazing,” he said. “I truly look up to her and how she handles herself when things don’t go her way.” As a collegiate athlete, McCleney spent her fall and spring semesters devoted to The University of Alabama. Yet summertime introduced the opportunity to play in the international league. From her sophomore year onward, McCleney represented the U.S. on the WNT. She said this transition required her to redefine what it meant to perform to a standard of excellence. She equated it to moving from the minor leagues to the major leagues in professional baseball. “I quickly realized that even though international [soft]ball wasn’t as heavily covered by the media, it was an entirely different level,” McCleney said, comparing her international and collegiate experiences. “I went from playing against 18 to 22 year-olds to playing against 28 to 35 year-olds at the drop of a hat,” she said. While the physical aspects between the two divisions were comparable, it was the mental shift that proved to be the greatest challenge. McCleney said she became more in-tune to the “intricacies” of softball, forcing her to engage in a higher level of thinking about the game. The process, though grueling, proved to be worthwhile. The national team won world championships in 2016 and then again in Japan in 2018. With softball’s Olympic presence being historically limited, McCleney had assumed that playing in college and making the national team would be the pinnacle of her softball experience; but on the morning of October 6, 2019, she found herself posted up in front of her laptop waiting on the official USA Softball Olympic Roster to drop into her inbox. Jittery with anticipation and excessive coffee consumption, she facetimed her now fiancée and reluctantly opened the email. It was official. McCleney would be returning to Japan, this time as an Olympian. After a call to her parents, who had to sneak out of their Sunday school class to hear the news, McCleney attended her first team meeting and embarked on the training regimen that would pave the road to the six games the team would play in Tokyo 2020. Being recruited to the Olympic team required yet another mentality shift. Softball was not just a past-time or a passion anymore. It was her job. McCleney said the key differentiator between an athlete and an Olympian was his or her priorities. Her decisions now mattered on a global scale. An ocean away, there were athletes working just as diligently as she was. This means that she often has to sacrifice leisure for the sake of self-improvement. Saying “yes” to a night out with friends is, in-turn, saying “no” to getting more time in the batting cages. “My priority right now is Tokyo,” McCleney said. “You kind of have to sacrifice some of those things if you really want to be the best, because I’m not the only one doing it. My teammates aren’t the only ones doing it. Canada’s doing it. Japan’s doing it. Australia’s doing it. Mexico’s doing it. Italy’s doing it …” “You’ve got to find that edge and really have to look in the mirror every single day and [ask yourself], ‘Did I do something to help get that gold medal around my neck?’ And if I didn’t, that’s a problem.” As July approaches, the uncertainty of softball’s Olympic future spurs her onward. However, it is her faith, the “gentle guidance and gentle correction” from the people in her corner and intentional moments of silence and solitude that keep her centered. Apart from the members of her family, McCleney said that University of Alabama Head Softball Coach Patrick Murphy has been the most influential person in her life. She said the entire program staff were instrumental in coaching her into being not only a better athlete, but a better woman. “They go above and beyond for the person that you are, not the player that you are,” McCleney said. She said that the greatest lesson she learned during her time Spring 2020 65
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