Georgia McKee has many layers, including a stellar softball journey at Wakeland High School and Belmont University, and a passion for faith and social justice. In this episode, we talk to Georgia about her late start as a catcher, adjustments playing in college, her recent police ride-along, and her involvement in Frisco’s peaceful protests in June.
Enjoy our chat with Georgia, and explore other episodes of Hustle & Pro.
Show Notes
- [00:22] Quick Hits with Georgia McKee
- [1:20] Sports growing up
- [1:52] Being a catcher
- [6:45] How Georgia’s softball game changed in college
- [11:34] Studying and living Faith and Social Justice
- [16:10] Riding along with Frisco PD
Resources within this episode:
- Georgia McKee: Twitter @GeorgiaAMckee
- Wakeland High School: Athletics Website
- Belmont University: Website
- Frisco Police Department: Website
- Kelly Walker: Instagram: @kelly_walkertexas | Twitter: @kelly_walker_TX
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco:
Transcript: (machine-generated)
Welcome to Hustle and Pro season two, talking sports in Frisco from youth to pro. Now here’s your host Kelly Walker.
Kelly:
We welcome Georgia McKee to the show. She’s just started her senior year of college, where she plays Bruin softball at Belmont University. Hello, and welcome to Hustle and Pro, Georgia.
Georgia:
Thanks for having me.
Kelly:
Yeah. Thanks for joining us. So I want to start with a few quick hits to sort of get to know you and, and your sports life a little bit better. Who’s your favorite athlete?
Georgia:
I have to say Abby Wambach.
Kelly:
What’s your favorite sport to watch? We know you’re a softball player, but if you’re just sitting down to watch sports or go to watch sports, what is it that you’re watching?
Georgia:
Hockey. I love watching hockey. I’m a Nashville Predators fan.
Kelly:
Oh, okay. Oh, because you live in Nashville now. What’s your favorite sports movie?
Georgia:
Uh, does the Sandlot count?
Kelly:
For sure. Yeah. I love those little guys. Okay. Do you have any sports superstitions?
Georgia:
Yeah, every game day I put my uniform on the exact same way. So it’s like left sock, right. Sock every time. Like everything goes on the same time, even my cleats.
Kelly:
All right. So let’s rewind a little bit. So before college softball, even before Wakeland softball, what sports, what it’s work look like for you as a kid? How many sports did you play and for how long? Like how far into your life?
Georgia:
Yeah, I played a lot of sports at Griffin middle school when I went there. So I played volleyball, soccer. I was a goalie there. That was my only year of soccer, seventh grade. I was done after that and basketball. So I played a lot in middle school, but then once I got to high school, I just focused on softball.
Kelly:
I’m fascinated by catchers. So I’m going to ask you a couple of things about catching. One thing I wanted to know, what you mentioned was at what age did you commit to full time catching? Because I know in little league, like the, literally my kids played in, um, it’s hard. If there’s not a kid that really wants to do it, it’s hard to then identify who has the right skill or body type or whatever it is that, um, you need on that team to play. And so you get to an age where a full time catcher can make or break your team. So at what age did you kind of commit to being that player?
Georgia:
It wasn’t really until my freshman year of high school, which is actually pretty late to start catching. Um, I was a third baseman, played some middle infield and my team just needed to catch up one tournament. I think we were in California and both of our catchers, like one got a broken nose and I forgot what, like what happened to the other one, but they were like, Georgia, like you want to do it? And I said, sure. And so that’s just how I fell in love with catching cause I just, just thrown in there. And I watched YouTube videos of baseball and softball catchers and learned how to do it really quickly.
Kelly:
Oh my gosh. So then you’ve been catching, you caught four years in high school and now you’re going into your fourth, so you’ve done three seasons of college. So as a catcher, do you talk to the batters?
Georgia:
I don’t. There’s times, like if I know them or if, like I noticed some of the girls at our conference or like when every time we play Ole Miss, I have a couple of teammates that I used to play with, um, that go there. And so I’ll talk to them then, but usually we’re pretty locked in. I don’t want to be like that annoying girl that’s like trying to distract you. I just like to play the game, how it is.
Kelly:
But you’re not trying to get in anybody’s head or play any mind games.
Georgia:
No, I think it’s more of a baseball thing. I think we just kind of like to stick to the plan. I’m really focused on my pitcher at the time and making sure we’re on the same page and we communicate a lot. And so that’s really what I mainly focus on.
Kelly:
Yeah. So let’s talk about communicating. I’m also fascinated. One of the things is signals and how you communicate. So, um, do you hang out with your pitchers outside of normal softball world and how many signals do you have and you know, what, how do you guys communicate? And, and during innings?
Georgia:
Yeah, one of our pitchers is my roommate. And so we spend a lot of time together outside of softball and the, all my pictures. I try to spend a lot of time with just so we can make that connection and make that relationship. Cause it’s a really important to have on and off the field. Um, signs wise, we have a lot, um, sometimes it depends on also your coaching staff and I’ve had imported into my third coaching staff in my four years of playing. So it’s changed just about every year of, wow, there’s a science. Yeah. It’s been, it’s been a wild ride. Um, but sometimes we’ll have, um, like a 50 signs on our arm and we have like arm bands, times, coach we’ll call it like these, um, like a list of numbers. And that will tell the entire team what pitches about to be called so that everyone could be ready. Um, depending on what the location, speed, it affects the whole team, how our defense is set up.
Kelly:
So every time you get a coaching change, your signs all change and you have to kind of re-learn your playbook.
Georgia:
Yeah. Yeah. We do.
Kelly:
That’s a lot.
Georgia:
It’s been a lot, but hopefully fourth year, best year, third head coach, best head coach. We’ll see.
Kelly:
Yeah. My last catcher related question, I guess. So as a, I think throwing a runner out is like one of the most exciting kind of defensive plays you can watch and be a part of too. So talk to me about that.
Georgia:
That’s the best feeling. The adrenaline, just knowing there’s a really fast girl on first and having a set up and like, get your mind ready to throw someone out. Especially if you know that she has like all conference honors for being for stealing bases or if she’s one of the fastest people, um, in the NCAA, like it’s just so exciting to you don’t want to pick her off or throw her out. And we do, um, pregame, I guess an evaluation of the team that we’re playing before every game before every tournament. So we know who we’re dealing with. We know what they’re known for. We know their playbook basically is what we want to do before every single game we play. And so I usually keep a list in my head of who were the fastest girls on the team, like how many stolen bases they have, um, if they leave early. And so I pretty much know who’s gonna steal or who’s gonna at least try to attempt
Kelly:
What’s your favorite or best base that you’re going to get someone thrown out at?
Georgia:
Um, I mean, second, second is the most common, especially in softball where the bases are closer together. Not many people steal third and a lot of people don’t get big lead offs at first when you get to the division one level. So the most I get out is that second.
Kelly:
At Wakeland. So at high school level, you, I was looking at some stats and you put up some, you know, better than average stats. Of course, obviously you went on to play in college. So, but how has your game changed and maybe your role changed as you’ve now played at the college level?
Georgia:
It’s changed a lot. Like you grow up. Like I grew up in Frisco and was one of the best players in the DFW area and was told that my entire life. And then you go to college, you go play division one ball. And it’s like, everyone was the best player either in their city or their entire state. Um, and so it’s just everything changes when you go play in college, which is a good thing. And it really pushed me to be better and to accept my role as different, like I’m not necessarily the best player on my team right now. And it’s because I went to a school where everyone was really, really good. Um, and so that’s been really fun to navigate and figure out who I am as a person, why I like to play, um, other than just wanting all the attention like I got in high school.
Kelly:
Yeah. I mean, so for example, like your on base percentage was really high in high school. Has it been hard? Like you get to college and realize you might have to, I don’t know, change your hitting style or ever sacrifice your at bat for the greater good of the team or just change kind of, like you said, some of the notoriety you might have gotten? Has it been sort of humbling to change that role a little?
Georgia:
Yeah, for sure. I mean also again with having so many different coaching staffs, my swing has changed just about every year in college, which has been really hard for me. And so having to find ways to still have quality of bats to help my team out. So like I bunt the ball a lot. I hit sacrifice pop flies a lot, and that helps my other teammates get in scoring position. It helps them score. Whereas in high school I just hit home runs and I hit gap to gap all the time. And so my role has completely changed in college, but I don’t really pay attention to stats our team. We’re really good about not paying attention to stats because at the end of the day, it just matters what we can do as a collective team. Whereas I think in high school I was more concerned about myself.
Kelly:
Sure. Yeah. Is that, I wonder if you or your family ever kind of expected that. I mean, I wouldn’t expect somebody that’s hitting home runs in high school to three or four years later say, okay, I bunt a lot or, you know, change your swing that much.
Georgia:
I kind of had an idea that it would happen after I talked to some other players that went to go play division one. Um, so I kind of expected it, but also of course I expected a lot of myself and I kind of came in thinking I was all of that and was going to do great. And then, yeah, just battled a lot mentally and I figured it out and I know my role on the team. So we’re good.
Kelly:
Okay, good. Yeah. I mean, that’s part of getting better and just changing and growing as a player. Was it ever like to a point where you questioned yourself, like, did you have a bad season or two in college ever where you were like, am I, should I be here?
Georgia:
No, I don’t think that ever happened with me. Also I’ve a really bad back injury and I’ve been battling it since even before college. And so I knew that I’d have problems in college. Like there was one season where I wasn’t even able to catch a full game the entire season just because my back issues were so bad and they would walk up and I just wouldn’t be able to move.
Kelly:
Was it a back injury from sports?
Georgia:
Yes and no. I think it was how quickly I started catching and how I kind of just taught myself and figured it out on my own, which was good. But I think I was putting a lot of pressure on my body when I was so young in high school. Um, didn’t take care of my body very well. I did CrossFit for like six months and I’ve always been really strong. And so I think I just really started lifting weights too early. Didn’t really have a good coach help me lift the weights to know how to lift weights properly. And so I threw my back a long time ago.
Kelly:
Technique. You know, if you are jumping in or even trying to self-teach yourself something like that, technique can probably make or break your body. You can get buy and like look good or do the actual job of catching well, but it could be hurting you, right, in the long run. Catching is brutal on your body. I mean, that’s one reason and kind of like goalie, like you said at the beginning, I mean, you’re, it’s not only a lot of the most pressure on the field, obviously because it shows so much on the scoreboard, but it is the toughest on your body. I think that’s why there’s so much hesitation on young athletes to choose those positions. It takes a certain kind of personality to step up early and what to go take that punishment on their body. Right. Yeah, for sure. All right. Tell me about your major at Belmont, um, and what your goals are after you’re finishing up this, this school year.
Georgia:
Yeah. So I’m a Faith and Social Justice major, which isn’t a major you hear too often. So I studied a lot about religion and politics, the intersection of both, um, how to be a person of faith that interacts with the world and what scripture says about interacting with the world around us. Um, so hopefully after this year, I’m not going to take my fifth year because the NCAA gave us a fifth year of eligibility because of Corona. So, but I think I’m going to go to Vanderbilt as a plan if I get in and get my Masters of Divinity and my Masters of Community Development and Action.
Kelly:
Masters in Divinity and Masters of Community Development and Action. Is that what you said? Yes. Community development and action. Okay. So this brings me to a Twitter post I saw, this is how I wanted to talk to you. So what did you recently do with the Frisco police department?
Georgia:
For sure. Yeah. I’ve always wanted to be a person that engages with my community and Frisco means so much to me that when everything was happening with George Floyd and when the whole country was starting to arrupt, I was like, I want Frisco to be like, I want me and my community to be involved in this. It didn’t make sense for me to go to Dallas to the protest because that’s not my community. Frisco is. And so the Saturday night before the, or the Sunday night before the protest happened, I randomly texted some friends and was like, Hey, was just going to go like peacefully, be on the side of the road with a sign. Would anyone want to join me? And one person responded. So we went and made signs. We thought it would just be the two of us. We were like, let’s throw it out on Twitter and see if anyone else wants to come. And less than 24 hours later, we had over 4,000 people show up.
Kelly:
4,000 people. That is crazy in 24 hours. Was the one person who responded our mutual friend who I think it was or did he come in later? No later. Okay. Okay. Um, because Daniel’s been on this podcast too. And, um, we mostly were talking about his basketball career and everything, but I know that he eventually ended up being a part of that with you, correct?
Georgia:
Yeah. So I think it was later that night, I was with Sydney, the, my friend that wanted to do protest with me and I saw that Daniel had been to the Dallas protests. And so I was like, maybe he’d be interested in joining us. So I shot him a text and I was like, Hey, we’re going to do this. Um, would love if you could join. He ended up like getting involved. He was like, do you need help with anything? And then once it started blowing up on Twitter, I was like, actually, yes, like, can you help me with this? Like, I really don’t know what I’m doing. Like I’ve never organized a 4,000 person protest before. And so he jumped in and just helped me take over and was phenomenal the whole time.
Kelly:
Yeah. I mean, it was phenomenal. The whole thing was. Just as kind of a spectator watching it unfold. I didn’t know either of you before that, watching it unfold on social media, it was exciting and scary and everything all at once. There was so much pushback. Um, of course, coupled with the coronavirus issues of risk of spread, it gave people more fuel to be worried about it. Um, I think there would have been a lot of worry anyway, but it was, you know, it seemed like a risk at the time, which you didn’t do it for any of that. You were doing it for the, all the right reasons, but you probably got some, you know, a lot of pushback. It was probably scary at the beginning. Right?
Georgia:
Yeah. I got a lot of pushback, especially when people found out that I was the one that organized it, they were texting my mom, they were texting me. Um, people started rumors on Twitter about these bricks. Whenever those bricks have been there forever. So we got the police department involved, the fire department involved and they worked with us the entire time. So I was confident that everything was going to be okay. Like I know, I know this city, I knew everything was going to be peaceful, that it was going to be a good family atmosphere.
Kelly:
Yeah and it definitely was, it turned out amazing and people still talk about it and they will for a long time. A good show for our community to, to get together and show what they want to be like. Um, it’s not always perfect here. We’ve seen, you know, flashes of the other side sometimes lately, too, which is really sad and frustrating, but man, props to you for having the idea and reaching out to people and taking action and making it happen. I think you started something really important here. Okay. So tell me also about what you’ve recently done with the Frisco PD this August.
Georgia:
Yeah. I have become good friends with the assistant chief over at Frisco PD. And so him and I have become buddies and he’s sent me up to do a ride along with some of his officers. And so I got to ride along all night, um, all night long with a couple officers and they just told me what they did, people, people all over. And I really just wanted to hear their perspective and get to know them as people, because I know like right now they’re receiving a lot of hate. Um, and I’ve always had a good perspective of Frisco PD and they work with us on the protest. And so I just kind of wanted to go see like what was up with them and wanting to get to know their story. They got involved in the police department. That was an incredible experience. Like they are some of the best people I’ve ever met.
Kelly:
That’s great. I agree with that. I’ve gotten to do a little bit, nothing as cool as a ride along like that, with our police department and community activities. And I’m always pleasantly surprised at, at the, you know, the support that community gives them and that they give us and that they want to be a part of us in our community and, and, um, all for the right reasons. So I thought that was interesting, um, to you, as somebody who’s studying, let’s see faith and social justice. So somebody who’s, you know, sitting in class and listening to lectures and then getting to sit in a place car and see it in action. Did you come across anything that surprised you or, you know, were you taking notes and mentally taking notes about what you’re seeing and things that you came across while you were in the, in the ride along?
Georgia:
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I was a new showed me also around the department, um, got to go into the jail. And so I was, um, of course looking at all of that and then I always want to hear their stories and they were telling me how them as a department, for the most part, completely support the protest, completely support protest stand with Black Lives Matter. Um, but the media doesn’t portray that. And a lot of departments don’t portray that as well. That’s also something that I learned is how different the Frisco police department is from other police departments, how good their training is. And their leadership is phenomenal where you don’t see that across the country. And so it just comes to show that some bad apples don’t define all don’t define all of them. We also looked at a bunch of body cam videos. And so, um, they had me, the Frisco police officers had me look at body cam videos, then watch clips of the media. And so I really got to learn how to see the full story, how to understand that there’s always more to the story. And so that was a really good experience for me.
Kelly:
That is. Oh, I bet that’s really interesting. There’s always two sides, right? I mean, in a heated moment like that. Everybody remembers things differently. I personally wouldn’t be able to remember details and things. And so I think that it’s good that body cams exist, um, to tell a different angle of this story and, um, protect everybody involved too. Well that’s fascinating. I think that’s cool that you got to, to experience that. And um, so Vanderbilt is your next step, right?
Georgia:
Yeah I sure hope so.
Kelly:
Well, I hope you get into Vanderbilt and go get to study Community Development and Action. I hope you make your way back to Frisco and, and keep building our community strong here. I’m sure after you’ve been to these other parts of the country, you might want to explore that and live somewhere else. But, but I appreciate all that you’re doing when you come home here in Frisco and help our community out. And I appreciate your time. I was excited to talk to you. So people that listen to this know I’m a softball fan. I still play a little bit of old lady softball um, I call it, but played softball almost my whole life. My dad was, my coach played with my sister. Then we played for fun in college. We were not good enough to play in college, and we played for fun in college together, actually played on the same team as my now husband and never really stopped. So now I still play with my friends. Um, so I love softball. So you’re getting to live out what I didn’t get to do. So enjoy your senior year. I pray that you get to have a great season and finish your year there in Nashville.
Georgia:
Thank you. Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed it.
Kelly:
And thank you everybody for listening to this episode of Hustle and Pro. Subscribe however you listen to your podcast and we’ll see you next week.
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