{"id":8466,"date":"2015-11-23T04:30:23","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T10:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/?p=8466"},"modified":"2015-11-23T10:55:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T16:55:03","slug":"diabetes-cant-stop-nsr-softball-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/diabetes-cant-stop-nsr-softball-prospect\/","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes can’t stop NSR softball prospect as eighth grader commits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Audrey<\/a>
Audrey Greely was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You are\u00a0a college softball coach.\u00a0 One day a National Scouting Report email arrives.\u00a0 Good news, you think.\u00a0 As you peruse the prospects listed\u00a0on the screen, you decide to focus on\u00a0freshmen, Class of 2019.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

You will be replacing a first baseman in four years, so it’s time to start building your recruiting list\u00a0for that position.\u00a0 Then a particular prospect catches your eye.\u00a0 The good news just got better.<\/p>\n

Audrey Greely, a 5-foot-10, 140-pound, left-handed-hitting\u00a0first baseman, Class of 2019,\u00a0is on your screen.\u00a0 Good grades, too.\u00a0 You click on her NSR profile.<\/p>\n

That’s the way recruiting begins.\u00a0 College coaches first have to learn about you to recruit you, and Audrey will get a lot of looks from college coaches.\u00a0 Not just because of her size, grades and stats.\u00a0 When\u00a0they discover her story, they will be intrigued, impressed\u00a0and want to know more about this exceptional young woman.<\/p>\n

See, Audrey has Type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Hoy Cooke, NSR area director for Central Louisiana, first noticed Audrey at a softball tournament early this past summer.\u00a0 He followed her at subsequent events and continued to be impressed by her athleticism and on-the-field leadership.<\/p>\n

“She’s nearly 6 feet tall, so she stands out, but she hit the ball like a grown man,”\u00a0 Cooke explained.\u00a0 “I noticed, too, that she\u00a0wore a black belt with a pack around her waist.\u00a0 I didn’t know what it was at the time.\u00a0 Later I found out she wore it to regulate her diabetes.\u00a0 But you’d never know it to see her play.\u00a0 It doesn’t inhibit her one bit.”<\/p>\n

Audrey’s dad, Jim, is her travel team coach.\u00a0 He met Cooke at a tournament and followed up with a phone call asking Hoy to conduct a recruiting seminar for his team.\u00a0 Afterward, Greely asked Cooke to\u00a0interview his daughter.\u00a0\u00a0Hoy\u00a0jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

“Audrey is a special kid,”\u00a0Cooke said.\u00a0 “When I went to their home, her parents basically let her handle the whole interview.\u00a0 It was like speaking\u00a0to\u00a0an adult.\u00a0\u00a0I think it’s because she’s had to\u00a0take care of herself\u00a0and her diabetes, so that’s thrown a lot of responsibility on her at\u00a0a young age.\u00a0 Remember, she was only 13 when I interviewed and enrolled her.”<\/p>\n

But hold tight for a moment.\u00a0 Let’s go back to those college coaches that we said will be attracted to Audrey.\u00a0 Sorry to break the news, coaches, but you’re too late.<\/p>\n

Seems that Cooke\u00a0was not the only one to notice Audrey.\u00a0 During an unofficial visit this summer to Southeastern Louisiana University, coordinated by Cooke, the head softball coach offered Audrey a scholarship on the spot.\u00a0 With the full support of her parents, Audrey\u00a0accepted.<\/p>\n

\"Greely<\/a>
Greely will major in nursing at D-I Southeastern Louisiana.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“In today’s recruiting process, college coaches are recognizing prospects earlier than ever before that they believe will develop and fit their programs,” said Jim Greely, who played baseball at LSU and in the California Angels organization. He, along with Audrey’s mom, Julie, knew that making a decision so soon would cause a stir.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people asked how we could let our daughter commit as an eighth-grader,” he said. “Look, we have 12 players on our team.\u00a0 The group has won several World Series, so we knew that we had a special group of girls.\u00a0 We put them in the position to showcase their talent in the best tournaments we could enter.\u00a0 As a result, five have committed already.\u00a0 While others may look at it as far too early, we\u00a0don’t make\u00a0the recruiting rules.\u00a0 If one of our\u00a0players finds what she and her parents feel\u00a0is the right school and program for them, we encourage them to\u00a0do what they think is right for them.”<\/p>\n

Yet, Audrey’s health issue was definitely a\u00a0hurdle for her and her parents to get beyond.\u00a0\u00a0 When the subject comes up, they all say when\u00a0she was first diagnosed\u00a0nearly three years ago, it was a time none of the three will ever forget.<\/p>\n

“When Audrey was 11, she had a rash on her face which concerned us,” Jim Greely said. “Plus, she’d lost 10 pounds over a month’s time.\u00a0 We took her to the doctor and they did a finger prick to look at her blood.\u00a0 They found that her sugar level indicated that there was a problem.\u00a0 As it turned out, she had developed Type 1 diabetes.\u00a0 Her pancreas had shut down and wasn’t producing any insulin.<\/p>\n

“It was a shock, but from the start, Audrey has handled it with the maturity of an adult.\u00a0 Of course, my wife, Julie, and I help her with it, but for the most part Audrey manages it on her own.\u00a0\u00a0She was forced into a disciplined world.\u00a0 She has to be aware of her sugar level 24\/7 and she’s taken that on herself.”<\/p>\n

Added Julie Greely: “That day when the doctor told us that Audrey had Type 1, it rocked our world.\u00a0 We wondered what it would mean to her life?\u00a0 It was scary.\u00a0 But now it’s the new normal for us. I remember that in the doctor’s office Audrey jumped up in my lap and asked, ‘Am I going to be alright?’\u00a0 I told her everything would be fine, but truthfully I didn’t really know.”<\/p>\n

The doctors explained the situation\u00a0and immediately reassured Audrey and her parents that she would be OK and could lead a normal life.\u00a0 They also said the family\u00a0would be making some changes, but if Audrey closely followed their prescribed protocol, she would be fine.<\/p>\n

“Then Audrey turned to the doctor and said, ‘Can I still play sports and will I be able to have children?’ Julie Greely said.\u00a0 “It broke my heart, but it was an indicator that Audrey’s thinking goes deeper than most other kids her age.”\u00a0 The doctors told Audrey that she could lead a very normal life and that she could resume playing softball and her other favorite sport, volleyball.<\/p>\n

When Julie, Jim and Audrey found out that a lot of people live normal lives with Type 1 diabetes, they were relieved.\u00a0 In fact, one of Audrey’s volleyball coaches has Type 1.<\/p>\n

\"Greely<\/a>
Greely spends her off-seasons playing volleyball for Dutchtown High School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I had no idea that her club coach was dealing with Type 1, too,\u00a0until she raised her shirt one day and showed me her insulin pump,”\u00a0Julie Greely said.\u00a0 “It instantly gave\u00a0me a new perspective of the disease.\u00a0 Every time I see her, I know that Audrey will be OK.”<\/p>\n

Today, the whole family goes out of their way to help other families facing the same fearful diagnosis they encountered.\u00a0\u00a0When they hear that another local child has the disease, the Greelys volunteer to\u00a0counsel the child and\u00a0the parents, too.<\/p>\n

“We love to help other families through the initial difficulties associated with\u00a0Type 1,” Julie Greely said.\u00a0 “We can sit down with them and tell them Audrey’s story, how we feared\u00a0for her\u00a0future, but how we learned that life goes on with few interruptions.\u00a0 And Audrey is especially sensitive to those kids who are scared and confused once they know they have Type 1.\u00a0 It has become a real passion for all of us.”<\/p>\n

The impact on Audrey has been life-changing, her mother said.<\/p>\n

“Audrey has embraced her condition from the get-go,” Julie Greely said.\u00a0 “Trivial things like what her hair or shirt look like don’t bother her.\u00a0 She sees the larger picture.”<\/p>\n

Cooke is quite proud of Audrey.<\/p>\n

“One of the great things about Audrey is that she wants to use committing early as a platform to let other youngsters know that having diabetes should not keep\u00a0them from achieving\u00a0their life dreams,” he said.<\/p>\n

However, Audrey had her doubts at first.<\/p>\n

“When I found out that I had Type 1, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to play again,” Audrey said. “Then I found out that a girl I played against also had it.\u00a0 I had no idea.\u00a0 When we talked, I realized that nothing had changed for her, so why did it have to change for me?\u00a0 I want other kids with Type 1 to understand that they don’t have to change because they have this disease.\u00a0 They can do whatever they want to do.\u00a0 I’ve been to summer\u00a0diabetes camps and a lot of kids think they have to roll over to it.\u00a0 They can have a normal life. I’m proof of that and I want to reach as many kids as possible who have it to show them that they can do anything they want to do.”<\/p>\n

When it came to committing to Southeastern Louisiana, Audrey talked openly about her decision.<\/p>\n

“It felt right.\u00a0 It’s not too far from my home, about 45 minutes, and it has my major which will be nursing,”\u00a0 Audrey explained.\u00a0 “The coaches said that they will work with me to get in all my classes and labs and play softball.\u00a0 That’s very important to me.”<\/p>\n

It’s also important to her parents.<\/p>\n

“The head coach\u00a0at Southeastern is the type of person who will watch over Audrey and\u00a0keep her in the right direction, whether it is softball, scholastically or in terms of character building,” Jim Greely said. “See, for us and Audrey, college has always been about finding the right academic fit while allowing her to play softball.\u00a0 Southeastern and the coaching staff there give Audrey that kind of future.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You are\u00a0a college softball coach.\u00a0 One day a National Scouting Report email arrives.\u00a0 Good news, you think.\u00a0 As you peruse the prospects listed\u00a0on the screen, you decide to focus on\u00a0freshmen, Class of 2019. Why? You will be replacing a first baseman in four years, so it’s time to start building your recruiting list\u00a0for that position.\u00a0 … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[301,344,31,348,349,345,222,346,347],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8466"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8536,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8466\/revisions\/8536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}