She's giving girls opportunities to learn and grow. She conducts camps across the country and has her very own softball academy in Flemington, New Jersey. In a game that has grown so much, she's excited to continue to play and now to meld her love of teaching kids with her love of the game. She turned to her family and with their help and support continues to act as ambassador for both the game of softball and for female athletes in general. The faces that were so familiar to Ace - BooBoo (Crystal Bustos) and others - were on TV! But the long road ultimately ended up with a heartbreaking loss, first in the Olympics to Japan in the final game, and then with the vote to eliminate softball from future Olympics.įollowing the Olympics Jennie quickly regrouped and looked toward the future. The trip to Beijing was a mix of familiar and new, and Ace and Casey stayed up late every night to watch from home. Jennie and her teammates took every opportunity to lobby the public and powers-that-be for support. This could be their last Olympics together. It was a bittersweet time for teammates who had played together so long, knowing that a decision was pending with the International Olympic Committee about whether or not the sport they loved would continue as part of the Olympics. Her parents and Casey's, as well as aunts and cousins and in-laws came along for different stretches to help out with Ace. She was, as ever, supported by her family throughout the tour. They zig-zagged across the country and Jennie took Ace on the road with her for most of it. embarked on the Bound 4 Beijing Tour - 46 stops over several months aimed at bringing the teammates closer together and fine-tuning their play. In 2008 in the lead up to the Olympics, the U.S. She was looking forward to the next Olympics. Her love for the game never flagged, nor did her competitive spirit. Through it all Jennie kept training and pitching. The following year, in May of 2006, a mere six weeks before competing on the international stage, Jennie and Casey had their first baby, a little boy appropriately named Ace. She continued to play softball for the USA National Team and for the Chicago Bandits, a National Pro Fastpitch team. In early 2005, Jennie and Casey were married. She created a signature line with Mizuno that featured a bat, batting gloves, shoes and mitt with her name on them, and together with Mizuno pioneered the use of pink in women's softball equipment. Endorsement deals from major brands including Sprint, Bank of America, and Mizuno followed and allowed Jennie to continue to play. In the end she, as a devout Christian, made peace with her fame because she felt she could use it to be a role model to young women and to help grow the game of softball. She struggled with the notoriety, which in a team sport is sometimes a problem. She appeared on late-night shows with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel magazines including Glamour and Vanity Fair ran features on her. Jennie returned home from Athens and her popularity soared. She loved wearing the USA letters in the Olympics best of all. The extreme honor of representing her country in international competition wasn't lost on Jennie. It was a heady experience for a young woman, and Jennie enjoyed every minute of it. Sports Illustrated hailed them as the greatest team of all time. The team dominated their competitors and won the gold. It was also Jennie's first Olympics and constantly reminded herself that this was the same game she'd played since childhood - just with more fans in the seats and on an international stage. She had been the team mom in Jennie's eyes for so many years, and she along with her teammates mourned their and their coach's loss. Athens was a remarkable time for Jennie and her teammates, not least because of the unexpected and deeply felt loss of Sue Candrea, Coach Candrea's wife.
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