Transcript

Introduction to Coach Dot Richardson’s incredible achievements

[0:00] Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of Tell Us a Good Story. Today, we have the honor of talking to the head softball coach at Liberty University, who just happens to be one of the greatest softball players of all time, Coach Dot Richardson.
You guys, this woman is absolutely amazing. She’s a two-time Olympic softball gold medalist and was named the NCAA player of the decade for her career at UCLA before then going to medical school and becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
If you have a teenage daughter, I would highly recommend you have her listen to this episode with you. As you will hear, she is very passionate about pursuing your dreams.
That’s because Dot grew up in a time when girls were not allowed to play sports. She talks about how her brothers could play baseball and other sports, but she couldn’t just because she was a girl. And Dot was such a natural athlete that little league baseball coaches would ask her to play on their teams. However, she could only play if she cut her hair to look like a boy and and they would call her Bob.
Her stories are just incredible, including the actual dream she had as a child that came to fruition 30 years later. Oh, you guys, we can’t wait for you to hear this conversation with such an inspirational person, Coach Dot Richardson.

Overcoming Life’s Challenges: An Inspiring Journey Begins

[1:16] I’m Kevin. And I’m Stephanie. And during our marriage, we have dealt with an electrocution, a brain tumor, brain surgery.
Then doctors telling us that children were not in our future, followed by miscarriage, and then Kevin’s cancer diagnosis.
However, today we live a life completely healed and restored with three healthy children who doctors said were not possible.
And we’re here to tell stories that inspire, give hope, and brighten your day.
Welcome to Tell Us a Good Story.

[1:44] This episode is being presented to you by Luby Companies, a custom home builder here in Central Ohio.
Let them be your builder for life.
They’re freaking awesome.
All right, Steph. You’ve already had to stop me from talking to her.
You’ve already kind of like cut me off. I was like, pause.
Let’s get to that. But then you did it too because you went to start talking to her and made you like stop too.
That is true. That is true. All right, friends.
Our next guest is a two-time Olympic softball gold medalist and one of the most decorated players in softball history.
In addition to her playing career, she has also worked as an orthopedic surgeon and is currently the head coach at Liberty University. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to tell us a good story.
Coach Dot Richardson. Thank you guys for having me. It’s great to be here.
Oh my gosh. Okay. First of all, what do people call you?
What should we call you coach?
Coach Dot, coach Richardson, Dr. Richardson, Dr. Dot, there’s so many names we could go by for you.
Well, Dot is fine. Where did you get Dot? Okay.
Well, my official name is Dorothy. So, you know, you’ll hear my husband and my family, they’re saying Dorothy, but my assistants will call me Dorothy when they want my attention.
But the kids, you know, they’re calling me Coachee, recruits, Coach Dot, Coach Richardson’s pretty formal. But anyway, just call me a friend. So where did Dot come from?

[3:06] Well, my father’s mom’s named Dorothy, and the short name for Dorothy is Dot, D-O-T.
And I always went by Dorothy until about the second grade, I heard Dot for the first time.
And I was like, that’s not my name. And then when I started playing softball, Dorothy was a little too long.
And DOT was enough. Department of Transportation, Dotcom became a very popular name.
I mean, it’s super sporty, too. It is. Right? It’s true.

Coach Dot’s Journey in Softball and Meeting Her Husband Bob

[3:31] The perfect sport name. I don’t know about perfect, but… Well, thank you for saying yes to us.
And you were so kind, by the way, because, Steph, I was reaching out to Coach here and trying to get a date to schedule this conversation.
And we talked about September 8th, and she said, I will make myself available on the 8th. But that’s my anniversary.
Oh! And I was blown away how nice you were that you were going to offer that up for us.
I was like, no, no, no, no, let’s not do this. But then I thought of you.
You probably would intentionally do that. I’d love it. Totally would.
Because I’d be like, what do you want to do?
I’m busy. I got plans, I got plans, babe.
I love you so much. Bob and I, 22 years.
Congratulations. So where’d you meet Bob? Softball, of course.
I was going to say softball field, probably.

[4:22] Yeah. His side of the story was his dad went to take us to a Ray Vestas break-ex game in Stratford, Connecticut. And the funny thing about it was, I didn’t know him. He didn’t know me.
He was just watching the game. He goes, Wow. Who’s that loudmouth shortstop over there?

[4:38] Next thing you know, years later, he married me. Oh, that’s awesome.
Okay. So your husband, Bob, though, he’s also a coach. And he’s had quite the coaching career himself. Yes. And he has retired from coaching.
Okay.
He started FCA Softball and found the Lord and just dove right in and started the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Softball Ministry. Then he started coaching with me here at Liberty again. He started coaching. He did.
After about four years, four or five years, he was like, it’s time for me to move on and you guys get going. And there we are.
Okay. Okay. That’s a lot of questions right there. Do you have any tips on coaching with your spouse? Because Steph and I coached a t-ball team together. And here’s what happened. I’ll just So I’ll just go ahead and share the story with you, okay?

[5:22] So Steph’s father and brother-in-law and I, we were going to coach our daughter’s tee ball team.
Daughter and nephews. And nephews.
This was what, two years ago? Three years ago. And so I’m the assistant coach and show up the first game and all of a sudden Steph and her sister, my sister-in-law, just run out to coach first and third base.
We’re dressed, we have coach’s clothes on, we got the hat, we were ready.
I’m like, now you have matching shirts. I didn’t think you ladies were going to be coaching.
So then I got relegated to the all-time bench coach.
So these ladies are on first and third base and I’m yelling at kids to stop climbing the fence and squirting water at each other. And so it was not what I had initially signed up for.
Not at all. No, we had the best time though.
My sister and I loved it. So do you have any tips on coaching with your spouse? How does that go?

[6:09] It is not easy. However, I think that whatever we do, we should love it, right?
And enjoy it. And my big thing is with our staff is to have fun.
And for Bob, I think one of the things with him is he had a lot of fun doing it.
And he just was like, he felt a calling to be doing something else.
And it also opened the door for the current coaches that I have.
But I thought it was great coaching together.
Okay, so can you share with Steph the story of when you were a child, how you were asked to play on the Little League team, which then you started playing softball.
Can you share that story? Because that’s fascinating.
Well, when I was little, I knew God gave me talent in athletics.
I knew it because I loved it so much. It just came very easily to me.
Like girls at the time were not allowed to play organized sports.
But the boys didn’t have a problem with me because they picked me up first for pickup games.
I was selected first. Over my three years older brother and my one year younger brother, I was picked first.
And I just loved all the sports, you name it. It was soccer, baseball, basketball, loved them all.
But I could not play any organized sports because I’m a girl.
So I would go to bed at night and I just, as I said, my prayers, you know, I’d ask the Lord, why did you give me so much talent with no opportunity?
I was like an athlete without, you know, a team.

[7:31] And I can tell you the most frustrating thing in life is to have been given, gifts and not have the opportunity to express those gifts.
And next thing you know, my brother gets a brand new catcher’s glove.
And he knew who had the fastest fastball, so he asked me to break in his new catcher’s mitt right before a Little League game.
So as I’m firing that ball, I’m winding up and I’m firing fastballs, you know, to break that mitt in.
I mean, I’m throwing as hard as I can.
And it was right before his Little League game.
So next thing you know, the game gets over and one of the coaches comes over around the bleachers and says, you know, hey, you got a great arm.
How would you like to play in my Little League baseball team?
Team. My prayers were answered, right? I mean, I’m going to play Little League and I’m going to become a Major League Baseball pitcher. This is it. This is God’s plan for me. This is what’s going to happen. And then in practically the same breath, he said, well, we’re gonna have to cut your hair really short and give you a boy’s name. We’re going to call you Bob. So for me to have played a sport that I not only loved, but was good at, I would have disguised myself as a boy. And I looked at him, and I said, sir, thank you, but no thank you.
If I have to hide who I am, I just don’t feel it’s right.

[8:43] So dejected a little bit, but this has been my life to this point, a player without a team, and walked over and saw a friend of mine, Sunday Brown, and she wanted to play baseball catch.
And I was like, yeah, let’s go. And so we went into deep right field, this huge field, and I knew it was a baseball because it didn’t have a grass infield, right?
And we’re playing catch 30 minutes later from when the little league coach had told me that I’d have to disguise myself as a boy, this other coach comes up and he says, wow, you’ve got a good arm.
Do you have a minute to talk to the head coach? And I was like, sure.
And my first thought was deja vu, right?
And as I’m walking from right field to the first basement, I look on the infield and no longer were there boys there, They’re women.

Discovering Softball and Embracing Identity

[9:29] And as a rounded home plate heading to third, out from the third base dugout came the head coach.
It wasn’t a man, it was a woman. And this had surprised me at this point in my life. And she said, have you ever played softball? And I was like, no, well, what is it? Oh, it’s just like baseball. The ball is just a little bigger. Get on third base, take a few ground balls. And I’m telling you too, when I was taking those ground balls, I just felt like I belong. It just felt right. And she called me over and she said, how would you like to be on my fast bit softball team? And I was like, Yes. And then she goes, Well, how old are you anyway? And when I told her I was 10 years old, she almost died. 22. So we had to go and talk to mom and dad. And it was interesting that the coach Carol was her name. You know, the coaching staff brought me to our house, which was probably a mile down the road. And mom and dad like said, Yes, I could play.
And that’s how I discovered softball or softball discovered me.
And I started as a leadoff batter, starting third baseman.
But I always look back at that story, you know, like, what is the Lord’s telling us?
Like what is the lesson?

[10:44] And for me, it became very clear. Number one, is I know that God has a sense of humor, because I married a Bob.
Oh, that’s right.
But the other one, and the more serious, is that we don’t have to hide who we are. God has made us.
He’s made us in His image, and He has a plan for us.
And that plan is for us to prosper, and it has a plan that exceeds more than what we could possibly imagine.
All right, Steph, I’m going to test you again here. What is your favorite book of all time?
Obviously, it’s the Bible, Kevin. Yes.
Nailed it. Very good. book we wrote called You Met Her Where.
But it’s still a really good book. That is true.
And it would make a great gift for friends or relatives on their birthday or for Christmas.
Friends, you can order your copy of our book titled You Met Her Where at kevinandsteph.com.
And we will make sure to personally sign a copy for you or whoever you want.
And as always, thank you for listening to Tell Us a Good Story.

[11:45] Okay coach, I got a question for you. Your faith is very obvious.
Yes. But has your faith ever been tested?
Oh, without a doubt.
And in fact, that’s what makes it stronger. The Lord said through our weaknesses, it shows how strong that he is.
There have been times in my life that I’ve been like, Lord, I can’t solve this.
I’m giving it to you.

Faith Tested and Finding Clarity in Trials

[12:08] And when I have done that, the vision becomes so clear of what I’m to do. It’s just been remarkable.
And so for me, it became very much like a lot of us. Satan loves us to be busy. And for me.

[12:24] I’d always look at four-year increments, if you would, which it’s funny that the four years, but it was like, whether you’re going through high school and then college, and you got the Olympics and the Pan American Games and the World Championships and medical school. I always looked at four, but the reality is, I really started getting solid in my faith the older that I got and also through the trials that you talked about. One of them very clearly, you guys, is I walk into the CEO’s office. I’ve been working for 12 years, executive of a hospital and running a national training center. I sit down excited to look about the profits and losses and how good we’re doing. And he said, well, here’s your six-month termination notice. You have six months to form a not-for-profit. We’re going to give the softball facility to that not-for-profit, and we’re going to give it to you. And so I was like, here I thought I was going to retire.

[13:21] It was like, okay, what’s going on? But instantly, you guys, I would say within two seconds, I was like, okay, God, what do you have in store? And that’s where right away I was asked to run run for mayor, county commissioner, a US Senate for the state of Florida.
And I knew God wanted me in politics, so I gave it to him.
All right, Lord, whatever you want me to do, I’m all in, just make it perfectly clear.
The next morning, I get a phone call from the athletic director of Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the world, and is asking me to coach softball.
And at the end of the conversation, I said, sir, you may not realize this, I’m humbled by this opportunity, but I have never had coached in college before.
And he said, we realize that.
But we feel the Lord is leading us to you.” And then you have your husband saying, we’ve got to go. The Lord is calling us. So it was a long answer, but I can tell you that being here at Liberty, it’s more than coaching softball. It’s helping my salvation and work to glorify the Lord and impacting these young girls’ lives for his kingdom.

Introducing Coach with Exciting Fun Facts

[14:29] Alright, Coach. For all of our guests, I like to give a list of fun facts to let listeners and Steph know what they’ve done, okay? And you just stole a few of my fun facts from what you just said, okay?
But here’s the other thing.
There’s so many fun facts about you, I had to whittle these down.
So Steph, these are absolutely crazy. I am so excited about this.
So let me take a moment here, I’m gonna brag on you, and let me know if any of these are incorrect.
And this is gonna lead to some stories, coach, all right? So fun fact number one, this is more so for you and I.
This episode, 189, will actually drop on September 22nd.

Celebrating Birthdays and Coach’s Softball Journey

[15:06] Which happens to be our daughter, Emmy’s birthday, and Coach Dot’s birthday.
Woo! What? Was it? So, happy birthday, Coach.
Happy birthday, Coach. Thank you. Your daughter as well. Thank you.
She’ll be so excited that you just said that.
Next fun fact, Coach began playing softball competitively, like she said, at age 10, and became, at age 13, the youngest player in the Women’s Major Fast Pitch League.
Okay, like she mentioned, the average age of the team was 22.
But at the age of 12, she became the bat girl for the Orlando Rebels.
Okay, which is a team in that league.
So coach, can you share the story of the one day in spring training when they let you play as a 12 year old, what happened in that game? This is awesome.
Correction, it was a real game. Oh, it was, okay. It was during the season.
And as a bat girl, I was able to go through spring training with a team.
This team was an older team. Average age was probably, I’d say, 24 or 25.
And they were the best of the best.
It’s a correlation between like the Yankees or the Red Sox. I mean, this is the major league, right?

[16:15] And I’m the bat girl. And for spring break, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night from six to nine, I got to practice with them.
Well, for me, it was like watching them to emulate them. These are legends in our game, and it’s right in front of me.
Well, the season is in the summer, and the Rebels are beating an Alabama team 10 to 0.
So Coach Marge Ricker, she looks into the dugout and says, Dot. Get into the game.

[16:41] And I was like, what? Like, yeah, get in the game. I go, is this legal? Yeah, get a bat, right?

[16:49] You’re up. And she said, Batgirls are officially on the roster. And I don’t know about that, but that’s what she said. So I get up to bat with a Rebel. She’s on second base. I get a base hit.

[17:01] The run around third scores a run, I get an RBI, run batted in. I’m at first base, March gives me a steal. I steal second. At second base, the next Rebel gets up, gets a base hit. I round third and score a run. Then I go on defense and after my defense, we’re the home team. So this run rule, so this is the top of the fourth, right? Well, the top of the fifth, I should say. And I’m in right field, just like a movie. I can’t make this stuff up. I get a routine fly ball, no big deal, right? And then I got a line shot with two outs, a line shot, I scooped up and threw the girl out at first base. The crowd went crazy, you know what I mean? And of course, I’m like, well, what’s the big deal? But the point was, I think because of that experience, in the fall, when I had turned 13 years of age, I was asked to be in Orlando Rebel. What? Amazing. The youngest player in the history of that fast pitch like at age 13. And the average age, like you said, 24, 25.
Unbelievable. So she’s in middle school. Were they accepting of you, the other teammates?

[18:07] Oh, yes. Well, I’ve always said, it’s kind of like I had 14 mothers, right? But the reality is, they really weren’t hovering over me. It’s amazing. I learned at a very young age, it’s not how young or old you are. It’s really how good you are. And I think the respect I got is I help them to win games, right? I mean, I remember when I got to play short, I started in right field the next year third and then when I was 15 I played starting shortstop.
I remember I got a ground ball with a run run first and I threw the ball a second to Mary Lou Cushing who was 34 at the time and I’m 15 and I threw an errant throw and I looked at her and I said, Mary Lou, I’m so sorry, sorry. And she looked at me and said, don’t ever say you’re sorry unless you did it on purpose. Did you do it on purpose? I’m like, no. So I had to grow up fast And that’s a professionalism I think that I always carry with me because I saw women that were playing a sport when society had really said, why are you playing it?
Only boys or men should be playing it.
But we had an opportunity to play and that was enough. An opportunity to compete.

[19:23] That’s all we wanted. And we got it. And I mean, you guys, I wouldn’t change a thing.
When I look back, and I was almost like the transition of the evolution of women in sport, I got to see the last wooden bat ever to be played.
I got to be a part of the first white cleats ever to be worn in our sport, the first Adidas cleats to the RBIs.
I look at the first scholarships to be given out, the first Pan American Games, the first national championships for the NCAA, recognizing collegiate female athletes, the first Olympics.
I mean, I can go on so many firsts. And I just look at it and say how blessed, just to still, you know, it’s like the Godfather movie, right? They keep pulling me back. It’s like God is wanting me to be in this really like a mission field, right through a sport that I love it so much and…
Been able to have a lot of great opportunities through.

Listener Recommendations for Great Guests

[20:24] Steph, what is one of the most asked questions we get about Tell Us a Good Story?
Do I really get that excited?
Besides that one? Oh, how do we get all these incredible guests?
Correct. And some of our best conversations have been with guests who our listeners have reached out to us and said, you should talk to this person. To name just a few, Nick Vujicic, Coach Tom Ryan, Carol Motyka were all recommendations from our listeners.
So if there’s someone you would like us to interview and think they might be a great fit for Tell Us a Good Story, please let us know at KevinandSteph.com. You don’t even have to personally know them. True, but do me a favor, before you submit their names, please make sure they are still alive. That has actually happened and it is super hard for me to find their contact information. But regardless, thank you for listening to Tell Us a Good Story.
All right Steph, next fun fact. Coach Dot’s playing career remains one of the greatest of all time. She was a five-time All-American as a player. So she earned AIAW All-American honors at Western Illinois before she transferred to UCLA. So she was recognized as All-American both one year by the NCAA and this other organization. So then at UCLA, like she said, she was part the first-ever UCLA Bruins National Championship team and this is wild, She was named the NCAA Player of the Decade in the 1980s.

[21:48] So, Dot, what do you get for that honor? Please tell me you get more than a certificate or something.
Bragging rights. What happens with that?
You never do things for the accolades, right? I mean, those things just come because you have a passion for it, but it’s kind of like, it’s surreal when you think about it, because it made me feel really old, you know, like a player of the decade for the 80s.
When I say the 80s, and I look and I go, oh my gosh, these kids weren’t even born until, you know, what, 2005 or 10. Um, but what an honor. Yeah, really. What an honor. And it’s, it’s really humbling.

Honored as NCAA Player of the Decade in the 1980s

[22:23] How did they tell you that you got it? Well, it was a big announcement. The NCAA would do those things. In fact, the, uh, NCAA player of the decade for the nineties, Lisa Fernandez, uh, the NCAA player for the 2000, 2010, Natasha Watley, all three of us were at UCLA. I thought that was pretty cool. And we won the first, not just the first national championship when I was there for UCLA, but the first ever NCAA championship ever offered to women.
Wow.
So where do you keep all this stuff? Do you have a museum in your house of everything you’ve won and the gold medals? Where do you keep all that?
A lot of it is in storage, actually, right now. So it’s kind of…
My husband’s like, okay, we can’t put all this stuff in our house.
In fact, if I look around here, I try and tell people I’m not stuck on myself, really.
But I look around and, you know, the Hall of Fame plaque and, you know, behind me, I guess right over here is the first ever basket softball poster.
And I look at that and crack up because the shorts are those Russell shorts, guy shorts, you know, and I’m like, oh man, this is amazing, the Golden Glove Award and just a lot of history that if a person comes in, I’m able to at least show them it, but it’s kind of funny it’s all here.
So out of all of the awards that you’ve ever received, which one means the most to you?

[23:46] Wow. When I was in eighth grade, they started having women or girls sports. So in seventh grade, I was a part of the boys track team. That was like the only thing that really girls could kind of do. Okay. So in eighth grade, they started girls sports, and I played them all. I volleyball and basketball and, and softball. I mean, I was just like in track. I mean, anything I could do just when you’re denied something and you get a chance to do it, you dive in. And in ninth grade, again, played them all. And we had an awards banquet. And I’m sitting there and in front of me most valuable player of volleyball, most valuable player award of basketball, most valuable player of soccer, softball, sorry, most valuable of track team. And then the announcement was what made. And the announcement was the best athlete of the year. And they gave it to me. It was the, the first time ever that a trophy of Athlete of the Year was given to a girl.

[24:47] And it was really interesting that, you know, the principal had elected to give it to me as opposed to a boy.
And I remember some of the dads, you know, the moms, just how shocked they were that it didn’t go to a boy.
But one of the biggest moments, you guys, was after we’d captured the gold medal.

Celebration of Winning the First Olympic Gold Medal

[25:07] It was just a frenzy and excitement. We’re in the United States, in Columbus, Georgia, right?
And you looked around and security guards were covering the infield and the outfield to make sure no fans were jumping over, right?
And I looked to the left and I saw a boy and a girl standing side by side, reaching over the railing to try to reach out to me in a celebration, right, of the accomplishment, of us winning the first ever Olympic gold medal in our sport.

[25:38] And man, I just had a picture. I can see it right now. I took a snapshot of a boy and a girl standing side by side, reaching out in celebration of the athletic achievement.
Didn’t matter what gender, right? So when you hear my story from Little League pitching, going to have to disguise you as a boy, to where all of a sudden, the Olympics in 96, they call it the Olympics of Title IX, was one of those things where it’s almost as though we’ve gotten like we have now where you can enjoy sports, no matter whether your son or your daughter’s playing, right, whether a male or female are playing. And those are big moments that you are breaking ground, you know, you’re raising the bar in the ceiling, you know, opening those opportunities out for other people, you know?
Yeah. Okay, so speaking of gold medals, coach, in addition, Steph, to winning five gold medals at the Pan Am Games and Women’s World Championship, coach finally got the opportunity at the age of 34 to play in the Olympics. And listen to what happened here. Okay, she was captain of the team, had the first American hit in Olympic history, scored the first run in Olympic history, and hit the game-winning home run in the gold medal game against China. But here’s what’s even crazier. At the time, Coach had been pursuing a five-year residency in orthopedic surgery.

[26:58] Oh my gosh! Can you share the story with staff of how you actually secretively tried out for the Olympic team?
Well, first, I wouldn’t say I was a captain. There were no captains, but I just happened to be probably one of the leaders, I’d like to think. Okay.
But the day I would find out where I’d be for the next five years of my life is called Match Day in medical school.
And that is when they announced softball in the Olympics for the first time in Olympic history and I had to hand over this piece of paper to this receptionist to find out where I would match for an orthopedic residency program. Who knows where? If I would match it all, where would it be? And the announcement is we’re going to be in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
I did not even want to let go of that piece of paper. You talk about being torn, like orthopedic surgery, your childhood dream of Olympic gold. And I just knew the dream wasn’t going to come true. It’s like, there’s just no way I want to give up become an orthopedic surgeon. Not easy to get into right. So I matched and this is again, God’s hand. I, matched at USC in Southern California, one of the largest orthopedic residency programs in the country.

[28:18] And I secretively tried out, see, I like don’t give up easy, right?
So I found out that I could take a certain month for a vacation.
And I would coordinate that month of vacation when I’d have these tryouts for the national team.
And I never forget, I’m looking at it right over there. I just flew.

[28:38] Got on a plane and I flew to St. Louis and we had a tryout.
And all of a sudden I come back and there’s a buzz in the hospital.
Like all of my fellow colleagues, right, residents, they’re talking to each other.
And I’m like, what’s up? And they show me Sports Illustrated. I’m in the people section, which was like the centerfold of Sports Illustrated. And the guys love to read Sports Illustrated. So the secret was out. And this is what I’m talking about. See, we can never do these things on our own. And all of these guys were like, you got to go for it. How can I help you, what can I do? You’ve got to go for the Olympics. Then I get called into Dr. Pat Zakka’s office and he’s the chairman and he sits me down and he says, Dot, the board has elected to give you a one-year leave of absence to go for your childhood dream of Olympic gold. And are you ready for this? A orthopedic surgery program had disbanded out of Tampa and USC Orthopedic residency program got one of those residents, and it happened to be in my year. So my class had 13 residents, so that when I left, there was 12, and nobody had to pick up any extra slack, because I was going to the Olympic Games. And I just smiled because it was meant to be.

God’s Plans and Opening Doors for Dreams

[30:03] You can read in the Bible, Jeremiah 29, 11, all about God has plans for us better than we’ve ever thought possible. But the thing is, for those that seek him, right? And I’m just like, God, your will be done. And I was willing to give it up. And God said, No, you’re going to experience it. And it was really about just opening the door of opportunities for young girls to be able to dream big.
When everyone else says it’s not possible, or you have to disguise who you are, right?
And it’s never going to be for you. But yet you just believe because you know, God has given you this gift. And when you thought it could never be possible, it’s like, Oh, no, I’m going to put you on that podium. But you’re going to be on that podium to remember, look at me, I’m five foot four, nothing special, just living the dream, you know, and whoever would have thought that I would hit the first home run in Olympic history. I can promise you, they didn’t think it was going to be me. I have to admit, I did have the first shot at it.
My first at bat, it happened the way it should have. I got a base hit at the middle, and was bunted over and Fernandez gets up, gets a base hit to right field and hits me in for the first RBI and in the Olympic history is about team work, right? Right. Just like you to your team, and you’re together just impacting others and let them know that life’s not easy.
And that’s okay. We’re overcomers.

[31:32] That is such a God moment. Oh my gosh. I love talking about God moments.
Like that is a huge God moment for you. God orchestrated everything behind the scenes. Yes.
To be able to take that year off. Yes. God knew her dreams, right?
The dreams that God had actually put inside of her. Yes.
God knew ahead of time. For sure. And again, only God could have done that.
It just didn’t happen, right?
Well, what’s really gonna freak you guys out is when I made the Olympic team, I had three dreams.

Dreams of Olympic Gold Medals and Home Runs

[32:00] You know, I had this seven-year-old, I saw the Olympics, I had a dream, I’m standing on a podium and I bent over and an Olympic gold medal was put around my neck. I was seven.
Oh, you had a physical dream, an actual dream? A dream, right?
And every time, Pan American World Championship, international competition, I bent over and a gold medal was put around my neck. As grateful as I was, in the back of my mind, I was like, I thought it was an Olympic gold medal in my dream, right?
As I was watching the Olympics.
And so I saw Paul Vulture go over a bar and he had captured the Olympic gold medal and he put his arms up in the air and it inspired me.
So I had this dream. Well, all of a sudden I make, this is like 27 years later, and I make the team and I started having three dreams. One of them, I saw myself hit a home run in my dream over a dead center field fence.

[32:54] I knew by the way the crowd reacted in my dream that it had to be my first at bat, that I hit the home run over centerfield fence. The next dream, I saw myself hit a home run over the right field fence. And the third dream, I saw all of us standing on the gold medal podium. I’m not making this stuff up. I had this dream. So my first at bat that I shared with you, I thought that was going to be a home run. But the first pitch ever in the Olympic Games to an American was a ball low outside. And I was like, I literally said I’m like, I thought it was this home run I was going to hit.
But anyway, got the base hit, we scored the run, but my fourth at bat, we were playing against Puerto Rico.
When I hit that ball, you guys, I’m a leadoff batter, I’m a table setter, I’m sprinting to first base.
And when I looked, I saw that ball, the first home run in Olympic history go straight over dead centerfield fence like my first dream.
When I’m running the bases, my arms are up in the air because I’d only told my parents and this one reporter, that was it.
So as I’m running around, my arms are in the air and everyone said, Dot, you should have done an underarm deodorant commercial. But I’m reaching up and going, whoa.
And it wasn’t about hitting a home run, it was about daring to dream big and believing it can happen and then it happens. You’re living the dream, right?
First book, Living the Dream.

[34:21] So as I’m running second, I see my mom and dad and they were like, oh, like freaking out. That was like my dream. And then in the gold medal game, I had a home run the second game we played.
No one really talks about that. But I was like, whoa, man, I must have been swinging like out of my mind, right? So anyway, in the gold medal game with Laura Berg on first base, I got up there when the pitcher threw the pitch, I knew it was going to be a change it. This is why.
There were two balls and no strikes. So she’s going to throw me an off speed pitch. How did I know it because three days earlier, bases loaded on national TV, bases loaded, full count. She threw me a change up and struck me out. What? I struck out on national TV, bases loaded, but my thought wasn’t I’m embarrassed I struck out because that’s part of the game. It was how I struck out. You guys, I probably spun around three times. It was like I never thought this ball would be coming in so slow, right? So, I’m walking to the dugout and I said, said, OK, she beat me this time, but I’m going to go to school.
What can I learn from this situation?
Gold medal game, baby. This pitcher is pitching again.
And when I had two balls, I knew she was going to throw a change up.
I’m like, I knew it, because who does that?
Well, she’d done it to me and struck me out.

[35:40] So I took a deep breath, and I stepped into the box. And I told myself, just wait.
Just wait. If it comes hard, let it go.
But if it’s a change up, I’m going to rip the cover off of that ball.
So she’ll never throw it again. It was such a good pitch.
You guys, I waited. And when she released that pitch, it was a change up.
And I waited. My eyes got this big.

[36:06] And all of a sudden, when my front foot went down, and I rotated through that ball.
And I really didn’t know and care if it was going to be fair or foul, because I just never wanted to throw it again.
But when I looked at it, I realized it had the distance and it had the line.
And when I saw the ball, it was probably about three feet to the left of the foul pole.
My arms went up in the air again because I realized not only did I live the second dream, but I realized it was enough for the ultimate dream, the third dream, for us all to be on a gold medal podium.

Living the Ultimate Dream: Winning the Gold Medal

[36:42] And man, that was the biggest moment in my athletic career, the Olympic Games.
And I felt so small, you guys.
It was like when that medal was put around our necks, I realized we were chosen to represent all who’d ever dreamt of it, that were never given the opportunity to try.
And I also know that we opened the door for young girls to dream big and to dream about, it when it never was something that anyone ever thought could happen.

[37:12] And we were there and we lived it, every moment of it. And now the future, they can have a passion to do it. And that’s humbling. That’s bigger than any medal, right?

[37:26] So that home run she just talked about, that she crushed for the two-run shot that ended up winning the gold medal game, the Chinese coach disputed it for 15 minutes. 15 minutes, he argued that that was a foul ball. And so they go to the team replay and everything. And they correct it. Yes, it was indeed fair. Wow.

[37:47] Can you blame them? Well, you know, it’s a two run home run. They knew that they’re not going to score two runs off of us, right? Yeah. But when you look at it, the controversy was, it was a baseball field. And so softball field comes in a lot closer, then they put these huge bleachers behind it. So the ball, you’ll see where the right fielder is. And it went right over her head. It was, to make it dramatic, I said three feet, but it was probably at least five or six feet fair. But because I’m a left-handed hitter, it goes towards the foul line. It actually landed foul way past the foul pole. It hooked it. So he was like, hey, it landed foul. That’s where it goes over. Totally. If you like what you hear, please tell someone about us. As soon as this episode is over, go tell your spouse, your closest friend, a parent, a co-worker, or share one of our posts on social media.
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Yep. Go on with your merry day. And to get more information about us or our entire catalog of episodes, be sure to check us out at KevinandSteph.com.
Thank you for listening to Tell Us a Good Story.
Okay, final fun fact.

Building Liberty University Softball Program from Scratch

[39:01] In 2013, Dot became the fifth coach in Lady Flames softball history at Liberty University.
She then helped them design the stadium that she talked about earlier.
So Liberty was not a well-known university at that point and didn’t have this big softball program.
So coach, did you make sure like your coach’s office was humongous?
Did you put like a spa in the coach’s office? Because that’s what I would have done.
Do you want to see it? I mean, obviously, yes. I mean, do you want me to try to show you?
Please do. Yes. Oh my gosh. Give us the tour if you can. I’m freaking out right here.
Okay, here we go. So I’ll take you out.
This is my office. Very nice. Oh. Yeah, you need more memorabilia in there though, coach.
You should look out here.
Oh my gosh. The stadium. Oh, coach. Okay, so you’re actually at the stadium.
You guys are going to crack up.
So here is… Look at that. No. This is Liberty University.
You can see the field. Oh, that’s gorgeous. You can see the stadium.
Can you see it? It is magnificent.
Oh my gosh, the turf with the logo on it. I got the opportunity to design it. And here’s the hallway.

[40:14] Oh, that is so nice.
We have offices off of that. And then we come in through this, the training area, we’re downstairs, we have seven batting cages.
Oh, my. Gorgeous, unbelievable. And then as we come down here with more offices in the film room, We come into what’s called the Nest, right? And this is a 2,000 square foot team activity room.
Oh my goodness. And it’s got massage chairs. What? Ping pong, kitchenette.
Oh, Steph, you would live there. I would, I was thinking that too. What do you think?
That’s fantastic. Gorgeous.
Well done.

Introduction to Liberty University and its Christian foundation

[40:54] Okay, so can you tell us more about Liberty University? because when I look at the social media stuff, this looks like the best church camp ever, this college, right?
So can you tell us about Liberty and your software program?
Well, we are the largest Christian university in the world, or one of them.
It goes back and forth based on, obviously, online, we have about 120, 130,000 people, students throughout the world.
And on campus, we’re running close to 17,000 now. But it’s explained with our mantra, Armada Training Champions for Christ. And it’s one of those things where I don’t know how to explain it.

[41:32] Like when you get here, the facilities are gorgeous. It’s a very young campus established in 1971.
It’s nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s spectacular views.
And it’s one of those things, you’re walking down the street, you know, the sidewalks, and you hear contemporary Christian music.
I just had a recruit and I was in the cafeteria and you’re hearing Christian music, glorifying the Lord.
And it’s just very unique and it’s very special. And it’s just one of the things, our commitment is to keep it Christ-centered.
Because you’ve seen Harvard was established by faith, a lot of other universities and have come far from it.
And it’s one of the things that, we just don’t want that to happen here.
And so for the softball program, when I first got here, we had a rec field on South Campus And our office was a double wide trailer, which now I could probably fit four of them in what we have upstairs here.

[42:32] And we’re 276 in the country at the time out of 296. So there’s only 20 worst teams in the country.
And when we started, you know, the program here, you know, under our tenure.
And guess what, you guys, God is faithful. The highest we’ve been ranked is 11th in the country.
We finished this year 25th in the country, which we’ve done two times now. This past season, we beat Alabama, Clemson, UCLA. We have a saying at Liberty Now, rise with us. We’re just rising to be the best we can be with the gifts God’s given us to give him the glory doing it. And And it’s just unique to see just how we can boldly share faith.

Boldly sharing faith and the impact on students

[43:13] And I had a player that came into my office, and I said, you’re doing OK.
And it was a freshman, and I thought she was going to say I miss home, things like that.
But the reality is she said, coach, who is this God that everybody’s talking about?
Now, when I recruit all of our kids, they know this is a Christian university, right?
And my response to her is, when she said, I don’t know who this God is, I said, well, he knows you.
And I have seen transformation happen, you know, with these youngsters, and I just feel it’s more than just coaching.
It’s being a part of a sport that I have loved, you know, from 10 years of age on, and traveled the whole world representing our country.
But really, what’s it about? Because I’ve had my time.

[43:58] How can I have a servant heart and my coaching staff to serve these young women, to help them realize how special they are and how much God loves them.
Well, Coach, this looks like a heck of a lot more fun than working as an orthopedic surgeon.
I gotta admit. It’s a lot more freedom, that’s for sure.
Here’s the thing, girl. Your college athletes right now, when they are whining like, I’m so overwhelmed, I’m so stressed.
You have no clue. You’re like, you know what, guys? Let me tell you a story.
Try to go to medical school and do this, ladies. I love to say that sometimes, but I realize, okay, it’s not about me, but yes, you might just want to throw it in there. Cause they’re like, sorry, coach. You’re right.
Well, listeners for more information about coach, you can go to her Facebook page at doctor dot USA one.
And you can also get all the information on her softball team at Liberty university’s website. And we’ll put those links in our show notes. So you can click on it and go right to those pages.

[45:02] So coach, thank you so much. A couple of months ago, Steph’s father sent me a text and said, Hey, you should reach out to Coach Dot Richardson.
She is not only a coach at Liberty, but she’s also a doctor.
And I remember saying, that doesn’t sound right. I just remember thinking like, that can’t be.
I’m sure she built an orphanage in Haiti and probably wells in Africa as well.
I looked you up and I was like, huh.

[45:31] You know I’m wrong again. So just amazing, Coach, what you’ve done, what you’ve accomplished. And thank you again for saying yes to us. Well, thank you guys for thinking of me, really, and sharing memories. So keep an eye on what we’re doing here at Liberty. And.

[45:46] I just hope everyone is encouraged to really answer the biggest question of all, does God exist or not? You seek the answers, you’re going to find the truth, right? Just know that God’s crazy about you. He loves us so much. But I’m living the dream, you guys, and just so blessed to be a part of it. I just thank you so much and I wish everybody just God bless you today and always.