OSU alumni Michele Smith, Gary Green and Robin found success on the softball and baseball fields at OSU before moving into professional sports. Besides their many Individual successes, all have played on diamonds of gold -- the Olympics, earning gold medals in their respective sports.

Michele Smith's continued success in softball stemmed from a strong family tradition and was tested through injury. Smith grew up playing softball but also enjoyed playing several other sports as well.

"I started playing softball when I was about 6 or 7 years old," says Smith. "My mom was one of my first coaches; I played with my sisters, and my dad played fast pitch softball for the company he worked for.

"I also played field hockey and basketball and was just a busy body, always playing some kind of sport -- always chasing a ball," says Smith.

Smith grew up in rural New Jersey, and says Stillwater's small-town atmosphere sealed the deal when considering OSU for college.

"I had quite a few offers for field hockey and basketball along with softball, but I was more talented playing softball," says Smith. "A lot of other schools I was considering were basically universities in the middle of a city, and I didn't really like that. I loved the small-town atmosphere of Stillwater."

Smith also enjoyed the opportunity to perfect her craft with OSU coaches Sandy Fischer and Margaret Rebenar, both former pitchers.

"I knew when I was being recruited by all the different colleges, one of the most important things for my development would be going to a college that had really good pitching coaches. I knew I was young in that area and would need a lot of help," says Smith. "With Sandy and Margaret's background and expertise in pitching it just seemed like a logical choice along with the fact that I just loved the university."

During the summer after her freshman year at OSU, Smith was involved in an accident, injuring her arm and jeopardizing her pitching career. She returned from summer break with her pitching arm in a full cast. When she began rehabilitation, she was pitching at three miles per hour. However, when softball season started her sophomore year, she was pitching three miles per hour faster than she had the prior season.

During her fifth year at OSU, Smith considered playing basketball but decided instead to prepare for medical school.

"I stayed in the health curriculum and then added classes in physics, biology and genetics rather than taking something like weight lifting," says Smith. "All of my courses were so hard, but I really did enjoy them."

To fulfill a requirement for acceptance to medical school, Smith took an internship through the University of Oregon at Sacred Heart General Hospital in Eugene, Ore.

"I finished all the prerequisites for medical school and also coached up there for three seasons, took my MCATs and was ready to go to medical school," she says.

While all this was taking place, Smith was a member of the U.S. National team. In the fall of 1992, she was recruited by three different Japanese teams to play professional softball.

"My big decision in the fall of '92 was whether I should go to medical school or go to Japan," says Smith. "I decided I would go to Japan for one year. Here we are 15 years later, and I'm still in Japan.

"I play on a Japanese pro-team that consists of mostly Japanese players but is allowed two foreigners," says Smith. "I'm one of the two foreigners allowed to play.

"There have been a couple of other U.S. players who have gone to Japan and tried to play, but it's hard. You're so far away from home and dealing with the language barrier. I really just fell into a great situation, and my team is very support."

When softball was added as a full-medal sport to the 1996 Olympics, Smith was able to play in both the Japan Pro league and represent the United States In the Olympics because she was not playing on the Japan National team.

She participated in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and says each had its own defining moments.

"The first Olympic softball game ever was July 21, 1996," says Smith, who pitched the game. "This was 10 years to the day from the accident that almost ended my career.

Four years later, her second Olympic challenged was just as exciting. "In 2000, we were the number-one ranked team going in the Olympics, and then we hit a really rough patch in the round-robin play and lost three games in a row.".

Close to elimination, the U.S. team came back to beat all three teams they had lost to and win the gold medal.

"To come back like that was really one of the most amazing things we have done in my career on the U.S. team," says Smith.

Smith attributes much of her success both in the Olympics and professionally to OSU's coaching and rehabilitation staff.

"I think I became one of the dominate players on the team at an early age, and I wasn't really prepared for that. Sandy and Margaret were good at saying that if I wanted to be one of the elite players on the team, I had to learn how to be a leader," says Smith. "Then I came back from that accident and the athletic training department was wonderful. They really helped prepare me to know more about my body, how it works and what kind of shape I needed to be in to succeed."

Smith was accepted into the Softball Hall of Fame in 2006, and feels that a large part of her success in the sport can be attributed to her time at OSU and the work ethic evoked by the college and the athletics department.

When Smith is not playing overseas, she is often traveling across the United States and much of the world, promoting the sport through clinics, speaking engagements and commentary. She is currently serving as the Worldwide Ambassador for Softball for the International Softball Federation, which is launching a campaign to return softball to the Olympics in 2016.

"I think because of my career as a commentator with ESPN and the public speaking I do, plus the fact I play overseas and have a very good relationship with the American players as well as the Japanese players and other international players, it was the logical choice," says Smith. "I'm kind of a spokesperson for the game at all levels. I decided I definitely wanted to help support the sport I love and educate the rest of the world. I'm constantly trying to educate the public about the game and get more and more girls interested in playing."

Smith recently returned to OSU to host a fastpitch clinic. The clinic provided motivation as well as instruction. Smith held the clinic in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day.