University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Softball Alumnae Watley, Flowers Reflect On Olympic Experiences
July 20, 2012 | Bruin Athletics, Olympics
July 20, 2012
UCLA owns one of the richest Olympic traditions of any University. Over the past nine decades, nearly 500 athletes, coaches and trainers have represented UCLA in the Summer Olympic Games, winning 241 medals, including 119 gold. UCLABruins.com celebrates the school's rich Olympic history with profiles of UCLA Olympians, past and present.
By Amy Hughes
It has been nearly eight years since Sports Illustrated proclaimed the 2004 U.S. Olympic Softball Team as "The Real Dream Team," complete with a cover shot of that dominant group on the cover of the magazine. On July 12, 2012, that team was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
The 15-player active roster for those Games included five Bruins. It was the third Games for Lisa Fernandez, and the second for Stacey Nuveman. Amanda Freed had been an alternate for the Sydney Games in 2000 but was on the active roster for the first time.
And fresh off of a dramatic 2003 NCAA Championship, Natasha Watley and Tairia (Mims) Flowers made their Olympic debut. Watley was the youngest starter on that team, starting all nine games for Team USA at shortstop. She hit .400 (12-for-30) with a double, a triple and a team-high eight runs scored. Flowers was a role player, appearing in five games primarily as a pinch runner, scoring three runs.
"Everything was such a blur," said Watley of the Athens Games. "It's one of the best feelings in the world to make the team and be a part of the Olympic Team and have your name on that roster. I had grown up wanting to be an Olympian. I wanted to be a gymnast, actually. Little did I know that I was going to be a softball player."
The team had been named in September 2003, and the group of 18 players (three alternates were included) spent 2004 playing tournaments and touring the United States in preparation for the Games.
"Our theme that summer was to dominate," said Watley. "Their message [from the team's veterans] was that ever single year, the competition keeps closing the gap. We wanted to make that the year where we made the gap larger."
"I remember all the traveling," said Flowers. "I remember being on tour and how much fun we had as a group and how hard we worked. We were doing publicity stuff in New York, then we'd go out to Central Park and run shuttles and practice. People were jogging around or standing and watching us."
That preparation paid off, as the competition could not touch Team USA once they took the field in Athens. A team batting average of .343, led by Fernandez who hit .545 (12-for-22) over nine games, combined with a dominant pitching staff that allowed just 18 hits and one run over the course of the tournament.
"I was a role player on that team, so I pinch ran and was the bullpen catcher," said Flowers. "I remember watching how well the team did and everything going kind of how we had planned. You worked hard and you expect to lay down the bunt and execute defensively. Pitchers were hitting their spots non-stop. It was amazing. We were definitely clicking on all cylinders."
"Now, when I look back, we kind of annihilated all of our competition," said Watley. "But during the Games, it didn't feel like that. It was all such a blur when it was happening."
Following that dominant performance in Athens, Team USA took the field at every tournament with a target on its back.
"Those were probably the four hardest years of my career," recalled Watley of the quad between Athens and Beijing. "You're constantly living up to a standard and trying to duplicate everything you did. The target is on your back, and it was even stronger because we knew that [Beijing] was going to be the last Olympics for softball. It made everything build up more. Everything was magnified in terms of wanting to close that gap.
Watley and Flowers were both members of the final U.S. Olympic softball team in 2008, along with Nuveman and Andrea Duran. Fernandez was an alternate for the Games. In Beijing, Team USA won all seven of its round-robin games, with five of those contests shortened to five innings due to the run rule.
A nine-inning 4-1 victory over Japan put Team USA in the Gold Medal game, which would become a rematch with Japan. This time, the Japanese posted a 3-1 victory to become the first country other than the United States to capture Olympic Gold in softball.
"I remember we were doing well as a team," said Flowers. "My experience in Beijing was totally different because I was on the field and in the lineup every day. I remember people talking about how all the records we had set in 2004 would be broken by the 2008 team. Unfortunately, we had that one game where things didn't go our way."
Finishing their Olympic careers with silver instead of gold does not tarnish the memory of being an Olympian for either Flowers or Watley.
"Obviously, you want to come out on top as a Gold Medalist each time," said Watley. "But I think I enjoyed my Olympic experience in Beijing a little more. I was able to intake everything. I was able to be more in the moment in '08. In '04, it was so overwhelming that I didn't really get to enjoy it even though we came out with a gold medal. I'm always going to be an Olympian. That's something that can't be taken away."
The U.S. Softball team did not participate in Opening Ceremonies for the Athens Games, because they had their opening game of the tournament the next morning. Watley stayed in Athens after her sport had finished, visiting several other venues during the second week of the Games.
"I went to track and field, and I was there when Marion Jones dropped the baton [in the 4x100m Relay]," said Watley. "I went to a soccer game, I think it was the women's Gold Medal game, and a few other sports, and I stayed for Closing Ceremonies."
In Beijing, the team was able to participate in Opening Ceremonies, an experience Flowers recalls clearly.
"It was pretty darn cool," said Flowers. "We didn't get to see the whole intro. They kept all the athletes in a dome or indoor arena with no video screens, so we just sat there until it was our time to walk out. We didn't see a lot of performances, but what we did see was amazing."
Both remember the atmosphere of the Olympic Village.
"There is an atmosphere of sportsmanship - just being able to be among other athletes from around the world," said Watley. "For 16 days, you share this common bond whether you're from Africa, China or the United States. It's just a common respect for athletes around the world and for people that do the same things that you do. They compete in the same quad and put it all on the line for a 16-day period. The sacrifices that you have to make to be an Olympian are the common things that you share. It's a moment in your life where you are surrounded by greatness."
"I remember seeing all the other athletes in the cafeteria," said Flowers. "I do remember the softball stuff, but I also remember things like Yao Ming walking around and thinking 'Oh my gosh, he's like a giraffe!' You saw him sit at a table to eat and his knees were above the table. In '08, Kelly Kretchman and some of the other girls had some of the basketball guys come over and play Rock Band. We're the best in our sport but we're not that high-profile, so being able to see the people who are worldwide icons was kind of cool."
Because of a 2005 vote that removed softball from the Olympic Programme effective for this summer's London Games, Beijing was the last of four Olympic appearances for the sport. The ISF (international governing body for the sport) and BackSoftball organization are preparing to lobby the IOC next year for softball's return to the Programme for the 2020 Games.
Flowers left her cleats on the field in Beijing, retiring from the sport as a player. She has continued her career in softball, serving as an assistant coach at both UC Riverside and Long Beach State after the Olympics. In the summer of 2010, Flowers and her husband, former UCLA basketball player Jason Flowers, were named as the head softball and women's basketball coaches, respectively, at Cal State Northridge.
"It was just time for me to move on," Flowers said. "I'd been married for a few years, I wanted to start a family and have a career in coaching, so I knew that was going to be my last softball experience."
Watley has continued to play and has no plans to retire any time soon.
"I love this game," said Watley. "I can't envision myself doing anything else. My body feels aged, but my brain doesn't feel it at all. I love competing, and I feel like I've almost taken on this responsibility of making sure that our sport grows. The Olympics were all we had. The girls that were on that '08 team that are still playing have taken responsibility to play in the pro league here and try to help build the NPF. We can help continue to grow our sport."
Four years ago, Watley traveled to Japan for her first professional softball experience overseas. It has breathed new life into her love for the game.
"It has been an amazing experience for me," said Watley. "Post-college, I really didn't think I was going to continue to play, but the Olympics kept me playing. My first year in Japan rejuvenated my softball body and mind.
"I felt like after '08, there wasn't much for me to do, but I was still in shape, and I'll go over and play there for a year," said Watley. "Now, here I am in my fourth year. I want to play there forever. I want to retire there as well. It made me fall back in love with the game somehow. Being in a foreign country, being with teammates that don't speak English, we have this common love and common bond by sport. We're able to communicate through softball. They love and have a passion for the game just like I do.
"It's awesome. It's amazing. I surprised myself. Now I just want to keep going back. It's the thing that's kept me going."
