Softball’s Salling sailing into final days of stellar career, looks to take on Tokyo with no regrets
PoCo infielder, who’s prepping for the Summer Games, says ‘when all is said and done, I don’t want to have any questions in my mind if I could have done more’
Publishing date: Apr 22, 2021 • April 22, 2021
Jenn Salling, pictured at women’s world softball championships in 2016, says ‘it’s been a mission to be the most mentally and physically prepared that I can be for the last week of July.’ PHOTO BY NICK PROCAYLO /PNG files
Jenn Salling doesn’t have to look far for inspiration as she prepares for the Tokyo Olympics. Just a glance down at her glove will do.
Last Run is inscribed along the thumb of her Rawlings. It’s a mantra for Salling, the 33-year-old infielder from Port Coquitlam who’s in her final few months with the Canadian national women’s softball team.
She’s set to retire from the game after the Tokyo Olympics in July. Salling debuted with this country’s top squad in 2006.
“In 2017, I had a choice. I could have quit then and gotten into coaching or I could have signed on for a run at these Olympics,” Salling said earlier this week from Fort Myers, Fla., where she’s a part of the Team Canada training camp for Tokyo. “From 2017 until now, it’s been a mission to be the most mentally and physically prepared that I can be for the last week of July.
“This is the best shape that I’ve ever been in for my whole entire life. You can feel it in how you move and how you swing and all those other things. I’m happy with where I am at right now.
“My motivation is that I’m retired at the end of July. When all is said and done, I don’t want to have any questions in my mind if I could have done more.”
Salling says that the training is “like therapy for me right now.” She also says “I’m doing things better than I’ve ever done before.”
Salling has been a mainstay with the Canadian program since her opening games with them. She was their starting shortstop for much of her career. She’s playing a variety of spots defensively now, but she’s still usually hitting in the middle of their order.
She led the Olympic qualifying tournament in August 2019 at Softball City in runs batted in (11) and was fourth in runs (8) while hitting .421 (8-for-19) in seven games.
“The older you get, the smarter you get about your business and your approach,” Salling, a 5-foot-5 left-handed hitter, said. “I’ve completely immersed myself in my swing and hitting. I’ve read and watched everything I can find. I’ve evaluated myself as a hitter. I’ve looked at where my holes have been.
“I’m training with intention, trying to utilize each and every repetition. You see people in the cage who are just swinging to swing. They have no clue why or how or what. It’s just rep, rep, rep. If your throws and your swings and your movements in the weight room are all done with intention, that’s what helps you.”
Canadian head coach Mark Smith has 18 players in Fort Myers. His final roster will be 15. Salling is one of four holdovers with the squad from the last Olympics for softball, which came with Beijing 2008. The others are left-hander Lauren Bay Regula, right-hander Danielle Lawrie and catcher Kaleigh Rafter.
Softball, along with baseball, were in July 2005 voted out of the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing Games. Clear reasons were never given, although the Americans’ success in the two sports undoubtedly played a role.
With Tokyo, Olympic host organizing committees are now permitted to add sports that are popular in their region. Softball isn’t slated to be a part of Paris 2024 but there’s hope it will be included in Los Angeles 2028.
Salling has her sights set on being the head coach of the Canadian national program by then. Prior to this run at the Olympics, Salling has been an assistant at the University of Washington, the program where she and Lawrie won an NCAA title as players in 2009.
“That’s what I want to do. That’s my next journey,” said Salling. “It’s been a long haul since 2008. I think our sport died for awhile. I think the love and the passion for some people was lost.
“I think about it. What can I do as someone with experience? What can I do in our country to help keep the game going? I want to grow the game. I want to share my love for the sport and all that it’s done for me. I’m going to give back.”
Team Canada is slated to train in Florida until early May. Then it goes to Marion, Ill., in late May before returning to Florida in early July and then on to Tokyo.