College Corner
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
During the NCAA Division I Softball season, USA Softball in conjunction with ESPN.com, distributes a weekly Top 25 poll. The poll is voted on by coaching representatives from 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions as well as members of National and Local media who consistently cover Division I softball across the country.
USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year
Each NCAA Softball season, USA Softball recognizes a Collegiate Player of the Year based on outstanding play over the course of the entire season. At the beginning of each season, USA Softball issues a Top 50 "Watch list" for Player of the Year. Midway through the season the voting panel narrows the list to the Top 25 Finalists. In the final week of the regular season, the list is reduced to the Top 10 Finalists. The week prior to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), the Top 3 Finalists are announced and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is awarded during a team reception the week of the WCWS.
USA Softball commissioned MTM Recognition, the nation’s leader in sports awards and recognition, to create their iconic Player of the Year award to become a symbol of Softball for years to come. Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist as a member of USA Softball, was chosen to be the subject of the one-of-a-kind, bronze award and she was instrumental in helping MTM’s sculptor Mario Grijalva with all the fine details of the piece.
Though the sculpture is frozen in time, the fluid motion of the wind up and the player’s determination shine through in this iconic bronze. USA Softball’s vision was to create a recognizable symbolic award for Softball incorporating the pitching circle, thus the circular base at the foot of the bronze.
Grijalva, a graduate of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma with hundreds of works of art to his credit, captured the fine detail of Lisa’s pitch through the month long process of sculpting the clay to ready for casting.
The black stained walnut base stands 5 ¼” tall and 11 ½” wide at front and is cut in the shape of a softball home plate. The bronze sculpture stands almost a foot tall atop this base to add to the rich texture of the overall look of the piece.
“MTM has been the official supplier of ASA, now USA Softball for over 27 years and we are very proud to create this iconic award for them,” said Charlie Stepp, MTM’s Relationship Manager for USA Softball.
MTM Recognition is the nation’s leading designer and manufacturer of symbolic awards for world-class events including NCAA Championships, NASCAR, Special Olympics, Bowls and Athletic Conferences and USA Softball to name a few. MTM creates and implements recognition solutions that celebrate achievement, reward performance, honor service, brand and reinforce company image.