Interview with softball player Rylie Spell
Rylie has proved that it is possible to play sports in college, get awards for being so good at said sport, and then go into Physician Assistant school. I couldn’t wait to interview her because she went through so much in college and she is now living her dream of going to PA school. I am so proud of her and I am excited to share our conversation.
Rylie is from Texas and lives there currently. She was a catcher for the University of Tulsa Softball team. She was the Defensive Player of the Year for the American Athletic Conference in 2018. See her athletic accomplishments here. She has a dog named Dolce and is engaged to Colton. She has a business selling leather goods called the Lucky Charm Leather Company. Rylie and I have matching four leaf clover tattoos. She is now in school to become a physician assistant.
Me and Rylie after an inning!
Q: When did you start playing sports? And when did you start competitive?
A: I started t-ball when I was 4. I was the only girl on the team. I did 2 years of that. After that I joined the little league in Jasper, Texas. The 10 and under select team needed a player because a girl moved and I was 7 playing then. I was always playing up in level. I started playing on Houston select teams when I was 8. It was 3 hours one way to practice.
Q: What other sports did you play?
A: I dabbled in other things but I was never good at other sports. I did dance classes. I did cheerleading for a little bit.
Q: Do you feel like you would have done a different degree if you weren’t a student-athlete?
A: I had a Bachelor degree in Exercise and Sport Science with a Pre-Med Emphasis and a Minor in Psychology. I made that degree plan with my advisor for pre-PA’s. Maybe if I didn’t play sports it would have taken me longer to find the passion for medicine. I thought I wanted to be a coach but I fell in love with anatomy my very first semester of college. I had no idea I wanted to do medicine until I went to college.
Q: How did playing competitive softball shape who you are today?
A: I think playing competitive softball taught me how to be resilient. You’re always going to get knocked down, but it’s how you get back up. Softball taught me respect. How to work hard for things that I want. How to be a good leader. All those things that make you a good employee as you get older.
Q: How did you get through all of your toughest times during college?
A: The teammates I had in college would be so quick to pick you up when you were down. I had a great support system with coaches and advisors. They all never let you get too far down before picking you up. I had great social support with teammates and coaches. There could be so many things you went through and they would help you through it however they could.
I had surgery in my right elbow during my college softball career. Sophomore year of college I was having lots of pain and my hand was going numb after that I caught almost every game. I was throwing down to second base all the time. Apparently Junior year everyone wanted to steal on me. It got so bad I didn’t want to throw down as a warm up. My arm would be on fire. I had Ulnar Nerve Transposition surgery, as well as carpel tunnel in throwing arm. I got surgery the July after Junior season. That was after I got the school record with throw outs at second.
They told me it was 6 months of surgery for recovery. The coaches wanted me to redshirt. I was trying to graduate on time and if I redshirted I would have to delay my degree and I didn’t want to do that. I was determined to recover to play. I was in the athletic training room doing physical therapy every day. I took slow and steady steps, starting with foam ball throws, then throwing against a trampoline, and that was when a couple months after surgery I couldn’t straighten out my arm. Finally I was throwing a softball again in October after surgery. Around 3 months after surgery I was playing in scrimmages. It was supposed to be a 6 month recovery time and I was done in 3 months.
I was going through things personally and I got sick during my softball career. I was still able to show up. For me, it was about being a part of a team even if you’re not your best. If you’re a part of a team, need to give your best efforts because that’s what your teammates and coaches are giving to you. Even if it’s embarrassing, it carries on to your colleagues in your future. Showing up and doing your best even if you can’t do everything you can usually do. In workouts and when I couldn’t participate in practice but I was showing up and showing teammates I’m doing the best I can. I have always strived to be a person people can trust. They know I can do my best and they know what that looks like.
Q: How did you cope with the end of your playing career?
A: I was really intimidated by the end of my playing career. I knew I couldn’t play anymore because my body couldn’t do it. It was devastating because it was my childhood dream to play after college but after senior year I couldn’t. I needed something else to have on my mind to focus on. When I didn’t get into PA school the first time I thought “what am I going to do?”. I had no PA school and no softball. I needed to figure out who I am without something identifying me as an athlete or a student.
It was a fun process to figure out who I was without softball. I created a business with leather goods, found a love for live music, met my fiancee, and got to do things I never was able do before that I was always interested in. There was a lot of trial and error. There were things that I would see my friends do, and I’d think maybe I’ll like that. I’ll try it and figure out maybe it’s not for me.
I wanted to find out what I’m good at beside softball. I never thought of myself in that sense before. After I wasn’t a softball player I got to see that I like to go to farmers markets, love to cook, grocery shop, read, make things, listen to every band. It was a fun process but I was intimidated by it before I got to that point.
Q: Did you consider being a full time coach?
A: That was my dream before it became being a Physician Assistant. When I was 7 years old I remember vividly my dream was to play softball until I couldn’t anymore and then I’ll coach. If I’m chasing something I’m passionate about, I’ll always be happy. I knew there’s not money in coaching.
I’ve always been very smart but that was my goal, to be a coach. I got my degree in exercise sport science because I thought it would help my athletes as a coach. However, I figured out I might be into something else. Through thinking I was going to be a coach, I got to shift my gears to be a PA.
Q: In what ways did you believe in yourself that you could do PA school right after playing college softball? That is an inspiring task to do.
A: Once I set my mind on something, I do it no matter what. I was going through options and I made up my mind on PA early on. I don’t change my mind easily. I wanted to do four years playing softball straight into PA school. When I first applied to PA school Junior year, I was waitlisted and for the first time I’d been really rejected. I had an aspect of rejection not getting recruited by schools I wanted, but this was different. It had to do with my grades, my personality, my interviews, etc. It felt like I was rejected as a person.
I got to apply again and expand my knowledge and it was great. I worked really hard for it and it was an interesting experience. It was intimidating and eye opening for someone to say “no, not now” to my dream of going to PA school and to say I need to do more to get there. Having that rejection made me want it more because everything came kind of easy to me especially academically up to that point.
Q: How did you get all of your pre-requisites, study for the GRE, get medical hours, and play softball in college? In other words, how did you prepare for PA school during college at Tulsa?
A: Once I decided I wanted to get into medicine, I went to my academic advisor. I said that if I stuck with my career track it would take an extra year to get pre-requisites. We figured out a new degree plan for pre-PA’s. There are a lot of up and coming people who need to get the pre-reqs you need for PA school. This plan we came up with would help those people in the future.
I had to take summer classes, I took 17-18 hour credit semesters even during season when we were missing classes. Chemistry was not my strong suit academically so it was very challenging. Taking organic chemistry two and biochemistry at the same time was very difficult. You’re not supposed to take them concurrently but I needed to in order to be on track to graduate. I had to ask the dean to take them concurrently. He asked me what makes me think I can do this. I said because I don’t give up and I need these classes.
During season I took them both at the same time. I was studying on the bus, figuring out organic chemistry at 2 am while driving back from tournaments. In order to get into PA school, you have to have medical experience. I was working with patients, learning how to treat people. I was learning about medications. My Sophomore year I stayed during the summer and took classes every day 8am until 4pm. It was chemistry and physics and I was working overnight shifts at an elderly care facility 7pm-7am. I was sleeping when I could.
That was the hardest summer of my life. I worked 600 hours in 10 weeks, and I accumulated 10 hours of credits for school. I worked with patients, came back home to study, maybe slept for 30 min, and then I would do it all again. That hard work I did solidified that I was doing all the right things. If I wasn’t working, I was studying. I was happy because I was doing all the right things. I studied for the GRE over Christmas break Junior year. I had a couple of weeks to study. I took it January 5th because it was right before our spring semester started.
I had to schedule interviews during season but I got to have an interview on an off day. We got done playing a series at home, I had my suitcase packed, and right after the game I flew to do my interview and flew back after. It was a scheduling miracle. It was a lot of hard work to get the hours that I needed, still be able to apply, and play softball. It made me a well rounded applicant.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is recently done playing a sport?
A: I would embrace the change that’s coming. Try all the new things. Take a cooking class. Figure out what you like. Not just what is convenient at the time of being an athlete. The biggest problem I had was losing the identity of being an athlete and how to cope. It gets better over time. You start to identify more with your other passions and not just what you were doing before. I am not just the awards, wins and losses, hours practicing and working out. You get to become associated with other things that you wouldn’t been able to as an athlete, which is super exciting, and a fun time to figure out yourself.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is currently playing a sport?
A: You’re always going to hear from people to enjoy it while you can, which is so true. You’ll never get those experiences again. Be looking for your next step. Know the things it will to take to get to where you’re going when you’re not playing anymore. Enjoy all the little moments because one day it’ll feel like you’re watching a tv show rather than real stuff that actually happened like our old softball videos.
Q: Do you have anything else to add?
A: Don’t be afraid to fail. Put yourself out there and get rejected. The rejection will lead you to your direction.
If you have any more questions for Rylie, please leave comments below or contact me. For more information, head to my Q & A page. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call the Suicide Hotline. It’s toll free and available 24/7 at 800-273-8255.
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