Patty Gasso, Kinzie Hansen and Tiare Jennings at Love's Field Dedication (3-1-23)
Sooners' head coach Patty Gasso and team captains Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen speak at the dedication for Love's Field on March 1, 2024.
Transcript
00:00 [APPLAUSE]
00:05 Hi, everyone.
00:06 Thank you all for coming.
00:07 Hi.
00:10 One of the greatest honors of the 2024 season
00:12 was being named team captain, voted team captain
00:15 by our sisters alongside T.R.I. Jennings.
00:18 Not only are we here to represent the 19
00:21 other amazing women that stand by our side day in and day out,
00:25 but we represent more than ourselves.
00:27 We represent the best coaching staff in the country.
00:30 We represent the best program in the country.
00:35 And we represent the best alumni and Sooner
00:38 Sisterhood in the country.
00:39 T.R.I. and I, it is our job to uphold
00:44 the standard of championship mindset
00:46 and lead by example every single day
00:49 and continue it into Love's Field
00:50 and continue our decade of dominance
00:53 into this beautiful stadium.
00:55 [APPLAUSE]
01:00 To take the field for the first time
01:01 will be full of emotions and excitement.
01:04 This team and this beautiful field
01:06 is continuing the amazing legacy of OU softball.
01:09 We are ready to create new memories at Love's Field
01:11 and to represent all the alumni who paved the way for us
01:14 to be here.
01:15 Thank you, Sooner Nation, for being here
01:17 to celebrate this program and this day.
01:19 Boomer!
01:20 Sooner!
01:20 Sooner!
01:22 [APPLAUSE]
01:25 Jada, stop barking over there.
01:33 First, I want you all to see where are my girls?
01:36 Where are my girls at?
01:37 Get them back up again.
01:39 There they are.
01:40 This is awesome.
01:41 Love seeing you guys here.
01:43 Appreciate it.
01:44 A lot of these guys over here I have not coached,
01:47 but I know who they are, thanks to Marita.
01:49 So God is good.
01:52 I can do this.
01:58 I can do this.
01:59 OK.
02:00 We are blessed.
02:01 We are humbled.
02:01 We are grateful on this historic day.
02:05 Good OU softball history.
02:07 It's a full circle moment for us.
02:10 30 years ago when I was hired, we played over at Reeves Park.
02:15 You can drive right down the street and see it.
02:18 Yes, I know you guys.
02:20 You have a lot to see.
02:21 You want to know more about it, go ask these guys.
02:24 But what I do know is we had to be off the field by 5 PM
02:29 because slow pitch had their league.
02:31 We had to come early, clean up trash.
02:33 I think it was first or second year.
02:39 Second year, we hosted a regional at Reeves,
02:44 and our players could not fit in the dugout.
02:47 So half the team had to sit in the front of the grandstands
02:53 with the fans.
02:54 Sooner!
02:55 28 years ago, Marita Hines' field
03:01 was built by Marita Hines, had a lot of her hands on that.
03:08 She said to me the other day, who
03:10 is the fool that made that stadium only fit 500 people?
03:15 But Marita and I both felt like that was-- when I saw that,
03:20 it was a massive amount of seats for women's softball.
03:23 It was incredible.
03:25 And what we did there was win championships a lot
03:30 and created some phenomenal history.
03:34 But you fans came out.
03:36 And because of you coming out is why we have this new stadium
03:40 now, because the demand was great for it.
03:44 So today, now full circle, here we
03:47 are standing in front of Love's Field, the largest, most
03:51 beautiful stadium with over 400 plus capacity
03:57 and the coolest representation of scoreboard
04:01 for the state of Oklahoma you've ever seen.
04:04 And this future is here.
04:07 It's leading us into the SEC.
04:09 And I think I can look at these guys
04:12 and say we're ready to win more championships
04:14 than a new conference.
04:15 [APPLAUSE]
04:19 We are breaking ceilings.
04:21 And you know about the championships, the win streak.
04:24 You fans showing up for Hall of Fame stadium
04:27 when we played Texas, breaking attendance records.
04:31 This stadium is breaking ceilings for women's softball
04:36 and all the women's athletic programs across the country.
04:40 Challenging companies and donors to invest
04:43 in women's athletics.
04:45 And the Love's family will be known
04:47 as the family that really made a change in softball.
04:53 So that other coaches, some of them that are here today,
04:58 will see this facility, go back to their administrators,
05:02 and try to get more donors, more companies invested
05:06 in what we're doing.
05:08 So the gratitude that I have for the Love's family is beyond.
05:14 Two years ago, I think it was, Jackie Livingston,
05:17 my director of operations, reached out to Jenny Love Meyer.
05:22 And we have a mutual friend, Karen Wiseman.
05:25 We had some conversation, turned into a friendship,
05:29 which flourished.
05:30 Jim Gasso, my husband, is not here
05:32 because he is the head coach at Mid-America University.
05:35 And they're playing at the Hall of Fame Stadium at 10 o'clock,
05:38 and they're on a win streak.
05:39 So I said, stay over there.
05:41 We're good.
05:42 I will recognize you here.
05:45 But Jimmy really helped create, and Jackie,
05:48 create that friendship with the Love's family,
05:51 and Jenny, and John.
05:54 Jenny believed in this program.
05:56 And she talked a lot about her family
05:58 and what they're prideful for and what they represent.
06:03 And she wanted to invest in our athletes.
06:06 I know you guys have a Sunday dinner, I heard about,
06:08 where you all sit together and talk business.
06:11 And thankfully, our name was on the agenda.
06:14 And you wanted to talk a little more about it.
06:16 But thank you all, Love's family,
06:18 for taking a leap of faith.
06:20 Thank you all who donated to this project.
06:24 We could not have done it without you.
06:25 Thanks to all the hands that have created this day,
06:29 from our great administration, workers, the creators,
06:33 with the vision.
06:36 This is the final piece to complete the OU softball
06:41 program.
06:42 This is it right here.
06:43 And everyone is going to follow the lead.
06:46 Our team is honored to represent over 300 alumni, some that
06:51 are here today, on this field.
06:54 We will give our best to make all of you, all of you proud,
06:57 and the Love family proud.
07:00 I have five grandkids that are here.
07:04 One is not delivered yet.
07:06 That will be in one week.
07:08 So the Lord blessed my son, JT, and Andrea,
07:13 but specifically JT with three girls,
07:16 because the Lord is going to pay him back
07:18 for what he did to his mother.
07:21 But with these four kids, three are girls.
07:27 Jen Rocha, our pitching coach, has a young daughter
07:31 named Ellie.
07:32 We have small, young females, little kids, little girls,
07:37 that are witnessing this dream.
07:39 And that is what this is about.
07:42 We are preparing for the future.
07:44 We're being great examples for leading
07:46 this next generation of women into elite athletic programs
07:51 and athletic facilities.
07:54 Thank you all.
07:54 I thought I was going to break down,
07:56 but Lord helped me right there to get through this.
08:00 And Joe, we do have a game to play.
08:02 You went-- now we're rushing.
08:04 You went way too long, Joe.
08:07 Just kidding.
08:10 Thank you, God.
08:11 Thank you all.
08:12 Thank all of you guys for being here.
08:14 We cannot wait to play in front of you on this field,
08:18 and we haven't even stepped on it yet.
08:20 So the first time you see us play on it,
08:23 we will actually be the first time us being on it.
08:27 So Gloves family, our heart to you, all you donors,
08:31 and all of you fans that support this great program.
08:34 We love you.
08:35 We appreciate you.
08:36 And we got two big games today.
08:39 That would mean a lot.
08:39 These guys are ready.
08:41 They're going to be ready.
08:42 Thank you all very much.