CHAMPIONS SPEAK - 2007 Hall of Fame Inductee Val Greenwall - Athlete
by Sandra Wright
Val
Greenwall first caused a sensation as a 12 year old at the
Pee Wee Softball Provincials in Lethbridge. No one had ever
seen a girl her age pitch the way she did with her
“windmill” style, just like an adult. Val was the “talk of
the town”, newspapers, TV all wanted the story of “The
Little Girl from Wetaskiwin”. It seems that Val’s dad, Al,
was a pretty good softball pitcher himself and Val and her
brother copied and practiced like their dad. Al did teach
Val the fancy shots: the change up, inside curve, outside
curve. Val was dedicated and practiced at home with her
family. Eventually she was throwing the ball so hard her
mother had to hand over the duties as catcher to Val’s
brother and dad. Val set the pace for her age group, the
other girls tried copying her style…but they were never as
good as Val.
Because she
was so talented, if her Wetaskiwin team didn’t make the
Provincials, teams from Edmonton and Camrose, picked up
Val. Often she played in an older age category; that made
her even more of a threat. Playing with the older girls,
Val pitched from a further distance, when she played in her
own age category, she was able to be closer to home plate.
Then her pitches were so fast that the opposition cowered in
fear.
Val started
playing in the Junior Canadians, the under 21-age category,
in 1978 when she was 15. Alberta teams had been struggling
at the Canadian Championships, but with Val as their
pitcher, the team was third and Val was named the Most
Valuable Player in the Championship. The next year Val
played for the Camrose Imperials, they won the Canadians and
Val was named top pitcher. For three more years, until
1982, Val played on the Alberta team in the Canadian
Championships and every year she garnered the top pitcher
award. During that 5 year span the Alberta team won twice,
was second once and third twice…helped by the “bright light
from Wetaskiwin”… Val.
Val was
offered a volleyball scholarship to Red Deer College but
softball was her love. However, there wasn’t much
opportunity in her sport at Canadian colleges and
universities. At 5AM one morning when Val was in Grade 12
she unexpectedly received a call from a softball coach in
Texas. There weren’t scouts like there are nowadays, he had
heard about Val from a former teammate of hers, Cheryl
Bichel, who was going to Sam Houston University. The coach
had mentioned to Cheryl that he was in desperate need of a
pitcher. She suggested Val and the rest is history. Val
and her dad flew to Texas for a tryout, Val threw only 5
pitches for the coach, he was duly impressed and Val made
the Sam Houston Lady Bearkat Softball team.
The first year
at Sam Houston Val’s team won the NAIA National
Championships, the schools first national championship. The
next year, 1982, her team moved up to the highest division
in intercollegiate sports, the NCAA, and again they won the
National Championships. That team holds the distinction of
being the only school to win back-to-back national
championships by moving up a division. Besides winning, Val
was named Most Valuable Player. It was the same year that
she was named Top Pitcher in the Canadian Junior
Championships. What an incredible feat, top pitcher in
Canada and most valuable player in the US in the same year.
WOW !
Well, it was
more than the lure of softball that attracted Val to Texas
as she is still there, She met her husband Kevin, a native
Texan, while at university and they have been married for 23
years. They have 2 athletic children, Tyler and Megan, who
have both received athletic scholarships to US universities,
Tyler in football and Megan in softball. Kevin and Val
both teach at Splendora High School where Kevin is the
Athletic Director and Val is the Women’s Athletic Director.
They are both award winning coaches. When Val coached her
high school softball team to the state championship in 2001
they were honoured at the Houston Astro home park, “Minute
Maid Field” where Val threw the ceremonial first pitch, of
course a strike right over the plate. She still has the
“touch”.
Val, we are so
pleased to have you back in Wetaskiwin and your induction
tonight into the Wetaskiwin Sports Hall of Fame is most
deserved. Presenting the plaque to Val tonight is Marilyn
Sneden, a board member and a Hall of Fame softball player
herself who watched Val play and followed her career.
