Dreams To Reality: Karli Spaid's Journey to Playing for Team USA

Tears began to well up in Karli Spaid's eyes. She was speechless. Waves of astonishment, excitement, and accomplishment washed over her as she stood in the airport looking at her phone. A flood of congratulatory texts streamed in from friends, family members, coaches, and teammates. It was official. The sophomore infielder had just been selected to be a part of the Junior U.S. Women's National Softball Team set to compete at the Junior Pan American Games hosted in Barranquilla, Colombia, at the end of November.

Spaid describes the whole experience as a dream come true—a surreal moment that she has been thinking about since her early days of rec league softball.

"I don't really know how else to describe it," Spaid said. "I just couldn't believe that it was actually real."

While at the moment the exciting news may have felt dream-like, it's no surprise that the young Miami infielder has reached such a high level of success this early on in her career.

"Karli has all of the skills to be great," said Miami head coach Kirin Kumar. "She is always pushing and never gets down on herself even when she's struggling."

Even from the beginning, the young infielder has persevered, regardless of any roadblocks she encountered. Spaid recalls being cut from her first travel ball team in the third grade as one of her earliest softball memories. But despite this minor setback, even at such an early age, Spaid refused to lose motivation. She dedicated herself to improving her skills in every possible way, which paid off when she made the same team that cut her just a year later.

Once given the chance, Spaid hit the ground running and never looked back, working to find every opportunity she could to better herself and her knowledge of the game. Spaid played for multiple travel and club teams until her freshman year of high school, when she finally settled into a high-level club that offered her a new degree of exposure.

"It was after I made that team my freshman year that I started to think about making a career out of softball and trying to extend my career," Spaid said. "That was the moment that I started to take softball pretty seriously."

However, 'serious' may be an understatement when talking about Karli Spaid's dedication to softball. Throughout her years at Lane Tech College Prep in Chicago, Spaid garnered a myriad of accolades and awards for her play on the field. In her freshman season, she was the only first-year student that made the varsity on a regional championship-winning team. During her sophomore season, Spaid made the All-City team and helped lead her team to a City League championship. As a junior, playing what would end up being her final season of high school softball, the current RedHawk was named second-team all-state and broke the Illinois state record for most home runs in a season with 25.

Despite her senior season being canceled due to COVID-19, Spaid continued to develop her skills, working to improve as a player in preparation for the next level of competition.

When it came time to choose a college, Spaid was searching for a school that took softball just as seriously as she did. After previously committing elsewhere and then re-opening her recruitment due to a coaching change, Spaid landed at Miami in 2020.

"I immediately fell in love with the atmosphere when I first came to visit," said Spaid. "Softball-wise, I can truly say the team is like a family and I think that was one of the things that really drew me in." She said she especially appreciates how it seems as if softball is integrated into every part of her experience on campus.

Spaid immediately made her mark on the program after choosing to make Oxford her home. In her freshman season with the RedHawks, Spaid solidified herself as a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Spaid started 48 games for MU as a rookie, finishing the year with 17 home runs, 19 stolen bases, and 49 RBIs in addition to garnering first-team All-MAC and MAC Freshman of the Year honors.

When asked if she had ever envisioned herself in this position—an astonishing first season, MAC Freshman of the Year, and a soon-to-be member of Team USA—Spaid just shook her head.

"I just feel very gratified," Spaid said humbly. "You work hard and hope it all pays off, but to actually see it come to life is something completely different."

Spaid said she is more than excited for her time with Team USA as she gets ready to pack her bags for Colombia leading into the first game on November 27.

"For so long I thought this would only be a dream," said Spaid. "Now here soon, I'll be in South America with USA written on my chest."

After her time with the national team comes to a close, Spaid will quickly shift her sights toward bringing another MAC championship back to Oxford, an accomplishment that she says is almost expected of Miami softball.

When Spaid finally does return to campus and rejoin her teammates, she will have undoubtedly accumulated a wealth of new knowledge and feel for the game, something that Coach Kumar is excited to see come to fruition.

"Karli still has so much to accomplish here at Miami," Kumar said. "This experience is going to open her eyes to so many things, but she knows that this isn't the end of the line and she has to continue to get better."

At this point, it is no longer a dream -- it's reality. Karli Spaid will be wearing the Stars and Stripes and traveling to Colombia to represent her country. And despite all of Spaid's accomplishments and everything she has done to reach this point, she realizes there is still plenty of work ahead of her, both for the USA and with the RedHawks.

It's time to play ball.

Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

Dreams To Reality: Karli Spaid's Journey to Playing for Team USA

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Karli Spaid

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